Pet Felt is a type of material made from PET bottles residue which are turned into granulate or plastic shreds that can pressed to form sheets of a material that resembles and feels like felt, that's where the name comes from. This type of material is characterized by the great acoustic properties that it has: due to the composition and the way the fibers are compressed, sound is absorbed on the surface while also providing insulation for the different means of application.
Recycling PET results in a low environmental impact, it produces 75% less of CO2 emissions and requires less energy compared to virgin material production. Recycling 1k of PET corresponds to reducing CO2 emissions by 3kg. (source: The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment 2019 Progress Report).
There are many brands who manufacture recycled PET felt, while the properties are mostly similar, there can be a few differences depending on the usage of additives to compress the material like glue and other substances.
Féline is a family owned business based in Amsterdam, specialized in making felt fabrics by the process of using 100% recycled PET for interior design.
To view the specifications and properties of the material, refer to the next page.
Due to it’s acoustic properties, the most common use for Recycled PET felt is in the interior design industry. It’s a sustainable alternative to acoustic panels and it’s more durable than acoustic foam because of the compact composition of the material.
The car industry was the first application of recycled PET Felt in a different way from an acoustic panel. Through thermoforming, the shape for the roofs of cars can be manufactured and it is beneficial for sound absorbing and insulating on the roof.
The first step is recollecting PET bottles waste that needs to be carefully selected from recycling centers to be sorted and cleaned for use. In DeVorm's manufacturing process, they have a machine that sorts out colored plastic from transparent plastic.
The bottles are passed to a granulator machine in which large blades shred the bottles into flakes, while a granulator removes remaining debris and waste parts.
The flakes are passed through a hot extruder that melts them and turns them into thin polyester fibres that resemble a wool-like texture.
The material enters a felting machine which creates layers of fibres to them compress them together. Afterwards the felting begins, which means that needles stab the material in order to turn it into felt. The sheets then get pressed into the form of felt sheets
The final and innovative way to use the recycled PET felt is in the step of thermoforming. Thermoforming is a process that works with the use of molds and heat that give thermoplastic materials a desired organic shape. In the case of recycled PET felt, the process works by thermopressing the felt sheets into an innovative shape for acustic panels, interior car parts, furniture for product design, among other possible ways.
See more about DeVorm's production process here: https://journal.devorm.nl/blog/from bottle-to-chair-how-we-make-petfelt
LJ 1 Chair by DeVorm
Minimal art Recycled PET felt MaterialDistrict. (2021, September 30). MaterialDistrict; MaterialDistrict. https://materialdistrict com/material/minim al art recycled pet felt/ Michaeloudis, C (2020) PET FELT, a plastic that’s actually good for the office. AllSfar; AllSfar. https://allsfar.com/blogs/news/a pet felt a plastic thats actually good for the office De Vorm. (2022). From Bottle to Chair: How We Make PET Felt. Devorm.nl. https://journal.devorm.nl/blog/from bottle to chair how we make pet felt PET felt | Féline | 100% recycled PET | Sustainable felt | Acoustic fabric. (2022, September 26). Féline. https://www.felinefabrics.com/feltcollections/pet felt/ Guide to Thermoforming. (2022). Guide to Thermoforming. Formlabs. https://formlabs com/blog/thermoforming/
