General
- Felt is a non-woven
cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers. The
fibers form the structure of the fabric. While some types of felt are very
soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of
any color, and made into any shape or size.
Manufacturing
Process
- Felt is made by a
process called wet felting, where the natural wool fiber is stimulated by
friction and lubricated by moisture (usually soapy water), and the fibers
move at a 90 degree angle towards the friction source and then away again,
in effect making little "tacking" stitches. Only 5% of the fibers are
active at any one moment, but the process is continual, and so different
'sets' of fibers become activated and then deactivated in the continual
process.
- This "wet" process
utilizes the inherent nature of wool and other animal hairs, because the
hairs have scales on them which are directional. The hairs also have kinks
in them, and this combination of scales (like the structure of a pine
cone) is what reacts to the stimulation of friction and causes the
phenomenon of felting. It tends to work well only with woolen fibers as
their scales, when aggravated, bond together to form a cloth.
- Felting is done by a
chemical process in industry. It is also sometimes done with special
felting needles, which grab individual fibers and drag them against their
neighbors, thereby binding them. Felting may also be done in a domestic
washing machine on a hot cycle.
Market
- US demand for
nonwoven roll goods is projected to increase 3.9 percent per year to $5.6
billion in 2011, driven by healthy gains in key markets such as
filtration, construction, wipes and adult incontinence. Further growth
will derive from increased market penetration in many applications,
including industrial wipes and roofing membranes, as new technologies
improve the functionality of nonwoven materials. However, gains will be
limited by intense price competition in consumer markets, as converted
product manufacturers seek to cut costs by reducing the amount of nonwoven
material in their products.
- Spunbonded nonwovens
will remain the dominant product, accounting for roughly half of total
volume in 2011, owing to their position as the material of choice in major
markets such as baby diapers. Gains in spunbonded nonwovens will be driven
by performance advantages, the development of new applications, and
increasing demand for the composite nonwovens featuring spunbonded webs.
Although carded and wet laid nonwovens are expected to register the
slowest gains, certain segments of these product types will have more
favorable prospects.
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