We first became enthralled with thick felt over ten years ago when we frequented the SoHo showroom of J. Morgan Puett. A onetime fashion darling, now working out of rural Pennsylvania with her son and partner, J. Morgan used super thick industrial felt to sculpt dressing rooms and doors that hung from the ceiling. We loved how tactile, bulky and soft it was.
Only this past year did we get around to building our own felt doors, and we love them. They slide easily, baffle sound and take up no room.
The toughest part was finding the right felt. It turns out that to get good felt you have to go to industrial suppliers who sell this stuff for aircraft engine mounts and other heavy vibration situations. Here's what we ended up with.
Ingredients:
• 1/2 inch white wool felt from Sutherland Felt Company @ $75 a yard
• Hospital track, endcaps and rolling hooks from MedicalProductsDirect.com
• Thick brown leather from a place on Bleecker Street that charged me too much
• White spray paint
• Silicone spray
Other felt suppliers:
• Southeastern Felt
• Central Shippee
• Aetna Felt
Tools:
• eXacto knife
• Drill with 1/4 drill bit
Steps:
1. Measure your doorway and order your felt large enough for both panels to more than cover the opening both side to side and up and down. It comes 72" wide so you are in the best shape if you only have to buy one length and have them cut it down the middle for two 3' wide pieces.
2. Order your hospital track to all felt door to slide out to the side in both directions. It only comes in silver, but don't worry, you can paint it.
3. Mount your track on the ceiling and as tight to the door as possible so that the felt will hug the opening.
4. Insert end caps and rolling hooks. Spray with silicone to ease movement.
5. Masking off area around track, spray with white paint to blend in with ceiling.
6. Hold up felt and measure to fit.
7. Trim felt down with eXacto knife.
8. Using 1/4" drill bit, drill holes in top of felt about 1" down and 3" apart. Also drill holes for leather handles as well.
9. Stitch leather handle on with leather thong.
10. Hang felt from hooks.
If desired (We haven't done it yet, but plan to) you can use extra felt to attach at the top and hide the hooks that are poking out. We would stitch it together in the same way as the handles.
Looks cool, but how do these hold up over time - don't they get dusty/musty?
hi maxwell,
did you buy the pressed wool felt or the polyesther sheet? i want
to use it for product dispays.
thx,
c
Maxwell - Jeez, I wish I had that felt source a couple of years ago! "The toughest part was finding the right felt" indeed; I was in a similar boat in 2003/04 because I wanted to make felt baskets similar to the ones David Netto has for his children's collection http://nettocollection.com/product_detail.asp?SKU=NC-2105 (we had designed our own changing table, and needed ones for our specific dimension, plus, I though doing it ourselves MUST be cheaper than his!).
I wound up buying the heaviest industrial felt I could find at Central Shippee, but it was not even close to heavy enough (I am still struggling to use it up -- hot water bottle covers, dish storage liners...?). There was a Canadian source I eventually found, but they were unresponsive -- they sell to business/industry and design their own stuff, and so were not very interested in my small one-off order.
Thanks for the source!
These are beautiful.
How does one clean felt? I have a black and white cat. I can just see the cat hair spitting out of her skin and embedding itself in the felt. She would, of course, have to sashay along side the panels and make nice with them.
I love these doors. I can also see the felt being used to upholster walls. I would think felt has great insulating properties.
Ah the Netto containers.... I'm thinking of making them for kids toys too! -Monika, how much of that stuff do you have left? Consider selling the rest? Does anyone know what grade/thickness Netto uses? And I'm wondering how the felt wears over time against a toddler?
It's so funny I was just talking to my husband about this yesterday too...
jackie, i would imagine that you can use a lint roller on the felt for cat hair purposes and spot clean it like a wool rug for actual dirt.
Gleek: thanks!
After I read your suggestion I remembered the following, which are for removing those nasty white deodorant marks women get on the nice black clothes. They also turn out to be great on cat hair. I hadn't put the two dots together in my head. So far, these have done a better job of removing cat hair from my extensive black wardrobe so I guess they'd be great on the felt. I do love that felt.
http://msc.drugstore.com/qxp89606_335997_sespider/gal_pal/garment_deodorant_remover.htm
Sarah -
unfortunately, I haven't actually seen one of those Netto felt baskets in the flesh; have you? The must be in the NY showroom, as well as a half-dozen stores in NY (alas, not in Ottawa!). I think Maxwell's 1/2" might be a tad thicker than the original, so it would be worthwhile checking. If you do, I would be grateful knowing the result.
As for toddler wear, I think that they are pretty sturdy. The baskets we used instead on our lacquered changing table left scratches (I think there was something wrong with the lacquer, as it rubbed off the first day we used it just from coming in contact with our cotton clothing when changing the baby).
I would like to make the baskets too; my husband is still peeved at the load of white felt with no use though!
Maybe we could get together and find someone to make them for us at an economical cost...?
Last I saw, IKEA actually had their own version of a tracking system. In White. Ready to go. And with curved pieces (if you want to go further with having your door round a corner). Check your local IKEA, of course - I am referring to the one in Burbank, CA.
ps: pronounced icky-yah.
Hi Monika!!
Good to hear from you!
I live in NY and have been wanting to go look in person, but I just haven't gotten around to it. And the thought of purchasing such a huge qty of felt has kept this project low on the list. But I could go and check it out. What thickness of felt did you buy? By looking at the containers, I suspect it's about 1/4" thick.
As for the sewing...
I was thinking of sewing them myself. I know how to sew very well, perhaps we could make a trade? I'd make your baskets and in return get the left over felt to make mine? This of course would depend on if there was enough felt for both projects, but this could work. And if there was any felt left over after that I could send it back to you. Sound interesting? -email me and we'll discuss some more: sarah@urban-pioneering.com
:)
Not sure if this is what you guys were looking for, but this company has white felt bins,
http://aetnafelt.thomasnet.com/viewitems/felt-clearance-items/felt-bins?&forward=1
Cheers!
Hi, Maxwell-
Awesome idea. I see you used industrial felt. Can you tell me what grade of felt you used? Also was it pressed or needled?
Thanks!
T
Hi All
I have all sorts of ends and full rolls from a local industrial felt manufacturer. Some are super stiff, some are nice and soft. We have mass amounts for a show we've hosting where artists are using it to make various art pieces.
If anyone wants to participate from the design world we'd love it. Go to our website and drop us a line - www.imperialcottoncentre.com
We also have a full roll of vintage 1940s material that is 6M by 20M. If interested drop us a line.
Jeremy - Imperial Cotton Centre for the Arts
Hamilton, ON, CANADA 905-548-0111
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Hi Maxwell - I was wondering are there any outlets in NYC where you can buy industrial felt? Or is ordering it really the best way to go?
view ketoile's profile
Hi I love your doors and have a question:
I own 1/2" 100% wool felt and wonder what you do about MOTHS!!!
Also I'm looking for info about either durable adhesives or felting possibilities for this thickness of felt.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I live in NYC. Thanks,
guapaji@yahoo.com
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