felt basics
Needle-Punch Felt vs Woven Felt
A clear comparison of needle-punch (non-woven) felt and woven felt — how each is made, their properties, and where each is used.
Tulsi Overseas ·
Two ways to make felt
“Felt” covers any fabric made by matting fibres together. The two families you will meet in industry are non-woven (needle-punch) felt and woven felt.
Needle-punch (non-woven) felt
Fibres are opened, blended, layered into a web and then mechanically interlocked by thousands of barbed needles punching through the batt — 600 to 2000 punches per minute. No weaving and no chemical binder is involved. The result is a dense, uniform fabric that can be made to almost any thickness and density.
Best for: mattress insulating layers, automotive NVH insulation, padding, underlay, packaging.
Woven felt
Woven felt is made on a loom from spun yarns, then often fulled (shrunk and matted). It is more labour-intensive and harder to make very thick.
Best for: specialist sealing, polishing and traditional textile uses.
Quick comparison
| Property | Needle-punch (non-woven) | Woven |
|---|---|---|
| How it’s made | Fibres entangled by barbed needles | Yarns woven on a loom |
| Thickness range | Thin sheet to heavy batt | Limited |
| Strength | Uniform, multi-directional | Directional (warp/weft) |
| Cost | Lower | Higher |
| Typical use | Mattress, automotive, insulation | Sealing, polishing |
For mattress, automotive and furnishing applications, needle-punch non-woven felt is almost always the right choice — and it is what Tulsi Overseas manufactures.
Frequently asked questions
- Is needle-punch felt the same as non-woven felt?
- Needle-punch felt is a type of non-woven felt. "Non-woven" means the fabric is made directly from fibres without weaving; needle punching is the specific method that mechanically entangles those fibres with barbed needles.
- Which is stronger, woven or needle-punch felt?
- It depends on direction and use. Woven felt has defined warp/weft strength; needle-punch felt has uniform multi-directional strength and is easier to make thick and dense, which is why it dominates mattress and automotive insulation.