If you’ve reached The Gentle Roller website, it's likely you’ll already know what felt is – and we're not referring to industrial felt but ‘artisan felt’.

But if you are just browsing and would like an introduction the term felting refers to taking animal fibres and working them through a process of adding water, soap and agitation to convert it into a tightly cohesive fabric. The fibres are most often sheep wool but also alpaca, mohair, angora, camel, yak and some other furs. These fibres have a barbed or scaled surface texture. More or larger fibres felt best (sheep wool) while fewer or smaller barbs are more difficult (mohair).

Animal fibres will felt: plant and man-made fibres do not (although they can be incorporated into a felted item).

If you are making nuno felt ie merging wool or other fibres onto a carrier fabric (silk/cotton), you need to get the fibres to migrate through the fabric. Felting is NOT reversible.

The goal of good felt making is to control the agitation to create a consistent and even felt.

There are a wide variety of felts to suit a wide variety of applications. “Industrial” felt is employed in applications such as sound deadening in cars, whereas “artisan” felt is highly sought after by the fashion industry.

Artisan felt is typically made by placing the required wool and or other materials onto a flexible sheet of plastic film (or other suitable material). The materials are laid out by hand to form a desired aesthetic. There are several methods for rolling felt but the Gentle Roller felt rolling machine uses the method where once the material and design has been artistically laid out, it is wetted down and then overlaid by a further sheet of plastic film. This sandwich construction is then wrapped about a suitable carrier (in our case the drive roller) and then secured in place on the roller. Elastic band or other suitable restraint are usually quite functional.

Without the aid of a rolling machine, the wrapped bundle is then rolled on a tabletop to agitate the material.

From time to time the artisan will inspect the material wrapped about the roller, and potentially vary the amount and location of the pressure that they apply there to achieve the desired degree of felting in the desired locations, e.g. to achieve uniform felting.

Selecting and laying out the material is skillful and rewarding, whereas the rolling is hard work. By way of example, producing an item featuring superfine merino and silk fibres, and silk carrier, can entail up to 6,000 full rotation rolls of the roller. Larger items require more rolling. Producing a coat formed of artisan felt can entail in excess of 40,000 rolls. Whilst the production of artisan felt is a rewarding craft that produces beautiful results, many artisans give the craft away simply because the rolling becomes too hard for them. Accordingly, attempts have been made to automate the rolling process. These machines are typically industrial, expensive, not pleasing to the eye, do not give the user control over the process and don’t replicate the hand crafted felt process.

The Gentle Roller wet felting machine has been designed to overcome all the shortcomings of earlier machines and reduce the back-aching work of manual rolling and give the felt maker time to concentrate on the important aspects of their craft.

The Gentle Roller wet felting machine truly is the felt makers friend.

After you order it usually takes 3-6 working days to arrive at your country anywhere in the world. Local delivery then takes another 2-3 working days.

Firstly, the price shown should be your local currency.

Most payment are made via credit card. You pay in your local currency. We accept USD, AUD, GPB, EUR, CAD and a few others.

There are no exchange rate conversion fees. You simply pay the price you see.

Direct Deposit:  We prefer payments by direct deposit in your local currency.

With direct deposit payments, we can assist you to make VAT/TVA savings.  And as you will be paying in your local currency you are not affected by currency exchange rates.   

If you want to pay by direct deposit, just ask us how.

You don’t need to get your Gentle Roller repaired; you can do it yourself.

If anything should go wrong we want to work with you to make sure your Gentle Roller functions as described and is in full working order.

The Gentle Roller has been designed with minimum moving parts, a robust design and minimum potential for failure. If something does go wrong, our goal is to help you fix it and get your Gentle Roller up and running in the shortest possible time.

Any failures are readily fixable with a replacement part and basic tools.

The Gentle roller was deliberately designed and engineered so that the whole thing can be assembled with one screw driver and one Allen key (provided), by anyone who knows how to use a screwdriver. 

It was also ‘over-engineered’ for the job it was designed to do so that most parts wouldn’t wear out or break under heavy loading.  This wasn’t an accident.  It took two years of design and engineering reviews so ensure it was ‘just right’ and anyone, anywhere, could build, repair or replace parts with minimum of fuss.

Should you have any issues with your Gentle Roller please contact us in the first instance at philip@gentleroller.com.au

We will be happy to work with you to resolve the issue.

We have very, very few quality problems.  To back that up, we have a have a 3yr or lifetime guarantee against faulty material or workmanship affecting the operation of The Gentle Roller.#

It works the same way as hand rolling your felt on a pool noodle or similar object. When you hand roll, the felt is agitated between the pool noodle and the surface you are rolling on. With The Gentle Roller, the felt is agitated between the drive roller and the two or three idle rollers.

When felting, there are four key control functions and each have default min/max settings.

Speed: You control the speed from 50% to 100% of maximum motor speed (Max approx 100 RPM). The default start speed is 50%

Cycle Count: You control how many cycles, or rotations of the drive roller, you would like to do from 50-10,000 before The Gentle Roller stops. The default cycle count is 1000 cycles (Equal to about 130 full length manual rolls)

Forward Rotation: You control the number of forward rotations of the drive roller from 0.5 to 3.0 rotations. The default setting is 2.0

Reverse Rotation: You control the number of reverse rotations of the drive roller from 0.5 to 3.0 rotations. The default setting is 2.0.

The importance of these settings will become more obvious as you watch the tutorials and become familiar with what works best for your style of felting.

That's a matter of how well you use The Gentle Roller. We like to say that The Gentle Roller is as nuanced as you are as a felt maker.

What we can also say is that regardless of your experience level as a felt maker, The Gentle Roller will give you more consistent felting than hand rolling because whatever set-up you choose is repeated over and over - The Gentle Roller never tires as you will when you do it by hand.

Handmade is an interesting concept that some would argue is virtually unachievable.

Putting that extreme position aside, I’ll begin with a comment by BigCommerce.com, “Some online communities state that the terms "hand-assembled," "handcrafted" and "hand-altered" are acceptable and synonymous with handmade. Those words insinuate that though the fundamental materials weren't built from scratch, the seller has added his or her own twist to the product.

The recurring issue with the term "handmade" is that some crafts incorporate both hands and machinery during crafting. For example, a garment made with store-bought fabric and sewn on a sewing machine might be considered handmade by some, but not others. Woodworking is a very hands-on process, though it typically includes a variety of tools that make the final products possible."

Now my own slant.

Michelangelo couldn’t have carved David without hammers and chisels and a crane to pick it up. But David was surely his! Pollock couldn’t have painted half his works without a trapeze to suspend him – he had tools that were not handmade, but the work was surely his! No one quibbles about David being made by the hands of Michelangelo, or Blue Poles being made by Pollock’s own hand.

Handmade silk cloth is woven on a loom, so are handmade carpets, a tailor has a sewing machine, a print maker uses a press, a potter uses a wheel, a jeweller uses a diamond cutter and a soldering iron … and I could go on. Then there are the input raw materials, are they handmade?

Every craft has its raw materials and its tools, yet the output of the skilled craftsperson is (usually) considered handmade. The underlying reason for this is the product’s uniqueness, the possibility of flaws or errors and the fact that no two items, however hard you try, are exactly the same.

The Gentle Roller is a tool for felt makers. The work is the work of the felt maker alone. No two pieces are ever the same. The finished item is as handmade as any other artistic endeavour … and I could add, as handmade as Michelangelo’s David or Pollock’s Blue Poles.

While we recommend two-way rotation there are certain circumstances when one way rotation is preferable. All the standard settings (see Q: What control do I have?) can be changed by the user. By changing forward or reverse rotations to zero The Gentle Roller will roll in one direction only.

It is our experience that oscillated rolling (patented) produces better felt than one direction rolling as it is the agitation that induces the felting action.

The power pack is approved for Australian, USA, UK and EU standards and will come complete with a plug most suited to your address.

It is a 24V DC, 2 Amp power pack (using max 48 watts)

Don't worry. The PCB board has a built-in torque over-ride function. If the drive roller is interfered with or becomes "stuck" or "jammed" in any way the PCB senses the stress on the motor and will simply switch off, stop the machine and reboot back to the main menu function.

The power over-ride won't interfere with your felting but is at a low enough setting that no injury could occur before it engages and closes down the motor.

The honest answer is NO.

But so far there is only one fabric we have had problems with.

There is a material known as Devoré (also called burnout). Devoré techniques uses blended fabrics which combine protein-based fibres such as silk with cellulose-based fibres such as viscose, cotton, or rayon, in order to create the 'burnout' pattern.

The Gentle Roller can felt Devoré with silk and cotton, and viscose and rayon provided they are not treated for waterproofing.

However, there are cheap copies of the Devoré process available in fabric retailers, typically called “burnout fabric” which are definitely not silk. Some are made with a blend of viscose and polyamide.

The viscose is the velour type material - this absorbs water which is good. The main mesh fabric though is polyamide - it is waterproof at worst and water resistant at best and it won't hold or carry water.

When you try nuno felt using a carrier fabric that is a waterproof mesh material like polyamide, especially with a fine weave, the water gets pushed aside - it doesn’t want to go near the polyamide - there is no 'wicking' effect - and the water takes the wool with it resulting in clumping of the wool.

Polyamide is an interesting material because you can felt with a blend of woollen and polyamide fibers, but usually the blend is 5%-10% and a maximum of 20% polyamide. The polyamide doesn’t actually felt, it just gets tangled in the woollen fibres.

But you cannot felt onto a polyamide mesh (or probably any mesh that is water resistant or water proof and has no 'wicking' effect.)

It's as quiet as a library. See video under the Other Things video section.

Bench Space Required: 165cm L x 36cm W x 25cm H (plus hand access).

It weighs less than 28kg when all rollers are loaded or the fulling drum is in use.

Bench Space Required: 135cm L x 36cm W x 25cm H (plus hand access)

It weighs less than 24kg when all rollers are loaded or the fulling drum is in use.

Carton Sizes:
Roller Assembly: 148cm x 36cm x 15cm Weight 19kg
Fulling Drum Panels: 124cm x 16cm x 12cm Weight 6kg
Fulling Drum Components: 26cm x 24cm x 23cm Weight 2kg
Control Housing: 38cm x 29cm x 29cm Weight 8kg

Carton Sizes:
Roller Assembly: 118cm x 36cm x 15cm Weight 15kg
Fulling Drum Panels: 94cm x 16cm x 12cm Weight 4kg
Fulling Drum Components: 26cm x 24cm x 23cm Weight 2kg
Control Housing: 38cm x 29cm x 29cm Weight 8kg

Customs:  There is (almost) nothing that you need to do. 
The usual method is as follows.  We send a commercial invoice and customs documentation with the goods.  When the carrier (usually Fedex) receives the documents they lodge it with Customs for calculation of VAT/TVA.

Sometimes this happens while the goods are in transit – sometimes when the goods arrive.  Your government Customs Department will calculate VAT/TVA based on the documentation and advise Fedex to collect the VAT funds.   

Fedex will advise you of the amount due and where to pay.  You make payment.   Fedex make the delivery.

Here is all you need to do: With any overseas purchase, you are considered the importer.  If your government has a VAT/TVA/GST you need to pay the required tax, and if you are not already registered with your government as an importer, you will need to obtain an import/tax number. 

FedEx will need your import or taxation number for the Customs documentation. You should apply for the number as soon as you have placed your order, and if you advise us, we will confirm it with Fedex.

NZ customers need to complete a customs request and obtain a customs number.  This is easy and we will send you a link to the customs form when you place your order. You should apply for the number as soon as you have placed your order, and if you advise us, we will confirm it with FedEx.

UK/European customers need to obtain an EORI number.  As the forms vary by language/country you need to obtain the correct form or apply online with your Governments Customs Department.  Again, the form itself is simple to compete and usually takes around 15-20 minutes. You should apply for the number as soon as you have placed your order, and if you advise us, we will confirm it with FedEx.

USA/CAD/Aust: No action is required. Tax is payable in some cases but specific action is not required on your part unless requested.

 

Notes for Eastern European/South American nations:

Customs Inspection:  On rare occasions (1%) Customs want to receive the cartons and open them for inspection to check the contents and check if the correct HS Tariff codes have been used.  This is not a problem and usually means an extra delay of a few days to complete the delivery.  It depends entirely on how busy customs are and what they do, there is no way we can speed this up.  It is usually an issue for Eastern European countries and rarely occurs with Euro nations.

Customs Price Check: 
Most Customs Departments accept the value of our commercial invoice (which
is with the goods) to calculate the outstanding VAT/TVA.  On very rare occasions, again, usually only Eastern European or South American countries, they will ask the customer to provide proof of payment ie a bank deposit statement or receipt to confirm the payment has been made to us.  They will use the actual payment figure for their VAT/TVA calculations.