Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart Fedak
Not sure what the water absorption characteristics of felt is. As a kid, we used felt inserts in mukluks that we wore in the winter months. They never seemed to get too wet, and dried out quickly. I think felt must contain some fibres with some oils in it?
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Yes, sheeps' wool has some natural oils until it is processed. (for that matter, human hair gets oily unless washed...) I used to have hand knitted mitts made of the "oiled" wool that stayed much dryer and warmer as a result than the more refined but oil-less variety although they felt and smelled different.
Felt must also have fairly good wet strength as it was used for years as the belt in the wet end of paper machines to let water flow through out of the pulp as the first stage of drying. The water flowed through rather than being absorbed.