See also:

• FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and See also:

• DAN

Dan. fill; the See also:

• ROOT (late O.E. rot, adopted from Scand., cf. Norw. and Swed. rot, Dan. rod; the true O.E. word was wyrt, plant, represented in Ger. Wurz or Wurzel; the ultimate root is the same in both words, and is seen in Lat. radix)
• ROOT, ELIHU (1845– )

root is unknown; the word has given Med. See also:

• LAT

Lat. filtrum, " See also:

• FILTER (a word common in various forms to most European languages, adapted from the medieval Lat. fi-ltrum, felt, a material used as a filtering agent)

filter ")  , a fabric produced by the " See also:

• MATTING

matting " or " felting " together of fibrous materials such as wools, hairs, furs, &c . Most textile See also:

• FIBRES
• FIBRES (or FIBERS, in American spelling; from Lat. fibra, apparently connected either with filum, thread, or findere, to split)

fibres (see FIBRES) possess the quality of matting to some extent, but wools, furs and some few hairs are the only fibres which can be felted satisfactorily . It is probable that the quality of felting must be attributed to the See also:

• SCALE
• SCALE (1) A

scale structure and waviness of the wools, furs and hairs referred to . When it is desired to incorporate non-felting fibres in See also:

• FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt cloths, See also:

• WOOL, WORSTED AND WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES

wool must be employed to " carry " them . There are two distinct classes of felts, viz. See also:

• WOVEN

woven or " See also:

• THREAD (0. Eng. praed, literally, that which is twisted, prawan, to twist, to throw, cf. " throwster," a silk-winder, Ger. drehen, to twist, turn, Du. draad, Ger. Draht, thread, wire)

thread-structure " felts, and " fibre " or true felts . In the manufacture of thread-structure felts, wools possessing the quality of felting in a high degree are naturally selected, carefully scoured so that the felting quality is not seriously damaged, spun into woollen See also:

• YARN

yarn possessing the necessary fibre arrangement and twist, woven into See also:

• CLOTH

cloth of such a See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character that subsequently satisfactory shrinking or felting may be effected, and finally scoured, milled in the See also:

• STOCKS

stocks of See also:

• MACHINE
• MACHINE (through Fr. from Lat. form machina of Gr. µnxavil)

machine of both, dyed and finished on the lines of an See also:

• ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary woven fabric . The lighter styles of woven felts may be composed of a single cloth only, but for the heavier styles two or more cloths are woven, one on See also:

• TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top of the other, at one and the same See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time, arrangements being made to stitch the cloths together during the See also:

• WEAVING

weaving operation . Fibre felts are exceedingly interesting from the See also:

• HISTORICAL

historical point of view . It is now generally admitted that the See also:

• ART

art of weaving preceded that of See also:

• SPINNING (from O. Eng. spinnen, to spin, cf. Ger. spinnen, &c., the Teut. root is seen, to draw out, cf. span, spider)

spinning, and it must further be See also:

• CON

con-ceded that the art of felting preceded that of weaving, so that the felt fabric is probably one of the See also:

• OLDEST

oldest of the various styles of recognized fabrics . The inhabitants of the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle and See also:

• NORTHERN

northern regions of See also:

• ASIA

Asia seem to have employed felt from time immemorial, as clothing and also as a covering for their habitations . Most of the classical writers refer to it and some of them actually describe its manufacture . Felt was also largely employed by the ancients for their hats, See also:

• OUTER

outer garments, and sometimes as a See also:

• SPECIES

species of See also:

• ARMOUR, PHILIP DANFORTH (1832-1901)

armour .

Fibre felts may be divided into three classes, viz. ordinary felts; See also:

• HAT

hat felts; and impregnated felts . As all felts are based upon the ordinary felt, the See also:

• PROCESS

process of manufacture of this will first be described . Of the wools employed the See also:

• PRINCIPAL

principal are: See also:

• EAST
• EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

East See also:

• INDIAN

Indian, See also:

• GERMAN
• GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN

German or See also:

• MID

mid-See also:

• EUROPEAN

European, New See also:

• ZEALAND (also SEALAND Or SEELAND; Danish Sjaelland)

Zealand crossbreds, and Australian, Cape and Buenos Aires merinos . See also:

• VEGETABLE

Vegetable fibres and See also:

• SILK

silk are also employed, but wool must be used to " carry " them; thus a See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good felting wool may be made to carry its own See also:

• WEIGHT

weight of See also:

• COTTON
• COTTON (Fr. coton; from Arab. qutun)
• COTTON, CHARLES (163o–1687)
• COTTON, GEORGE EDWARD LYNCH (1813–1866)
• COTTON, JOHN (1585–1652)
• COTTON, SIR ROBERT BRUCE

cotton, See also:

• HEMP (in O. Eng. henep, cf. Dutch hennep, Ger. Hanf , cognate with Gr. Kavval3er, Lat. cannabis)

hemp, &c . Hairs and furs are principally used in the hat felts . The See also:

• AVERAGE

average loss upon the wool from the raw See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state to the finished felt is 40 to 50% . The See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order of the manufacturing processes is as follows:—mixing, willowing, teasing, scribbling and See also:

• CARDING

carding . It is interesting to See also:

• NOTE
• NOTE (Lat. nota, mark, sign, from noscere, to know)

note that it is not usual to scour felting wools . This is not because they are really clean—some are dirty—but because the felting See also:

• PROPERTY

property is liable to be interfered with in the scouring operation . Some wools, however, must be scoured to ensure satisfactory working in the See also:

• MACHINES

machines . From the card the wool is delivered as a See also:

• GOSSAMER

gossamer-like film from 50 to 6o in. wide on to an endless See also:

• SHEET

sheet from 30 to 6o yds. See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long, upon which the felt is built up film upon film until the required thickness—perhaps 4 in.— is obtained . To harden this somewhat See also:

• TENDER

tender sheet of felt it is now passed through an ironing process, effected by either steamheated-rollers—to which a rotatory and vibratory See also:

• MOTION (Lat. motio, from movere, to move)
• MOTION, LAWS OF

motion is given —playing upon the continually See also:

• DRAWN

drawn-through cloth; or a huge vibrating See also:

• FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat-See also:

• IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron, to which the cloth is automatically fed, held in position and then See also:

• WOUND (O. Eng. wund,connected with a Teutonic verb, meaning to strive, fight, suffer, seen in O. Eng. winnan, whence Eng. " win ")

wound up while the following length to be treated is drawn under the iron .

Soaping, fulling or " felting " and the ordinary See also:

• FINISHING

finishing operations—including See also:

• DYEING (0. Eng. dedgian, dealt ; Mid. Eng. deyen)

dyeing and See also:

• PRINTING (from Lat. imprimere, O. Fr. empreindre)

printing if desirable—now follow, so that ultimately a strong See also:

• FIRM

firm fabric is turned out . It must be admitted, however, that the strength is much greater lengthwise than See also:

• CROSS

cross-See also:

• WISE, HENRY ALEXANDER (1806-1876)
• WISE, ISAAC MAYER (1819-1900)

wise, owing to the parallelization of the fibres induced in the scribbling and carding operations . Of course, the true felting or contraction occurs in the fulling or felting stock, the fabric being perpetually " hammered " in the presence of fulling agents such as See also:

• SOAP

soap, See also:

• FULLER, ANDREW (1954-1815)
• FULLER, GEORGE (1822—1884)
• FULLER, M
• FULLER, MARGARET, MARCHIONESS
• FULLER, MELVILLE WESTON (1833-1910)
• FULLER, THOMAS (16o8-1661)
• FULLER, WILLIAM (1670--c. 1717)

fuller's See also:

• EARTH
• EARTH (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Erde, Dutch aarde, Swed. and Dan. jord; outside Teutonic it appears only in the Gr. 'pq'e, on the ground; it has been connected by some etymologists with the Aryan root ar-, to plough, which is seen in
• EARTH, FIGURE OF
• EARTH, FIGURE OF THE

earth, &c., for a considerable time . The reduction in width, length and thickness is remarkable . This may be con-trolled within certain limits . The principal styles of ordinary fibre-felts are—linings for coats, See also:

• FURNITURE (from " furnish," Fr. fournir)

furniture.and See also:

• RUBBER, INDIARUBBER

rubber shoes; See also:

• SADDLERY

saddlery; seatings for carriages and pews; carpets, surrounds and under-felts for carpets; mantles, dresses and table-cloths; felt-slippers; See also:

• MATTRESS (O.Fr. materas, mod. matelas; the origin is the Arab. al-materah, cushion, whence Span. and Port. almadraque, Ital. materasso)

mattress felts; See also:

• CHEST (Gr. Kiarl, Lat. cista, O. Eng. cist, test, &c.)

chest-preservers, and See also:

• SHOULDER (in O.E. sculder, cognate with Ger. Schulter, Dutch schouder, Swed. skuldra, &c; the root is unknown)

shoulder-pads; See also:

• STEAM
• STEAM (0. Eng. steam, vapour, smoke, cf. Du. steam; the origin is unknown)

steam-See also:

• ENGINE
• ENGINE (Lat. ingenium)

engine packing, motor-See also:

• CAR (Late Lat. carra)

car and See also:

• ANTI, or CAMPA

anti-vibration felts, See also:

• SHIPBUILDING

shipbuilding felts; See also:

• DRAWING

drawing-See also:

• ROLLER

roller felts and See also:

• GUN

gun-See also:

• WAD

wad felts . Hat felts may be divided into two classes, viz. those made from wool and See also:

• FUR (connected with O. Fr. forre, a sheath or case; so " an outer covering ")

fur respectively . Wool "bodies" used for the See also:

• LOWER

lower quality hats are manufactured in the same way as ordinary felts, but the " shape " upon which the film issuing from the carder is built up takes the See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of a See also:

• DOUBLE
• DOUBLE (from the Mid. Eng. duble, the form which gives the present pronunciation, through the Old Er. duble, from Lat. duplus, twice as much)

double See also:

• CONE (Gr. Kwvos)

cone and thus approximates to the shape of the two hats ultimately formed . The shape is further controlled and See also:

• DEVELOPED

developed in the fulling or felting operation . In the fur hat felts an See also:

• AIR (from an Indo-European root meaning " breathe," " blow ")
• AIR, or ASBEN

air-blast is employed to carry the finely separated fibres on to the shape required, upon which shape the fibres are held in position by suction until the required thickness is obtained . The structure is then further developed and " stiffened," i.e. impregnated with certain stiffening agents according to requirements . If desirable the exterior fibres blown on to any shape may be of a different material from the See also:

• BODY

body fabric .

Impregnated felts are simply felts made in the ordinary waybut subsequently impregnated with certain agents which give a See also:

• SPECIAL

special quality to the fabric . Messrs McNeill & Co., of See also:

• LONDON

London, were the originators of " asphalted-felt " for roofing and, among other styles, See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place on the See also:

• MARKET (Lat. mercatus, trade or place of trade)

market sheathing felt, inodorous felt, dry See also:

• HAIR (a word common to Teutonic languages)

hair felt, See also:

• FOUNDATION (Lat. fundatio, from fundare, to found)

foundation felt, &c., &c . A later development, however, is the impregnated iron-felt manufactured by Messrs Mitchells, Ashworth, Stansfield & Co., of Waterfoot, near See also:

• MANCHESTER
• MANCHESTER (popularly Manchester-by-the-Sea)
• MANCHESTER, EARLS AND DUKES OF

Manchester, who not only produce from 70 to 8o % of the ordinary felts manufactured in See also:

• GREAT

Great See also:

• BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain, but also place on the market several specialties of which this " iron-felt " is largely used in the construction of See also:

• BRIDGES
• BRIDGES, ROBERT (1844– )

bridges, &c., and as a substitute for rubber, it being apparently more durable . (A . F .