Pressure In Wet Felting – Part 3

POUNDING/BEATING/STOMPING

In these techniques, pressure is applied to the piece by hitting it with something. These are more aggressive methods and they make sense when you’re felting a large piece, especially if it’s a thick one, or when you want to get a particularly dense felt. In fact, this technique was widely used in traditional felting, in combination with rolling, especially for carpets.

Stomping would, of course, be done with your feet, whereas pounding and beating would imply using a tool again. Depending on the size of the piece, some felters may use a meat mallet or a potato masher, wooden hammers or sticks/clubs.

Image from “Vom Filz behütet”, Bruno Bujack

One way to do this, is to roll the piece and to hit it on the spots, where we want our felt to become denser. The piece should then be constantly turned, in order to get an even result.

The advantage is that it’s easier to achieve a greater density than with other methods, but keeping the right shape and an even density isn’t very easy.

But it’s certainly a great way to work off tension :)

ROLLING

This is one of the most frequently used methods. Even if you’re not a very experienced felter, you’ve surely seen it in some video on the internet.

Basically, you roll the piece and use back and forth movements to apply pressure.

Image from “Filzen – Alte Tradition, modernes Handwerk”, Gunilla Paetau Sjöberg

This is usually done with a bamboo mat, a sheet of bubble wrap, an anti-slip mat, or even just a towel or a cloth. You then place the felt item on this cover piece and roll everything tightly. It’s also a good idea to use a core (like a tube, a rolling pin or a pool noodle) to provide a hard surface inside. Secure everything with a string or elastic and you can start rolling.

Image from “Werkstoff Filz”, Monika Traub

If you’re working on a really big item, rolling can be very demanding. So, one way to make it less hard is to work with either your forearms or with your feet.

Image from “Werkstoff Filz”, Monika Traub

Here’s how they do the rolling in Mongolia. But you will need a camel or a horse for this 😉

Image from “Filzen – Alte Tradition, modernes Handwerk”, Gunilla Paetau Sjöberg

Image from “Filzen – Alte Tradition, modernes Handwerk”, Gunilla Paetau Sjöberg

Make sure you open up this bundle now and again to check on the felt. Any wrinkles, for example, have to be flatten out. Turn the felt around until you’ve rolled it in all directions, so the felt shrinks in an even way.

The advantages of this method are that it can be ued for a wide variety of items, it’s easy to control and the pressure is applied evenly. But it’s slow, so you’ll need patience, and strength, if it’s a big piece.

I hope this is helpful! I’ll be back next week with the last part on how to apply pressure to your felting projects.