I have a number of knitting patterns that require the garments to be felted. So here is a little guide on just that. Wool is felted when it is exposed to heat, water and friction. This combination causes the fibers in the wool to contract and stick to each other. Wool tolerates both water and heat very well, but if these are combined with movement and friction, it is difficult to avoid it from feeling felted.
FACTORS THAT PLAY A ROLE IN FELT
1. Everything to be felted must be 100% wool (not superwash) or alpaca.
2. Pure white yarn is treated with bleach and does not felt, so if you are going to use white, use natural white.
3. It is the mechanical movement that felts the garments, and a little temperature difference, so the more movement the more felt everything. Also, typing abruptly with both cold and hot baths, (this mostly applies when you feel by hand). Centrifugation has nothing to do with it, since everything is still.
4. If you have felted too much, there is unfortunately little you can do about it, so be careful until you find your way. It is better to feel a little and then maybe do it again if you feel like you have felted too little.
5. How loosely the garment is knitted to begin with, and how much space the wool has to shrink, hence the needle size.
6. The temperature and amount of movement in the wash affect how much the garment felts.
7. How long the garment is felted.
8. How long to felt the garment
9. How much wool is pre-treated.
10. Make sample patches and test them out - this is recommended so you can see what your washing machine does in the process.
HAND FELT
If you want to felt by hand, you can use a washboard or just feel with your hands. Then you use Milo or Green Soap in the water and have warm water and wash and move the garment both side to side and lengthwise. When you have worked with the garment for a while, you can also rinse it in cold water alternating with putting it back in cold water. This takes some time and is a lot of work.
MACHINE FELT
Felting in a washing machine is perhaps what most people are used to - but this is also a bit of a risky sport, because all machines behave differently. Wool felts between 30-60 degrees.
As a general rule, after trying out many machines, I have settled on a 40 degree delicate wash, express or quick wash, and spinning doesn't matter because then the garment is at rest.
FELT IN THE DRYER
If you have never felted before, it may be a good idea to use the dryer, where you wet the garment and put it in the drum, allowing you to check it much more often than in a machine.
FINISHING - SHAPING
Regardless of which method you use, all patches must have a little finishing touch of stretching and pulling the garment into the shape and size you want.
Leave it to dry.
Here you will find felted slippers
