Noah’s Ark, oil on canvas painting by Edward Hicks, 1846 Philadelphia Museum of Art

Felting is the process of making a nonwoven cloth, often referred to as felt. In its simplest form, felt is made by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together (such as wool) often using heat and steam. Felt-making is an ancient tradition and the oldest form of fabric known to humankind, predating weaving and knitting. In Turkey, the remains of felt have been found dating back at least to 6,500 B.C.E.

Ancient Felt History

Be honest, have you ever wondered why “Nonwoven” is the second part of our company name? It typically doesn’t find a way into everyday conversation. However, in the Technical Textile and Composite Industries, nonwovens are crucial to the success of many products.

Nonwoven fabrics are sheet or web structures bonded together by entangling fiber or filaments mechanically, thermally or chemically. They are not made by weaving or knitting and do not require converting the fibers to yarn. Technical

nonwovens are designed for specific performance attributes, such as permeability or density.

At National Nonwovens, we engineer nonwoven materials for technical products found in diverse industries ranging from Medical to Filtration to Aerospace. We transform fiber into nonwoven fabric through needlepunch technology and equipment (see cover story for expansion announcement).

According to INDA (Association of the Nonwovens Fabric Industry) needlepunching is defined as “mechanically binding a web to form a fabric by penetrating the web with an array of barbed needles that carry tufts of the web’s own fibers in a vertical direction through the web.” Needlepunching is especially suitable in terms of flexibility, quality and product diversity.

Although felt is a nonwoven, it is often classified as a decoration felt versus a technical nonwoven. Because of our in-depth knowledge in producing sophisticated nonwoven materials, we are able to apply our expertise to our WoolFelt®, XoticFelt®, and FiestaFelt® product lines ensuring high-quality felt meeting precise standards for texture, thickness, and drapeability. We have been honing this craft for over 106 years and are proud to keep the felt-making tradition alive for our customers.

Although the exact origin of felting is not known, there are many legends from different cultures that tell the story of how this technique was developed.

Sumerian legend • claims that the secret of feltmaking was discovered by Urnamman of Lagash. Sumer was one of the early civilizations of the Ancient Near East.

The story of • Saint Clement and Saint Christopher tell the story that while fleeing from persecution, the men packed their sandals with wool to prevent blisters. At the end of their journey, the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks.

The • Noah’s Ark felt-carpet legend is a favorite with children. The sheep, goats, camels and other animals that herded together in the Ark shed their fleece and during the voyage trampled it underfoot. After the animals left the Ark, Noah was amazed to find the floor carpeted in felt.

Information from New World Encyclopedia

Nonwoven needle punching equipment - This felt in one of the final production stages

We manufacture nonwovens for a variety of high-performance applications: (top row) Medical products,

ballistic resistant panels, high temperature fabrics, (bottom) SureSorb® products, and filtration materials.

Nonwovens: Why & What It Is?