Finding Felts in a Warm Climate

I left behind so many things.... when moving South. Plentiful old army blankets that I could cut to various sizes for papermaking was something I just took for granted. I have not been able to locate even one here in the "low" country even with all the military bases nearby (Parris Island is just one of many).



I have resorted to cutting up a variety of wool blankets when ever I'm lucky enough to find one. Most work well but all create different textures. Nothing like a well worn wool army blanket.

Gingko leaf embedded between two thin sheets of miscanthus fiber formed on "Weed Block". In luck, Mimi Aumann passed on a wonderful website and blog called Ifugao - a source for papermaking products and information. I noticed owner Keith Gum using landscape cloth in place of felt.... so I found a heavy version of synthetic cloth called "Weed Block"... it's made of used plastic water bottles.... how wonderful. A very large roll was reasonably priced and worked very well in place of felt. (leaves a very small pattern but perfectly fine for most plant based paper) AND IT'S GREEN.

Weed Block dries fast, holds its shape - no cockling of the paper, and cleans easily ! I may have found my new "felts".