Felt

Felt is a fabric made ​​of a disorganized, difficult to be separated fiber material; Felt is therefore a non-woven textile. Become finished fabric (eg Loden ) matted, it is called Walk substances. From synthetic fiber and, theoretically, from plant fibers is felt by dry needling ( needle felt ) or by solidification under high pressure from a nozzle beam exiting water jets.

Felt made from sheep wool ( wool felt ) is a walkman or press felt. The cleaned, combed and conditioned by fleece and possibly dyed raw wool is a mechanical treatment ( Walken) in a solid composite. The individual fibers are intertwined with each other randomly. The hair of sheep (wool) have a scaly surface, the microscopic flakes interlock when walking into each other permanently.

History

Archaeological discoveries that prove the Filzgebrauch, dated to the Neolithic period. The finds are residues that were identified as pressed animal hair. That felted objects still older date are unlikely to be found, is due to the good compostability of the material.

In the technical literature is partly of the opinion that felts than fabric were older than fabric, but so far what documentation is missing. The oldest, but yet somewhat uncertain references to the felt making were found in the excavations of the Stone Age town of Catal Huyuk in central Anatolia. You are in the period classified by 6000 BC. Much more concrete such notes in the second millennium BC. So in the excavations of Käwrigul in the inhabited mainly by Uyghur Mongolian Autonomous County Bayingolin in Western China felt caps were found from the period around 1800 BC. Caps made ​​of this material were also discovered in burial mounds in Denmark and Northern Germany. They date from around 1500 BC made ​​up for Bleckmar and in Behringen in Lower Saxony findings of felts from the Bronze Age evidence in addition to the finds from the megalithic tombs that was early known their production in Northern and Central Europe. Findings in the previous Phrygian capital of Gordion around 700 BC show from the time that were known at that time in the Mediterranean area felts. Evidence in the literature of the Assyrians confirm this.

Early evidence for the existence are, as stated above, before the Tocharians from northwest China. From the 3rd century BC we find also the notes in ancient Chinese literature.

The richest finds earlier felts are from the Pazyryk graves. The discovered in the eternal ice of the Altai Mountains of Scythian kurgans from the 5th century BC contained felts, which had an amazing uniformity of thickness. It may be concluded that a highly advanced production method. These findings also suggest a versatile use of the partially intricately patterned felts applications. Among the peoples of antiquity felts were well known in the classical period, as are several references in the literature of the Greeks and Romans, as well as in Pompeii excavated Filzmacherwerkstätten prove this.

As a master of felt production in Asia, the Mongols and Tibetans were. For both peoples, there are indications of an early use of this material, which was particularly important for nomadic groups. They used felt not only for their clothes, but also for making their tents.

Production methods

( Summarized under the term Walkfilze ) wet felting the unbound fleece with warm water (steam ) and soap (alkaline Filzhilfe ) is the traditional craftsmanship of wool or animal hair. In combination with warm water and soap to make the scales on the top cuticle layer of the hair ( cuticle ). Simultaneously run walking causes a mutual penetration of the individual fibers. The raised scales wedged into each other so strongly that they are no longer to solve. The workpiece shrinks greatly and there is a resistant fabric. The final form can be seamlessly worked out of one piece. As Walkfilze, partly in admixture with rayon, consist of animal fibers, It is a natural product which is biodegradable.

When Trockenfilzen the dry wool is placed in a mold with the help of special felting needles. This method is the forerunner of needling with a needle bar. Needle felt is made ​​mechanically with numerous barbed needles. Here, the barbs are arranged in reverse from a harpoon, so that the fibers are pressed into the felt and the needle easily goes out again. Repeatedly piercing the fibers are entangled with each other and may then treated chemically or with steam. Such needle-punched nonwoven fabrics can be produced not only from wool, but from virtually all other fibers. Needle felt is the now common industrially produced felt. Moreover, even the possible entanglement with a pulsed jet of water or with a binder. This fiber can also be used without scale structure such as polyamide and polyester.

The artisan tradition of felting is rediscovered recently by many people and small businesses. This creates a decorative art, which mainly involves robust and warm clothing, for example scarves, jackets, vests, hats, slippers, and slippers, but also includes figurative works.

Properties of felt

  • Temperature resistant
  • Non-flammable ( depending on material)
  • Sound absorbent
  • Cold- resistant
  • Moisture repellent

Areas of application

  • Dwellings yurt
  • Garments Fedora, Qeleshe
  • Slipper
  • Filzstiefel
  • Janker ( Austrian costume, similar to a jacket )
  • Seals (eg: bearings, felt rings and felt strips according DIN5419 )
  • Cleanable filter media for gas filtration (usually surface-treated needle felts )
  • Oiler
  • Scraper for steel and aluminum cold rolling
  • Pianos and Musical Instruments
  • Noise insulation
  • Polishing of glass, ceramic, metal
  • Dryer felts in papermaking
  • Overlay
  • Furniture glides ( felt pads )
  • Placemats, table runners, curtains, cushions, carpets

Figurative meaning

The hardly separable felt fibers deliver the speech picture of the importance of felt figuratively. By this is meant that a group of people through - is linked dependencies in an inscrutable and diverse manner (see also: cabal, corruption, roped ) - especially financial. Similarly, using the figure of speech as an adjective and refers about a system as a " matted ".

DIN standards

DIN 61200

334689
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