The Manufacturing Process Of Black Felt Hat

Wool selection: select the lake wool produced in the Taihu Lake Plain. When shearing, the wool cannot be wet by water, otherwise the wool cannot stick together when making wool felt.

Treatment of wool: The sheared wool is bound into a ball, which needs to be picked and treated with impurities, leaving only white wool. Degreasing and degreasing with field mud; Then use the bow of cotton to fluff the wool. Finally, use one long and one short bamboo strip to beat the wool up and down rhythmically until the wool is soft and elastic. At the same time, impurities and topsoil can be removed.

Making rough: evenly spread the wool for making a black felt hat on the bamboo mat, and then spread a certain amount of wool at a certain distance, so that 6 to 8 felt hats can be made at a time. Spray water on the paved wool to crush the fluffy wool into rough. The blank making is the most critical process in the whole manufacturing process. The blank should not only be thin and even, but also be compacted, otherwise the felt hat made should be loose and not thick.

Rolling blank: fold the compacted round blank in half, roll it up and fasten it with bamboo curtain. Both of them pressed the bamboo curtain wrapped with blanks in the same direction. Unfold the bamboo mat and roughly squeeze the shape of the felt cap. After that, repeat the above rolling process for three times until the felt becomes thick and solid, forming the basic shape of the felt cap. Then tear the two layers of the hat into dumplings.

Rubbing the blank: place the finished blank on the inclined board, pour hot boiled water and rub it, repeatedly wash it to remove the soil and dirt, gradually change the color from yellow to white, and at the same time pull the two layers of the blank apart. After rubbing, expose to the sun to dry.

Blank shaping: the dried blank is shaped with a hat mold, and the shape of the felt hat is adjusted with tools such as bamboo boards and pebbles. Repeat this action until the felt hat is shaped. Dry in the sun.

Dyeing: black dyes are made from wild plant flowers and leaves, fruit juice and soaps to dye felt hats. Now, they are purchased directly and boiled to dye white felt hats until all the felt hats are black.

Felt hat shaping: take out the dyed felt hat, use the mold to shape it again, continue to beat it with bamboo boards, pebbles and other tools, and adjust the shape of the felt hat until it is formed. Expose the shaped black felt hat to the sun to dry.