Whether you’re working with acrylic felt or wool felt, it can seem tricky to flatten out it once it has a stubborn crease in it, especially thick stiff felt. Using too hot a temperature can melt acrylic felt and make it go glossy. Wool felt shrinks and goes shiny with too much heat too, so you can’t just turn the heat up on the iron to get rid of it. But there are a few little easy tricks that can help to flatten it out again in no time… and what works for stiff felt works for any felt. It’ll just work much faster and easier!
Come and watch how I like to fix that felt with this video, or scroll on down for the step by step instructions.
How To Get Rid Of Felt Creases With Steam
Steaming is my favourite way of smoothing out felt. If you have a steamer, I’d use that. If not, then most irons will have a steam setting.
I like to spread my felt out on a flat surface like a table or on the floor on top of a towel or 2.
Now here’s the important part – I don’t touch the felt with the iron.
I keep it about 5-10cm (2-3 inches) ABOVE the fabric, keeping the iron (or steamer) moving, so I don’t over heat one spot. I think it’s better to under-do it than to damage the fabric so I prefer to keep the exposure very brief.
This helps the fibres of the felt to relax.
I then use the flat of my hands to gently help smooth the creases out. If it’s a stubborn crease, I’ll alternate steaming and smoothing until I’m happy with the result.
I use the flat part of my hand because felt it very delicate when it’s warm and damp, so I find that it’s too easy to accidentally misshape the fabric with my fingertips by overpulling at one spot which can make little dips and craters.
If all signs of the crease are gone at this point, then I will usually just leave it out to air dry flat. A stubborn crease can leave tiny wrinkle lines. I find that these will usually disappear if I place a cloth over the line and rest a book or similar weight on it to help it stay completely flat while drying.
How To Smooth Out Felt Creases With An Iron & Pressing Cloth
It is possible to directly iron felt, but you need to be really careful. If your iron has a synthetic setting or wool setting then select that – wool is usually cooler than synthetic so I’d start there. If not, I’d start with whatever the coolest setting for your iron is.
I wouldn’t recommend placing the iron directly on the felt as it can make it turn shiny, so a pressing cloth or piece of cotton in between the felt and iron helps to protect it. It’s worth double checking the heat you’ve selected is ok for the felt you’re working with, by testing it on a scrap of that felt, or over an edge that wont be obviously seen on your project.
I like to place my felt so that the crease makes a tent shape on the ironing pad. I find this generally helps it to relax out easier in a flat position when I first start. I pop the cotton over the top then keep the iron constantly moving on the fabric for just a few seconds before resting it. I then use the flats of my hands to gently smooth then flip the felt and repeat on the other side. I keep repeating short bursts of heat from the iron, smoothing then flipping until I’m happy with the fabric then I let it cool flat.
If the crease is really stubborn, then the pressing cloth can be used damp, but be more careful flipping the felt as it can warp and mishape more easily when hot and damp.
How To Flatten Or Reshape Felt With Soaking
When felt is warm and damp, it is most easy to change its shape. So this technique can be used both for getting rid of creases or for easing felt into a new shape. This is especially fun to do with thick stiff felt as you can create more natural curved structural shapes.
For acrylic felt, I use warm water – like a nice warm bath temperature. For wool felt, it’s more temperature sensitive, so I usually aim for lukewarm water.
For a light crease, or gentle reshaping, a little rinse for a few seconds is plenty, but for more stubbon folds or a bigger shape change, I would soak it for 5-10 minutes in the water to really soften the fabric fibres.
At this point, the felt will be really delicate, so don’t be tempted to wring it out or hang it by a corner, because it’s likely to warp and distort the shape.
Wherever you lay your felt to dry will determine the final shape of it, so bowls etc can be used to drape over for a curve, but if you want it flat it needs to be held flat. So I place it gently on a towel on a flat surface and smooth it out.
Then I cover it with another towel, and add weights like books to hold it in place while it air dries.
If I want to speed the process up, I’ll leave it an hour for the majority of the moisture to be absorbed from the felt into the towels. Then handling it very carefully, I’ll move the felt to a dry towel then grab a hairdrier. On a low heat, I’ll dry the felt off with the hairdrier, then add a fresh tea towel on top and leave it to cool under the book.
Can You Hang Creases Out Of Felt?
For light creases, you can absolutely hang dry felt in a warm, steamy bathroom to let creases relax out naturally. It wont work for deep heavy fold lines, and I wouldn’t recommend wetting it first as the extra weight can make it more likely to distort rather than just flatten. On acrylic felt, you can even add clothespins with small weights to the bottom of the felt to help gently pull it taut if you want it done quicker. I prefer not to add weights though and just give it longer, especially to wool felt as it’s more easily distorted than acrylic.
If I use this method, I pin the felt up on top of my shower glass with laundry pegs. I like to pop the crease facing towards the glass so both edges of the felt want to hug the glass (as opposed to the bottom edge wanting to fold away off the glass). I find this helps it relax down flatter quicker. I’ll have a nice hot steamy shower, then leave it overnight.
What’s your favourite way to get creases out? If you have any other tips or tricks that you’ve found, then please do share them in the comments.
