Pilling on Finished Felt Pieces

[breezy]

Hello!

I made some felted pillow covers and am wondering what amount of pilling is normal for a finished felted piece. Being that they are pillows, there's a good amount of friction that affects the front of the pillows when they are in use. I have no problem using a razor to shave off loose ends every once in awhile, but I am hoping to start selling functional felted pieces and worry about customer's perception of the pilling. 

Is it possible that I didn't felt / full them long enough? Or does this happen to some extent no matter how long you felt? 

Thanks for your thoughts!

[felicity]

What kind of wool do you use for the cushions? If it's coarse wool it will pill.

[Pandagirl]

I made a pillow cover once with Merino. One side I fulled hard the other I didn’t. The one side well fulled hasn’t pilled, but the other does and I’m now contemplating taking it apart and redoing it or making a new one at some point.

[tracey]

I also worry about customer's perception of the pilling for bags/ tea cosies etc that I have sold. Rightly or wrongly I have put together a Wool Care leaflet that I tell them is going into the bag with their purchase and to please read it. I have also demonstrated on my own bag how to give it a light shave, pointing out how you will not damage it by doing this.

I feel happier having this leaflet as information.

[MTRuth]

I agree with everyone's comments so far. The wool breed makes a big difference as some pill more than others. Fulling really hard also helps to prevent future pilling. Tracey's idea of telling customers in advance that it happens and how to fix it is also very good.

One thing I have found is that a layer of fabric (nuno felting) on top of a surface that will get rough wear prevents pilling. On slippers that I have made, those with nuno felting on the surface haven't pilled even after a number of years. In comparison, slippers that were fulled the exact same and used the same wool, pilled much more and much sooner.

[Shepherdess]

Wool type makes a lot of difference. Make some samples of different wools. then pin them to some existing pillows and see how they wear.

[Pandagirl]

Apr 11, 2018 23:49:31 GMT Shepherdess said:

Wool type makes a lot of difference. Make some samples of different wools. then pin them to some existing pillows and see how they wear.

I see a lot of pillow fights in your future Ann. ;-)

[breezy]

Awesome, thanks everyone! I don't remember the exact breeds; it was all purchased from RH Lindsay and most is on the coarser side. This makes sense though and I will continue to figure out which wools are the worst offenders.

It's a great idea to give care instructions to customers right away. I will plan on doing some form of this.

And I will work on my fulling It's reassuring at least that it seems to just be a part of living with wool. I'll keep trying my hand at nuno felting as well.

These are great solutions. Thanks all!

[odette]

Apr 11, 2018 16:25:15 GMT MTRuth said:

I agree with everyone's comments so far. The wool breed makes a big difference as some pill more than others. Fulling really hard also helps to prevent future pilling. Tracey's idea of telling customers in advance that it happens and how to fix it is also very good.

One thing I have found is that a layer of fabric (nuno felting) on top of a surface that will get rough wear prevents pilling. On slippers that I have made, those with nuno felting on the surface haven't pilled even after a number of years. In comparison, slippers that were fulled the exact same and used the same wool, pilled much more and much sooner.

[odette]

Thank you MT Ruth and everyone,
Did you use the nicely par inside or outside the slippers?
I plan to make a pair of slippers for myself after some more training experiences.
I will be please with all your sharing experience.
Thank you.

[MTRuth]

Glad we could help. The fabric was used on the outside of the slippers but would have been good on the inside as well. Here is a tutorial written by one of our forum members. I have used this method many times for slippers and like the way it turns out.

feltingandfiberstudio.com/2014/03/03/felted-slipper-tutorial-using-ear-shaped-resist-by-nada-v/

[odette]

Jul 16, 2023 20:09:27 GMT MTRuth said:

Glad we could help. The fabric was used on the outside of the slippers but would have been good on the inside as well. Here is a tutorial written by one of our forum members. I have used this method many times for slippers and like the way it turns out.

feltingandfiberstudio.com/2014/03/03/felted-slipper-tutorial-using-ear-shaped-resist-by-nada-v/

[odette]

Thank you so much MTRuth. I'm talking note of your advice.
Have a nice day.

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

Jul 16, 2023 20:09:27 GMT MTRuth said:

Glad we could help. The fabric was used on the outside of the slippers but would have been good on the inside as well. Here is a tutorial written by one of our forum members. I have used this method many times for slippers and like the way it turns out.

feltingandfiberstudio.com/2014/03/03/felted-slipper-tutorial-using-ear-shaped-resist-by-nada-v/

Thanks for that link Ruth.  If I get the part I'm after in our next panto (elderly genie) I'll need to make myself some slippers.  I was just wondering about that yesterday.  

✔That's one ticked off the list.