Needle Felting or Wet Felting? What Is The Difference?

What is the difference between wet felted and dry felted products? It is one of the most frequently asked questions in the felting industry.

Wet felting and dry felting are two very different processes that create very different results. But, many people wonder, is it better to buy dry or needle felted crafts? 

Felting is an ancient craft, and felt, as most of us know, is a textile material created by matting, condensing, and pressing wool together. In our 'Felting Techniques 101' blog, you can learn all there is to know about felting.

Here are some of the differences to consider when deciding to buy crafts made using two different techniques.

First, let’s look at our simple video of felting a ball using both wet felting and dry felting techniques. 

First, let's see what are some similarities between wet felting and dry felting

1. Both felting methods are used to transform strands of wool fiber using friction and agitating fiber to bind the fiber to make craft items. 
2. Wool shrinks as they are felted regardless of the methods you use.
3. Both felting methods can be used to create similar types of crafts.
4. Crafts made after using both felting techniques cannot be reversed. 

This is basically where the similarities of both felting techniques end. But there are distinct differences between both methods on how the end product comes out. 

Now, let's see the core difference between wet and dry or needle felting techniques.

Needle/ Dry Felting vs Wet Felting Techniques

Wet felting uses warm soapy water and manual agitation of the wool to turn the fibers into felt. The wet-felted craft is finished by fulling or agitating the fibers against a rough surface such as a washboard that interlocks wool fiber together.

On the contrary, needle felting is most prevalent and a rather easy felting technique that uses up and down motion of felting needles on wool to form felt. 

Needle felting does not require wool fulling which means it does not require soap, heat, and water to shrink the wool. Needle felting utilizes tools such as needle, sculpting needle, and sculpting tool to make the wool into shape.

What is the difference in end products?

The end product of the wet felted craft is smooth. The product is also slightly on the heavier side due to the use of water while felting. Once the wool is felted using the wet felting method to give a distinct shape, all fibers get meshed making it impossible to wet felt any additional items to it. 

In needle felting, the end product is slightly on the rougher side and is lighter than wet felt. Adding wool to the needle felted craft is easy as you have to just poke more wool into the craft.

What products are made using each technique?

As wet felting can help to give you a distinct and firm shape, it is perfect to make simple things. They are mostly used to make simple designs or simple shapes that do not require careful attention to detail. Wet felting can be used as the base for needle felting crafts. 

They are perfect to make shapes like felt sheets, felt balls, hearts, etc. Wet felting is also perfect to make sturdy items like bags, cat caves, hats, etc. However, getting a distinct shape is hard with the wet felting technique. 

Needle felting on the other hand is perfect for products or designs that require careful attention to detail. Needling is best to add design to your wet felting products and is perfect for the meticulous design.

Needling is also perfect to repair wet felt projects, wool sculptures as well as add a decorative finish to your crafts. It is also comparatively easy to make shapes using the needle felting technique than the wet felting technique.

Can we felt products of any size using both techniques?

Well, the simple answer is no. Wet felting is easy to make both bigger and smaller felt products. Be it for your workout savvy friend, or pampering your pet, wet felted products like our yoga mat and cat and dog beds are made using the wet felting technique.

Needle felting is mostly used to make small craft items. Needling requires much attention to detail and extensive labor to make a single felt craft. This makes it hard to needle-felt any big crafts. 

Which felting technique is better?

There is no distinct answer on one felting technique being better over another. Both of the felting methods are better in their own ways to make crafts.

As a hobby, both felting techniques are equally fun to start with. For wet felting, all you need is wool, water, and soap and you are good to go. For needling, you will need wool and felting needles while you can also use padding and finger guide if you are starting out.

Both felting techniques use quite a bit of labor, however, for making products in bulk, needle felting takes more labor as each craft needs to be made separately. 

So here is everything you need to know about the differences between wet felting and dry felting. Hope this blog helped you to clear the differences in felt products made from two different felting techniques. 

You can find more information regarding the basics of felting in our previous blog. You can also find different felt crafts made using wet as well as dry felting methods on our website and Etsy shop.