Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-04-17
THE FELT INDUSTRY.
Nearly All Animal Fibers Used
In Making 1t.
AN EXTREMELY SIMPLE PROCESS.
The First Clothing Worn was Made by
Mating Together the Wool OF Sheep
and Goats.
EXTREMELY SIMPLE PROCESS.

FlDerS vi VhrlOuS hlnuS Gall 10 lbduo
into felt for the same reason that a bit
of hair or yarn will cling with persis-
tency to a mans coat.
Nearly all animal fibers. like the
wool of sheep, the fur of rabbits,
beavers, offers. nutrias and the hair of
ordinary cattle, are provided with
rough or serrated edges. like the teeth
of a saw or barbs of a fish-spear. and
when they settle down on a rough sur
face these little hooks catch and hold
fast. The harder they are pressed the
tighter they cling. That is the reason
the BARRIERS boy brushes off patrons
coat with such light, quick strokes.
When mass of animal fibers, there
fore. are pressed firmly together the
barbs hook to one another like burrs,
and the resulting mat is called felt.
There has been no spinning OF yarn nor
weaving of coth-just a natural ad-
hesion of the fibers.
Of all fabrics-alrhough 1t can
scarcely be called fabric-felt is the
simplest and most ancient. Probably
the first clothing ever worn by man
WAS made by mating together the
wool of sheep and goats-undoubtedly
by tramping it with the bare feet on
some smooth surface. Even to this
day the Bedouins. the Circasian3 and
the Armenians of central Asia use
orudely made felts of various kinds for
clothing. tent covers and mats to sleep
on. For all purposes where no great
strength is required felt can be used to
great advantage, and, being made of
short fibers that cannot be readily con-
verted into yarn. it is usually rather
cheap commodity.
Its uses are being extended almost
daily. Housewives know it i'll the
form of table and piano covers. carpets
and rugs. A very durable carpet for
rather rough uses is made by cutting
thick felt into uniform strips and sew
ing them together so that tho edges
form the surfaces Of the carpet 1t is
extensively used also in mechanical
purposes for the packing of engines,
the deadening of sounds. the sockets for
air. tight safes, polishing wheels, print
ers' blankets, refrigerators and in hun
dreds of other ways. Broadcloth and
many other fine thick fabrics used for
fasbiona BILE clothing are made by felt
ing with exceedingly fine ibers of
closely woven cloth. A few years ago
suits were made of material on which
the feltipg was so thick that the cloth
had shaggy appearance, and wool
fibers could be easily detached from it.
But the greatest use of felt is in max
ing bats, an industry which has as
sumed enormous proportions within the
last half-century. All the ordinary
beaver or derby and slouch hats for
men. and winter hat forms for women
are made of felt, the varieties being
legion.
Felt manufacturing is an extremely
simple process. Carding combs. a
huge press or sets of rollers, little
heat and little water are the only
necessary requisites, although to secure
the best results maker must havo had
considerable experience in the mixing
of various kinds of fibers and of the
length of time necessary to "cure, "
them. The main part of the process is
exemplified in the ordinary shrinkage
of flannel goods in washing.
Coarse felt is usually made of wool.
Before the sheep are sheared the wool
is exceedingly oily, and this is doubt
less one of natures provisions for pre-
venting felting of the tibers on the
back of the animal. As the wool
reaches the felting factory it is
thoroughly washed, just as it would
be if it were being prepared for spin
ming. 1t is then carded out into great,
thin laps. the fibers in which are made
to cross one another in every direction.
Scores of these laps, which are not
much thicker than cobwebs, are piled
one above another until the mass re-
sembles fluffy heap of cotton batting.
Sometimes the outside laps are made
of finer material. When the requisite
thickness has been attained this COM
pound lap is fed into series of rollers
which looks somewhat like paper
mill. Here it travels in and out.
sometimes under warm water and
sometimes beween rollers heated to a
high temperature with steam. In add.
tion to the crushing or pressing action
Of the rollers the upper one in each
pair is given jogging or oscillating
motion, which tends to render the felt
even and compact.
After the felt comes from the ma
chine it can be dyed and figured to
suit the taste. Sometimes the wool is
dyed before it goes to the felt rolls.
Another variety of felt is used for
roofing. 1t is made usually of any
coarse OK hair and is ordinarily soaked
with tar or asphalt.
But feltmaking for hats is n much
more important and complicated in
dustry. The furs used are from the
beaver-hence the name of beaver hats
-nutria. otter and the coney or rabbit.