Felt in the world

Over time, felt has been used in many places in the world.

 

In Mongolia, the nomads lived in felt tents (yurds).

 

In Central Asia, felt has been found which is 2500 years old. In China, felt has been used even further back in time. in many places the felt has only been preserved because it has lain in areas with permafrost and thus been deep frozen

 

In Norway and Sweden, felt boots without doors have been used in winter. They were hard and dense. Felt linings were also used in unlined leather boots.

 

In Siberia they call felt boots Valenki (singular Valenok) and they are still used. Many even believe that it is the only way to keep your feet warm in such extreme cold conditions.

 

Sails for Viking ships were woven from wool and then warped to become tight and durable.

In Danish open-air museums, there are many artfully carved wadding boards, which bear witness to the fact that here at home we also used felt and wadding for clothing and household items.

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You can read more about the history of felting in Gunilla Paetau Sjøberg's book: "Tova, gammal teknik på nytt sätt", LT's Forlag, Sweden 1994.

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The picture is also from this book.