How to Make a Wet-Felted Cat or Kitten Cave: Free Tutorial

A Few Notes About This Wool Cat Cave Tutorial

This step-by-step tutorial is designed to assist the more advanced felt maker to create a 3D cat/kitten cave, pod or vessel using a resist shape. The resist can be made from a piece of thin plastic or bubble wrap or even a piece of cardboard. The latter was used for this tutorial.

What's the Best Kind of Resist to Use?

A resist is used to prevent the two sides of this project from fusing together, thus a 3D vessel is created. My personal preference is to use a plastic-based resist—something such as heavy bubble wrap or a piece of laminate floor cushioning. Cardboard can become waterlogged during the process and tends to break up, as very nearly happened with this project!

Things You Will Need to Complete This Project

1. Merino wool roving
2. Latex balloons
3. A resist/template which measures 20 inches in diameter made from laminate floor underlay
4. Grated olive oil soap
5. Bubble wrap
6. Curtain netting, sufficient to cover the template
7. A palm sander which does not use a dust bag
8. A tumble dryer

3. Dissolve the Grated Olive Oil Soap in Hot Water

Dissolve a small quantity of the olive oil soap in hot water and pour it into a squeeze bottle or use a sponge to add the soapy water to the fibers.

Dishwashing liquid soap may be substituted. Olive oil soap, however, tends to be a lot kinder to the hands and also the merino wool roving.

4. Draw and Cut Out the Template

Draw and cut out a circle from the laminate floor underlay.

It should have a diameter of around 20 inches. Bubble wrap or cardboard may be substituted, however, the cardboard will fall apart and crack if it becomes too waterlogged.

5. Place the Resist on a Piece of Bubble Wrap

Place a piece of bubble wrap down onto a waterproof surface with the bubbles facing up.

7. Allow the Fibers to Extend a Little Beyond the Edge

Begin by laying down the wool fibers. These fibers should extend beyond the edge of the resist.

If you would like to incorporate special details or patterns into your cave, do this on this layer and then turn your project inside out on completion of the project, making this layer your top layer.

I kept my layers plain and did not turn the project inside-out at a later stage.

8. Cover the Template in a Circular Pattern

Put the fibers down in a circular pattern as shown above.

Continue adding fibers in a circular pattern until the whole of the template has been covered.

10. Wet the Fibers With Hot Soapy Water

With the curtain netting in place, wet the fibers below with hot soapy water.

Press down on the project and smooth the fibers down gently with your hands. Press the water out towards the edges but keep the wool which extends beyond the edges dry. These will be folded over to the other side in the next step.

11. Flatten the Fibers

Flatten the wet fibers until the edge of the template is reached.

12. Remove the Curtain Netting Gently

When the fibers below the curtain netting are wet through and smoothed down, remove the netting very carefully. Try not to displace the fibers as you do this.

13. Turn the Template Over

14. Fold in the Dry Edges

Fold the dry edges over the edges of the template. Use wet soapy hands and a little extra water to smooth them neatly over the edge.

Both Sides of Layer 1 Are Now Complete!

Both sides of the template have now been covered in one layer of merino wool fibers.

It is now time to repeat this process until you have four layers of wool on both sides of the template.

20. Repeat Until You Have 4 Layers on Each Side of the Template

Cover the template on both sides with merino wool as before until there are four layers on both sides.

21. Start the Final Layer (5)

The first layer on layer 5 should extend over the edge of the template as previously shown.

The final layer of the second side should NOT overlap the edge of the template.

Any loose fibers can however be neatened over the edge and damped down with hot soapy water.

You now have five layers of wool on both sides of the template.

22. Lay Down the Second Side of Layer 5

As can be shown in this image, the fibers have not been allowed to extend beyond the edge of the template.

This last layer should be damped down and any loose fibers should be tidied up before proceeding with the felting process.

23. Prepare for the Felting Process

You may wish to experiment with a variety of felting methods shown below:

1. Felting with a palm sander
2. Rolling the project in a bamboo blind
3. Rolling the project in bubble wrap
4. Using a combination of these methods which may include a tumble dryer and a balloon

Bamboo Mat Versus Palm Sander and Tumble Dryer

If you don't have a sander, you may wish to roll the project in a bamboo blind or bubble wrap.

The former works extremely well. Remember to keep on turning the project around so that the rolling takes place from several angles. This help maintains the nice round shape of the cat cave.

The template inside will buckle and bend as the felting process takes place. The five layers of wool will take a lot of rolling.

ALTERNATIVELY USE A PALM SANDER!

Cover the wet fibers with a sheet of bubble wrap, bubble side down and then cover with a thick sheet of clear plastic sheeting as shown here.

Sand with the palm sander until the fibers no longer move beneath your fingers.

You may wish to roll the project in a bamboo blind further until you are certain that the fibers below have been completely felted.

I cheated a little and resorted to a tumble dryer and a balloon when my cardboard resist began to disintegrate!

24. Prepare the Palm Sander (if Using)

This is the type of sander which can be used to help felt the wet fibers. It should be one of the types which has no dust extractor.

26. First Option: Felt With the Palm Sander

Sand the project with the palm sander until the fibers no longer move under your fingers.

27. Once Felted, Mark a Circle in the Top Layer

Mark a small hole in the top layer.

Do this by pressing a small round object into the wool.

It should have a diameter of around three inches. Cut around the mark and remove the small circle of fibers. Be careful not to cut through the bottom layer. Make sure that the edges of the cut hole are sanded or rubbed until they are stable before removing the template.

Don't make the hole any larger than three inches. It will stretch. Better to have a hole which is too small rather than one which is too large.

A small hole can easily be made larger later. Once made larger the fibers can be massaged with hot soapy water until they felt neatly together.

Troubleshooting: Felting Is Not an Exact Science, as I Found Out!

A sander was used very effectively to felt the outer fibers of this project. However, the layers below did not felt as well, partly due to their thickness.

When I cut the hole as shown below I found that the underneath layers were not felted as much as I would have liked them to be.

The cardboard template also became rather fragile during the process.

I decided to carry out some damage limitations. I carefully removed the wet cardboard, pulled pieces through the entrance to the cave and then very carefully placed it into the tumble dryer.

I then inserted a balloon into the cave entrance and blew it up and then knotted the end. I did it this way because blown up, the balloon was larger than the entrance to the tumble dryer.

I was left with some little slack around the balloon which I knew would soon be taken up once the tumble dryer had worked its magic.

I kept on checking on the progress and once all the slack had been taken up by the shrinking fibers, I burst the balloon and inserted a new one. Once again I left some slack which allowed for further shrinkage to take place in the tumble dryer.

There is no doubt that the tumble dryer gives one a much firmer texture to the kitten cave. This is exactly what one needs if you are making a cat cave. I have seen many caves made where the fibers clearly were not sufficiently felted. These could be salvaged by using this method.

28. Dry

I dried my project in the tumble dryer, as described above. Here is how to dry it without using a tumble dryer:

Drying Without a Tumble Dryer

1. Put bubble wrap bubble side down onto both sides of the project.
2. Roll with a rolling pin or use a rolling pin which you have covered with a sushi mat. Use elastic bands to keep it on or
3. Alternatively, a bamboo blind can be used very effectively for larger projects such as this one.
4. Keep on turning the project so that you are rolling from a different angle. This will help to maintain its perfect shape. The edges of the template might move around a little but this is acceptable as it helps prevent a ridge from forming where the end of the template stops.
5. The template will start to buckle and bend underneath as the fibers below begin to shrink.

29. Remove the Balloon

This image shows the cat/kitten cave after felting in the tumble drier. Burst the balloon and remove it from the cave.

30. Rinse With Hot and Cold Water, Then Let Dry

Rinse with hot and cold water and then give the project a final rinse in water which has a dash of white vinegar added to it. Pack with towels, shape and allow to dry on a cake rack. Remove the towels when it is evident that the cave is self-supporting.

Questions & Answers

Question: What is the estimated cost of the materials to make a wet felted cat?

Answer: It could cost you as little as £12 if you purchased Botany Waste from World of Wool. For your money, you get 500 grams of wool which sometimes has a little synthetic fiber added to the mix. You don't have to use these for your project, but you could add them to the surface for decoration. If for any reason they are out of stock, put your name down and they will come back to you when it becomes available again. You won't get to choose your colors, but you will get some fabulous fiber in a variety of glorious colors. This is the route I would take for this project to save on cost. I neither work for them or are sponsored in any way, I just find it the most cost-effective way to buy my wool. I seldom buy anything else these days. Alternatively, you could look on e-Bay for merino wool is being sold 'used' but is really wool which might be left over from a project. Unfortunately felting wool is becoming increasingly more expensive. You are likely to get at least two cat caves out of the 500 grams of wool you purchase though it does depend on how large you are going to make your cave. The one here was made for a kitten rather than a large cat.