Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibres together. Felt can be made of natural fibres such as wool or synthetic fibres such as acrylic. To make felt out of wool, warm soapy water will be applied to layers of animal hairs placed at 90 degree angles to one another. Repeated agitation and compression causes the fibres to hook together into a single piece of fabric. Wrapping the properly arranged fibre in a sturdy, textured material will speed up the felting process.
This traditional wool felt making is still practised by peoples with a nomadic tradition (Mongols;Turkic people). In Turkey, although it became a minor trade, ‘keçe’ (= felt made of wool) is still produced in the old ways in (a.o.) Afyon, Ağrı, Birecik, Akhisar, Tire, Isparta, Muş. Several methods can be used to bring about decorated felt carpets; Kazaks and Mongols make their colourful felt carpets by combining felts of different colours that they sew together (a kind of patchwork). In Turkey felt-makers generally integrate the designs into the felt-in-progress, by placing tufts of coloured wool on the surface of the wet carpet-to-be, before the warm soapy water is squeezed out.