Ryan Schenk

I had some of my mobile designs laser cut out of wool felt through Ponoko, a fantastic service that makes laser cutting almost laughably easy. The mobile pieces came out looking great, but there’s two problems.

When you laser cut felt, it smells very strongly like burning hair (go figure), and it leaves a charred halo around the edges. Some people recommend dry cleaning to remove the smell and char, but that was too expensive and environmentally unfriendly for me. I experimented with a couple ways of cleaning the felt, and this is what worked best for me.

1. Make a mixture of cold water and dish soap
2. Soak the felt for 15-30 minutes
3. While still submerged, go around the edges with an electric toothbrush
4. Rinse with cold water
5. Pat dry on a tea towel, then leave on the counter to air dry

This method is pretty quick, easy, and works. Just remember to use an old toothbrush head.

Photos after the jump

Here’s some before and after photos!

As you can see below, the felt will shrink, but it’s not too bad.

This entry was posted Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 at 7:48 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.