Do you pre-wash your 100% wool felt?

[NinaUk]

Hi, I am making some felt play food using 100% wool felt and I just had a few questions.
Do you pre-wash your wool felt, and if so how do you do it? (by hand or machine?)
Does it change the texture of the felt? I wanted a really natural, earthy, organic feeling for my veg... Any tips on achieving this vibe would be great!
How much shrinkage will there be with pre-washing?

Sorry about all the questions, Thanks so much for any advice you can give me!

[Bird Girl]

No, I don't machine-wash wool craft felt. You can spot-clean it, even immerse it if you need to, but felt shouldn't be agitated (it already has been felted, so there's no need to do it any further.)

[E.V. Lowi]

I saw this recently, recommended by a fellow doll maker who loves this felt-

http://www.nationalnonwovens.com/Applications/c&h.htm

Here are their instructions for "boiled wool felt"

http://www.nationalnonwovens.com/App...20Instructions

[tinasquirrel]

Wool Felt Central (http://www.woolfeltcentral.com/woolfeltcentral.html) has some tips for working with their wool felt. I don't pre-wash my 100% wool felt. But, when I buy wool felt blends, I don't like how the felt feels. It has this machine feel to it or something. So, I use the tips on Wool Felt Central to prep the felt. You don't wash it though. You soak it, etc. This makes the felt nicer to work with. 100% is the best though, but if I'm making something bigger, then it's hard to splurge on the 100% stuff.

[katiemfree]

I work with wool felt that my sister has naturally dyed, so it has been in hot water, but she doesn't agitate it. It has a lovely texture, it's just a tiny bit more pebbled on the surface than the non-dyed stuff, but I think it's fantastic. So nice to work with the real thing!!

[E.V. Lowi]

I use a 100% wool felt and a plant dyed 70/30 wool&rayon blend. The blend has a pebbled texture and is thicker than the wool but is not nearly as strong. Small pieces will break off of the blend felt quite easily.

Blend-

http://www.weirdollsandcrafts.com/wo...lant-dyed.html

100%-
http://www.weirdollsandcrafts.com/wo...-felt-100.html