FELT ; FELTING. Under HAT MANU FACTURE will be found a description of that peculiar process whereby woollen and fur fibres are felted into a material fitted for bats.
Woollen fibres are sometimes combined by the felting instead of the weaving process for carpets and various kinds of cloth. Among other manufacturing firms for the purpose, there is the ' Patent Felted Woollen Cloth Com pany ; ' by whom is made felt carpets, embos sed and printed felt table-covers, felt polishing cloth for plate and other purposes, felt for veterinary purposes, felt waistcoatings, felt coach-cloths and railway carriage-linings, up holsterers' felt, and felt for pianofortes.
A material called Asphalted Roofing Felt has come rather extensively into use. The two principal kinds are Croggon's and McNeill's. The qualities of this material are stated by the patentees to be imperviousness to rain and snow, non-conductibility of heat, elasticity, lightness, durability, economy, and easy appli cation. It may not perhaps possess all these desirable qualities, but it certainly possesses many of them. It is used for roofing churches, houses, cottages, verandahs, farm-buildings, cattle sheds, and other buildings ; for lining granaries and stores ; for protecting ceilings from damp ; for lining the insides or outsides of wooden buildings ;.for covering conservato ries and garden-frames ; for thatching corn and hay ricks ; and for many other purposes.
The felt for the above purposes is sold in large sheets at the rate of about a penny per square foot. Another kind, called Inodorous Felt, is saturated with waterproof material free from the smell of the ordinary felt, and is used to prevent wall-paper from being injured by damp. There is also a patent Felted Sheath ing, for covering ships' bottoms ; it is a felted mixture of hair and vegetable fibre, and is not intended as a substitute for copper sheathing, but to be used as a layer beneath it. Another variety, the Non-conducting Felt, is used as a covering for boilers and steam-pipes, on ac count of its power of confining tho heat within the vessel enclosed by it ; it is used for fixed, locomotive, and marine steam-engines, and in breweries and distilleries : it is said also to be a good protective of water pipes from frost. The Asphalted Felt is made in long pieces, 3:2 inches wide by about 30 yards long, and is sold in any smaller or larger quantities. The fibrous material of which it is formed is satu rated with asphalte or bitumen. Many sheds and other buildings at Devonport and Wool with Dock Yards, Isle of Portland, and else where, are now covered with this material.