I’m almost done the city quiet book page that I’ve been creating with my scraps of recycled polyester felt. But for my next quiet book page, I’ll be using beautiful wool blend felt provided by our new sponsor, American Felt and Craft (more on that here.) I’ve never worked with it before, and I’m really excited to try!
I thought it might be nice to compare the wool blend to some craft store felt made from recycled plastic bottles. This is the kind of felt I have used up until this point.
The felts are about the same thickness, but the wool blend is denser.
When you feel the two felts, they are about the same thickness, but you can tell right away the wool is much denser. The polyester definitely has a “right” and “wrong” side – the “wrong” side is super scratchy! The wool blend almost feels just as soft on the back as the front. It’s only a tiny bit rougher than the front.
After pulling hard on the corners of each felt sheet.
In the strength department, the wool blend felt wins hands down. I pulled hard on the corners of each of the felt sheets. The polyester felt stretched and thinned. It got fuzzy and I probably could have ripped it if I kept at it. The wool barely stretched at all.
I tried to smooth and stretch both of the felts back into the original shapes. The wool blend obeyed, but the polyester got fuzzier and stayed mostly stretched.
The above photo also shows how thin the polyester felt is. You can see right through it. The wool is nice and dense, which makes all the colors very rich.
wool vs polyester
I’m really looking forward to trying it out! Have you worked with wool felt? What are your thoughts? I’m wonder if it will wear my scissors down fast than the acrylic and polyester felts do. I should finish the city page tomorrow, then I’ll get to move on to the wool camping page! (For progress photos of my pages, join the Facebook page or follow me on Instagram at username iolstephanie.)
I find that wool felt is much nicer to use, but the only problem i found was that you cant do really small details ( like the letters in the cupcake page) because it just falls apart. I guess it depends on the blend percentages.
I ALWAYS use wool felt in the items I make for the children’s hospital. It stands up to all the kids put it through. It’s soft, it sews beautifully. And you can iron freezer paper to it with no problem. I’ve had no problem with my scissors either. I like that you can wash it if you want a little different feel and texture or you can use it as is. Come over an enter my giveaway. It’s a cute Little Hibou Shoppe pattern and some wool felt sheets. Love everything you do – you are absolutely amazing!
Dona
Even with the cost of wool felt being much higher, I always go for wool. The polyester always ends up making fluff balls or getting fuzzy so it’s worth spending that bit more to get something that will actually last.
Andrea
hi Andera .. i am humna from Pakistan… i want to talk to you regarding felt quality please reply me as i do my business in felt but i am facing the problem to get the felt fuzzy and balls on it.. plz reply me as soon as possible.. thanks