Felt slippers

Felt is a dense nonwoven fabric. It can be either natural from 100% sheep wool or synthetic fibers.

Felt can be made in the factory, or it can be hand-felted by wet felting.

The most famous felt product in Russia is felt boots. According to Dahl's explanatory dictionary, felt boots are all felt shoes. A few centuries ago, felt boots in villages were worn not only on the street, but also in the house and even in summer. Now this tradition is being revived by felted slippers. What is the uniqueness of natural felt and footwear made from it?

Modern researchers have come to the conclusion that natural wool shoes have a therapeutic and prophylactic effect on the human body. Felt shoes improve blood circulation in the feet by massaging the feet when walking. After a few days of use, sweating of the legs is significantly reduced, and the feet always remain warm, because natural sheep wool can absorb up to 40% of water.

Natural fat, lanolin, contained in wool, has an antiseptic effect. Thanks to him, felt slippers can protect feet from fungal diseases. Lanolin also helps soften and respects the skin and has a beneficial effect on the joints. Felt slippers can help relieve tired feet, muscle pain and relieve stress. The effectiveness of felt footwear has been proven in the fight against arthritis, heaviness in the legs and at the onset of colds.

The advantages of felt slippers over other models of home shoes are obvious, so it is not surprising that they are chosen by adults and children, men and women. There are a lot of felted wool slippers. Handmade all-felted slippers are very popular.These shoes are seamless.

• all-felted ballet slippers. Sometimes the masters perform this model with a button strap, giving the slippers even more femininity and tenderness.

• classic slippers-flip flops. They come with an open or closed toe, with or without a heel. Slippers flip-flops are most often chosen by men. They are comfortable, practical, easy to take off and put on.

• slippers-boots or simply shortened boots. This model will suit connoisseurs of warmth, comfort and coziness, for example, it will be a great gift for your beloved grandmothers. And also perfect for children, because they sit tightly on the leg, do not interfere with outdoor games.

According to the manufacturing method, knitted and then felted slippers can also be distinguished separately. Most often, in this way, shoes are made by craftswomen who have no experience in felting. First, a pair of woolen socks or footprints are knitted, and then rolled away by washing them in a washing machine at a high temperature. These slippers are very light, soft and thinner than self-driving shoes, but at the same time they are quite durable and warm.

There are also factory-made felt slippers on sale. The most common model of slippers is slate. They come in both natural wool felt and synthetic or blended materials.

Felt slippers can also be conditionally divided by the presence of a sole. Slippers without a sole are softer and more flexible. But they are less durable and can be frayed from frequent rubbing on the floor. The sole of felt slippers is most often sewn onto the finished product. It is made from leather and suede, or from synthetic materials. Slippers on the sole do not slip on the floor and will last longer, retaining their original appearance. Another modern way to protect felt slippers from rubbing is to impregnate the sole with latex. This material can be applied to the entire area of ​​the sole, or as a dot only to make the slippers more comfortable and less slippery, but at the same time leave the feet to breathe.

Felt slippers are often richly and interestingly decorated. The works of the masters are distinguished by a wide variety of decorating elements and styles. Several of the most popular areas can also be identified here:

• decor with voluminous felted elements, for example, craftsmen often use motives of the animal and plant world - flowers, leaves, berries, birds and butterflies.
• drawing, stuffed using the dry felting technique. Such a pattern is durable, since in the process of felting, a slipper becomes an integral part.
• drawing applied by paints on fabric. This technique differs from the previous one in clearer contours, however, it is a crust on the woolen surface, as a result of which, the pattern may turn out to be short-lived. The favorite subject of the designers is the traditional Khokhloma painting.
• eco-style slippers. Here, designers focus on the beauty of unpainted felt, genuine leather inserts and knitted woolen items.
• double-layer slippers made of felt in contrasting colors. At the same time, the top layer has shaped cuts, thus forming an interesting pattern. For example, felt slippers stylized as the well-known Crocs footwear.
• stylish slippers with elongated, bent up toes. This model is suitable for fans of fairy tales about gnomes.

The main raw material for the production of felt is coarse and semi-coarse wool, the fiber length of which ranges from 40 to 90 mm. This wool is characterized by a wide variety of colors in a natural range: from pure white and cream to gray and dark brown.Most often, felts are made from a mixture of different wool, which gives them a melange shade.

Felt-makers can use natural dyes to dye wool before felting, such as onion peels, nettle leaves, birch leaves, pomegranate peels, henna and basma. Shades are obtained in soft natural tones of beige-brown and gray-green gamut.

If you are leaning towards factory-made slippers, then the most important thing is to check with the seller that they are made from natural felt without synthetic additives. Many trade marks sin the production of slippers from acrylic or polypropylene, although they do not hide this from buyers. Their products are chosen for a low price. In this matter, natural felt slippers cannot compete - their price is several times higher than their synthetic counterparts.

And if your choice fell on self-rolled slippers, then the most common marriage here is under-melted products. Such slippers will quickly lose their shape, begin to look untidy, and pellets and gaps will quickly appear on them.

How to distinguish low-quality felt in a handmade product?

Here are some signs:

1. Slippers look loose, there are wrinkles on their surface that do not have a decorative function. High-quality felt has a smooth or fine-grained structure that looks like millet porridge. If the upper part of the slippers is decorated, do not hesitate to look at the felt from the wrong side.
2. The surface of the slippers looks fluffy. This is definitely a sign of marriage.
3. If the felt cut resembles puff pastry, then such a product will definitely be short-lived. In high-quality felt slippers, it is impossible to discern the direction of the woolen fibers, they are so tightly matted together.
4. In the event that you buy a product personally from a master, and not via the Internet, you need to check the elasticity of the felt. Well-felted slippers are springy and perfectly retain their original shape.