How To Felt Wool!

Have Fun With Your Washing Machine!
Learning how to felt wool is great fun. This is the first and easiest of the two 'wet' methods and is often discovered by accident! Yes - it's the least labour-intensive - the tool is...your washing machine!

In short...

• Create your item from wool or animal fibre yarn.
• When completely finished , place in mesh laundry bag.
• Set washing machine to HOT WASH/COLD RINSE.
• Wash item, then shake out and lay flat to dry.

For more important information about how to felt wool, see below.
You should use wool - acrylic, polyester, nylon, cotton, silk, or yarns with only a percentage of wool WILL NOT FELT. Be aware that wools labeled 'superwash' have been treated to prevent felting.

Firstly, you can use your creative skills to knit, crochet , maybe weave or craft an item with macrame. Usually the most successful felted items are those which don't need to be a certain size, eg. purses, bowls, tote bags, scarves.
Try something small at first to be sure you like the results. You don't want to shrink that intricate cabled vest that took you months to make, only to find it will now fit your 4 year old! As you progress through the learning curve of how to felt wool, you can become more adventurous.

In learning how to felt wool, you must be aware that your wool item WILL SHRINK during felting. You can compensate for some shrinkage by using a larger hook or needles than usual.

If you want a denser finish for a tote bag, choose a closer stitch design. For a more open look, say for a scarf, choose a very open or lacy pattern. Think about the function of your finished project.
Heard of boiled wool? Try felting without a washing machine!

So, let's say you're making a simple purse...Your purse should be completely finished before you begin felting - sewn up and ends finished off. Add any embellishments in wool BEFORE felting. (If you embroider a design after felting then wash your purse again, the embroidery shrinks, but not the purse. This leaves your purse mis-shapen.)
When you are happy with your purse, place it in a mesh laundry bag. You can wash your purse alone - I have found that washing it by itself works best. Also, wool fibers may work loose during washing, so my advice is...wash only with outerwear, if you want to add anything at all! Set your washing machine to HOT WASH and COLD RINSE cycle and add a small amount of wool-friendly detergent.

Now just leave your machine to do all the hard work.

Source: http://www.woolcrafting.com/how-to-felt-wool.html