The term "felting" describes a wider range of techniques than it used to, but all the variations make use of the special properties of wool (and some other animal) fibers.

Wet felting is the matting of wool fibers through a combination of heat, moisture, and agitation which causes the tiny scales or hooks of the fibers to lock together. Very sturdy garments and even dwellings (yurt covers) have been made this way for many centuries. We have FIBERS, dyed and in their natural colors, suitable for felting (as well as for spinning).

Needle felting uses barbed needles to matt fibers together.These needles were originally designed to be used industrially, many together in arrays, to make various felts and batting, such as the stuffing for car seats. Singly or in small sets felting needles can be used for surface design, or to make 3-dimensional pieces. No water or soap is involved, this is dry felting. See FIBERS, YARNS, and TOOLS for needle felting.

Knitted, or crocheted felting is a form of wet felting that takes oversized, loosely worked pieces and felts them in to smaller, denser and non-elastic versions of themselves. Most often used for bags and hats. Most wool yarns that are not "Superwash" will felt. See YARNS and FELTED PATTERNS.

And then there is Nuno, which involves felting layers of fiber to woven fabric, most often silk. A related technique builds the the design by attaching fiber to a soluble web (like soluble interfacing), usually by needling it (dry felting). The piece is then wet-felted, and the backing dissolved away. We have FIBERS, YARNS, and SILK SCARVES. See NEEDLE FELTING TOOLS as well.

Also see Felting BOOKS, and FELT-SQUARES (sometimes called pre-felts).These forms can be and often are combined, for an essentially unlimited set of possibilities.