Felt

BILLIARD CLOTH, or FELT

The finest textile fabric made and is a woollen cloth of the beaver type. The wool is very carefully selected and then spun with great care. Expert weavers operate the looms which weave into cloths the thousands of very fine threads. The cloth is then milled so thoroughly that it is waterproof and capable of resisting the dampest atmosphere. The dye used is such that light has little effect upon it. The best merino wool is used, and when ready for use the cloth has a perfect level face, soft and smooth. Plain weave is used for the best grades and 3-shaft twill for others. Widths from 72-in. to 81-in. Cloth shrinks about 33¹/₃ per cent from reed width to the finished width. An all-cotton billiard cloth is now being made and is meeting with much support. ————————

FELT

A wool fabric united without weaving. It is actually a sheet of wool fibre, matted into a substantial texture by the application of heat, moisture and pressure. There are many woven fabrics that are felted so heavily that it is difficult to decide whether they are woven or not, as the threads are so closely interlocked that they cannot be separated, and this fabric is stronger than a carded felt of same weight. The shrinkage of a woven felt fabric may be up to 50 per cent in both width and length. The peculiar property of felt is believed to have been known in early times, and the process of felting was used for the tents of the Tartar, as well as for articles of their clothing. It is difficult to say when felted wool was first used for hats. Hats of felt were worn in England in the Middle Ages.