Paper Mill Felt

I recently came across someone offering what he called paper mill felt. I have never heard of it before, and can find little information on the web about it. It seems likely that the material is synthetic in nature, so just checking if that is always the case or if anyone might have found some permie usefulness out of it. I'm currently looking for something to insulate yurts with and it will probably take me a while to get enough wool to felt something up.

This site has a brief description but only mentions "material", "felt", and "yarn". Is it going to be synthetic and/or saturated with nasty chemicals?

A paper mill felt is a synthetic material. Its a water abosrbent "fabric" that is pressed down against the sheet of paper after it's been formed to dewater it. I would expect that, yes, it's saturated in chemical. Depending on what mill it's coming out of (OCC vs virgin, chemical pulping vs mechanical)so probably not the ideal garden material

Jaydeep Gupta wrote:A paper mill felt isna synthetic material.

Sorry, are you saying it is or isn't synthetic?

Is a synthetic*

I think it's called "felt" since they probably used felt a hundred years ago.  The paper mill felt I'm used to is basically a thick weave of plastic thread that is similar to a water permeable conveyor belt.  People often use it for paths in gardens since it seems to keep the weeds down (surprisingly).  I doubt it has any insulation value.

Paper mill felts or paper mill wires are wear parts on paper machines that are usually utilized at the start of the papermaking process to assist in dewatering stock as it is initially formed into a sheet.  You may find felts all along a paper machine to help guide and dewater the sheet.



People that I know utilize it for pathways that need to be able to drain water but to keep down weeds.

Modern felts/wires are made with synthetic materials. Ones that are being disposed of may have rips, tears, or have clogged pores due to use.

Personally, I would not recommend utilize them because you do not know what materials/chemicals have been utilized in the paper making process that might still be on the material.