Synthetic Needle Punched Felt
Needle punched felt or needled felt is a nonwoven fabric that is created through a newer, more technical felting process instead of a weaving process. During needle felting, barbed needles bind fibers together to create industrial felt or craft felt.
At Monarch Textiles, our concern is that each yard of needled felt that comes off the line is in accordance with required specifications and consistent from start to finish and from order to order. With a variety of fiber lengths and materials, as well as needle combinations, we can create a wide range of textiles to meet your needs.
How Does Needle Punched Felt Work?
Synthetic (and sometimes natural) fibers are opened (or spread apart) and mechanically oriented in a carding or combing machine to make a web. A combing machine separates out short fibers, while a carding machine disentangles, cleans, and intermixes the fibers, producing the fiber web. This web is then layered using a cross-lapper.
The layers are fed into a needle loom through a conveyor belt. The fibers are mechanically inter-tangled (or needled) using thousands of barbed needles on the needle board. These barbed needles repeatedly puncture the web, about 2000 times a minute.
The needles are designed with three sides, all of which have barbs to grip the fibers. As they perforate the web, the fibers are pulled inside. The design of the needles, however, allows the needle to return while the fibers remain in their new position. Repeatedly pulling fibers into the web interlocks them together, creating a piece of industrial felt.
The first stage of determining the density of a needled felt is by the type of needle used, the depth of penetration of the needles and how many punctures per square inch (ppi) are made. Other finishing processes can be included such as calendaring, singeing and glazing.
Needle Punched Felt from Monarch Textiles
Monarch Textiles offers a variety of needled felt to meet your applications needs. Our industrial felts include:
Polyester Felt Products: This is a polyester felt fabric that is a synthetic needle punched felt made from polyester fibers. We supply this in black, white, or gray blends, but can also provide various colors on special order.
Wool Felt Products: Wool needle punch felt is processed using the same process as needling synthetic fibers. Most of the wool needle punch is made using recycled wool fibers.
Polypropylene Felt Products: This fabric is made the same way as polyester felt, with thousands of barbed needles needle punching until the correct thickness and density is reached.
Applications for Needle Punched Felt
Needle punched felt is found in a wide variety of applications in our everyday lives. The craft felt found in arts & crafts supply stores is needle punched, and many common felt goods are made with needle punched felt.
It is also found in many industrial applications, including the automotive industry. Trunk liners, dashboard covers, wall covering, and sound insulation are all needled felt. It can also be used to replace plywood during hurricanes, as well as in industrial filtration.
Contact Monarch Textiles Today for Needled Felt
Monarch Textiles is dedicated to manufacturing the synthetic needle punched felt that your application requires. We provide unparalleled experience, customer service, and innovative industry solutions. To learn more about our needle punched felt and other nonwoven textiles, contact us today.
