Autres articles
Felt has been used since ancient times by the nomads of central Asia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Mongolia... It is a material used traditionally and mostly by modest people.
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Felt and interior design
Inherent properties of felt
Felt is a thick, porous and flexible material.
These physical features make it an excellent sound and air absorbent.
This natural material is thus a sound barrier and a heat insulator.
It is also water repellant and fire retardant.
Felt is dense and so opaque to light.
The mechanisms through which felt absorbs sound and air
Acoustic energy is reduced effectively by felt in 3 ways :
Felt and its physical and mechanical features put into service of interior design
I use my felt panels to provide sound comfort in interiors where there is too much resonation and heat comfort where there is need to block out cold air.
They can also be used as blackout panels.
Photo Credits: Bernard Taboureau
Other features of felt used in other industries
Felt is also water-repellant. This feature is not often used in interior design but it comes in handy in a lot of other fields. For example, bakers (at least in France) let rise their bread dough on a layer of felt which being water-repellant will not absorb the dough humidity. The dough will not stick to the felt either for the same reason.
This material is much used in different industries as : degreaser, insulator, filter, polisher, anti-vibrator, anti-shock, geotextile...
It is used in pianos to soften down the sound of the keys. We call a "felt tip pen" by this name because of its felt core soaked with ink. As we write, the felt leaves a trace in ink of our thoughts...
These are only a few of the wonders felt can do !
See all my felt panels