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[tamsyn-lee.livejournal.com]

Hi. I'm new here, and this is my first post.

Since I went to the trouble of taking these pictures for a completely different purpose, I thought I'd post them as a tutorial for anyone wanting to learn the joys of wet hand felting. It is a recent addiction of mine and it's super fun.


Note that you can use a washing machine for the wet part, but I don't have a washing machine, and I don't know the particulars of that method.

Here is how to make a piece of felted cloth using 100% wool and a little elbow grease.


1. I guess I am assuming you know how to knit. You could also crochet, although I haven't personally tried.
So, knit (using 100% wool) something....make sure you allow room for shrinkage. The amount of shrinkage varies depending on wool and water temperature, so you have to do a sample first, to get a feel for it.

2. Felt is made using soap, hot water and lots of friction. When I first tried, I used my bare hands, but the hot water made that a bit sketchy, and it took quite a while. Using a bamboo sushi matt was suggested by my friend who got me started on this whole felting frenzy in the first place, it works GREAT!!!

The best soap I have used so far is JOY dishwashing soap. I have tried laundry soaps, but you have to watch out for detergents (bad) and built in bleach (very bad).
SO, dishsoap is the way to go. You want it to be soap most of all, not some crazy new fangled antibacterial whatever. Apparently Ivory bar soap is also really good, (as it's 99% pure soap) but I'm told you have to shave it or something, and that just sounded like too much work.

Now, get thee to the sink, or somewhere where you have hot water and room to get wet.
Place your knitted fabric on the sushi matt, wet it slightly and then cover it in soap (you don't need tonnes, just drizzle it over, you can always add more later, while you are rolling) Roll it all up.

3.Run some hot water and get the whole thing wet...you can turn off the water, and now start quickly rolling the matt between your hands, applying pressure. You'll get a bunch of suds. Roll for a few minutes and then check. You can run it under some more hot water (the more hot water you use, the more it will shrink) maybe add some more soap. Roll it some more. This part is mostly trial and error, but I find it will be done within aout 5-10 minutes (depending on your wool)

4. Finally you will check it and you will find wonderful felt!
Rinse it well in warm water (or hot if you want it to shrink more) and Voila!

You have made felt!

Here are some cuffs I made using felt from above.