Why Wool Felts

I routinely say how felting seems to me to be magic. The idea of creating an unwoven fabric from puffs of wool is still beautiful to me. But it's being beautiful doesn't mean that we can't learn why wool felts and why certain wools are better than others.

Wool felts because on each of the little strands there are tiny scales. These tiny scales are made by the skin retracting off the growing wool. The scales open when flooded with water and then once they are agitated begin to catch upon one another. Think of it like pieces of Velcro rubbing against each other.

I primarily use wool from Merino sheep, because merino wool has even scales and therefore felts better.

Wool from Down Sheep has irregular scales and therefore are much more difficult to felt because the irregular scales do not mesh. You end up with a mass of spaghetti-like wool strands.

I strongly suggest that if you are making any wet felting project that you use Merino wool. For needle felting, Merino's smoothness and regularity work against it. The best wool for needle felting is coarse wool, such as Corriedale. These wools have larger scales for the needle to grip.

I hope that you've learned something about wool, and have a happy and safe holidays.