Achieving a smooth and glossy surface on Nuno scatf

[joank]

I have seen so many beautiful pictures of finished Nuno scarves that have a lister to their surfaces. How do you achieve that? It appears to be on the merino side of the fabric. The layers appear to be in this order; silk fabric, wool tops and then on top of the wool, viscose or silk fiber. That side is the one that has the sheen.

How is this achieved? I have done a slow process using cold water and gentle rubbing. I’ve read don’t rub the embellishment surface very much.

Please help. Thanks.

[MTRuth]

Hi Joan, Welcome to the forum. I'm glad you joined us. There are many ways to felt and nuno felt. When you are putting a layer of viscose or silk fiber on wool, the easiest way to achieve a stable felt is probably rolling. If you are rubbing, try rubbing from the silk side gently with a thin plastic sheet over the that side while rubbing. Nuno is a slow process but it sounds like you know that. If you search here, you can find other threads discussing nuno. I hope that helps.

[Shepherdess]

The other thing that they may be doing is shaving the surface after it is dry. Often silk or other fibres get hidden in the fuzz. A light shave with a disposable razor will bring the shine back up to the surface.

[caryn]

Hi Joan! I'm new to this forum as well... and thought I'd chime in for what works for me to achieve amazing sheen in my nuno felted garments.
Yes, first the silk fabric, then I lay merino. Then any embellishments. Lastly I lay viscose, in clouds (pull it apart so it does not have a straight fiber line and make your viscose very thin, like clouds). I avoid the embellishments that I want to show through, and I use viscose as close to the colors of the merino as possible. Then I felt as usual... and rolling is more important at this stage then rubbing. I use a sander first, then roll, then I toss for fulling. If anything looks or feels "loose," I concentrate on that area, using a washboard to rub it into the rest of the garment.

By the way, I DO NOT use the sander on the silk side... that would be counterproductive when pushing the fibers through to adhere to the silk.

You might be able to see some of the shine of viscose (and my favorite: Golden Eri Silk fabric) in the instagram reel of one of my shawls:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2nRXjcP3qS

Good luck, and keep up the good work!
Caryn

[caterina]

Feb 6, 2024 23:26:14 GMT caryn said:

Hi Joan! I'm new to this forum as well... and thought I'd chime in for what works for me to achieve amazing sheen in my nuno felted garments.
Yes, first the silk fabric, then I lay merino. Then any embellishments. Lastly I lay viscose, in clouds (pull it apart so it does not have a straight fiber line and make your viscose very thin, like clouds). I avoid the embellishments that I want to show through, and I use viscose as close to the colors of the merino as possible. Then I felt as usual... and rolling is more important at this stage then rubbing. I use a sander first, then roll, then I toss for fulling. If anything looks or feels "loose," I concentrate on that area, using a washboard to rub it into the rest of the garment.

By the way, I DO NOT use the sander on the silk side... that would be counterproductive when pushing the fibers through to adhere to the silk.

You might be able to see some of the shine of viscose (and my favorite: Golden Eri Silk fabric) in the instagram reel of one of my shawls:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2nRXjcP3qS

Good luck, and keep up the good work!
Caryn

Hello, Caryn.
I can't see your photo as embedded, but I can open the link to your post on Instagram, so it works anyway. Your shawl is very shiny and lovely.
I just wanted to ask, you say that using the sander on the silk side would be counterproductive: please, can you explain why? Because it makes the wool more prominent on the surface, you mean?
I have taken courses with Lena Archbold, I don't know if you know her, and she always uses the sander, especially on silk and synthetic embellishments to make them very firmly embedded in the felt. She mostly uses merino for wool, and sometimes locks (bfl or teeswater), she loves very thin margilan silk for nuno felting, and she likes embellishing with silk hankies, silk scraps and synthetic fibers. She uses the sander and recommends it particularly on embellishments: I am wondering now what is the difference if one uses it on them or not, in terms of keeping fibers shiny.

[Shepherdess]

I don't use a sander but always start my rubbing on the silk side to encourage the wool up through the silk.

[lyn]

That shawl is gorgeous Caryn and must taken a lot of work.

[caryn]

Caterina, I enjoy Lena’s instruction as well. But several other teachers (and my own personal experience) advise against the sander on the silk side as it might actually stop the fibers from migrating completely… it’s forcing them back to the side they started. I did a small sample of each… I wish I had taken photos.. and this proved to be the case. Plus the texture of the fiber side was interrupted in smoothness due to the fibers trying to come back from the silk side. I’m interested to see if anyone else has compared the two techniques?

[caterina]

Feb 10, 2024 17:50:21 GMT caryn said:

Caterina, I enjoy Lena’s instruction as well. But several other teachers (and my own personal experience) advise against the sander on the silk side as it might actually stop the fibers from migrating completely… it’s forcing them back to the side they started. I did a small sample of each… I wish I had taken photos.. and this proved to be the case. Plus the texture of the fiber side was interrupted in smoothness due to the fibers trying to come back from the silk side. I’m interested to see if anyone else has compared the two techniques?

That is so interesting! I wish that I had time to replicate the experiment. Anyone would like to explain why this happens? I am always curious of the whys 🤔😅

[caterina]

Feb 10, 2024 17:50:21 GMT caryn said:

Caterina, I enjoy Lena’s instruction as well. But several other teachers (and my own personal experience) advise against the sander on the silk side as it might actually stop the fibers from migrating completely… it’s forcing them back to the side they started. I did a small sample of each… I wish I had taken photos.. and this proved to be the case. Plus the texture of the fiber side was interrupted in smoothness due to the fibers trying to come back from the silk side. I’m interested to see if anyone else has compared the two techniques?

By the way, Caryn, I guess that all of your felted wearables would come under the category of "me covers" in the Studio quarter challenge if you wish to enter. It's open to all. See the thread here in the Forum or as post in the Studio website.

[Shepherdess]

I am not sure what would cause your experience. but we all have to find what works best for us. There are lots of different ways and it's good to try them all and find what you like to do. I prefer rolling and rub for only a short time. Ruth likes rubbing and does very little rolling.

[caterina]

Feb 12, 2024 17:48:02 GMT Shepherdess said:

I am not sure what would cause your experience. but we all have to find what works best for us. There are lots of different ways and it's good to try them all and find what you like to do. I prefer rolling and rub for only a short time. Ruth likes rubbing and does very little rolling.

That is something that I really like of the felting, that there are many different ways and one can find their own way.
There is also an element of bewilderment at the beginning, though, as you have so many different points of view and sometimes conflicting techniques recommended by different people.

I quite like when you have those posts in the blog about the actual physical reasons for some technique to work: sometimes they are eye openers, sometimes when you know why something happens you can then do your own thing but maybe modifying it to be more effective towards your goals. They are maybe a bit arid for some, but once in a while it is good to get to the "boring but important" studying to progress. I feel that I have so many things to learn.

[caryn]

I’ll try to find the tutorial that advised not to sand the silk side of a Nuno piece, as it would push fibers back the wrong way. I sure hope I can! It was on you tube and I probably saved it to my library… I’ll keep you posted!
Caryn

[Shepherdess]

there are almost as many ways to make felt as there are felters.