glue felt to wood

[joe milana]

I swear I tried to search first, but what's the best way to glue felt to wood, like to the inside of a tool chest?

Thanks!

[Yves Pinet]

I once had to do a table top that would fit over a regular table, and I used felt under it to avoid scratches. I got some spray on contact cement or glue (can be had at a crafts store) and then carefully laid the felt over the wood, taking care not to stretch the fabric. It worked great.

[Walt Nicholson]

3M makes some great spray adhesive for that type of purpose. The auto stereo guys use it a lot in covering the speaker boxes that they build. Fairly short set up time so you want to get the material in the right place pretty quick. The spray application makes things even and it doesn't bleed through the cloth. I forget the name of it but a good stereo shop will tell you what they use

[Andrew Fewsmith]

I'm going to vote for spray adhesive by 3M

[John Bush]

3M spray adhesive #77 ?????

[joe milana]

Wow, spray it is, and I think I even have some. Thanks!

[Ron Coleman]

I just lined my new tool chest with felt and used hot hide glue. Just heat and serve.

I added extra water for a very thin mix and brushed it on. The hide glue gives just enough slip to get a good fit around the edges. Precut the felt to size for the bottom of a drawer. Pools of glue will soak through the felt so don't go overboard. The easiest way to cut the felt is with one of the rotary fabric cutters.

H Gerstner, the tool chest people, have used hide glue for years for sticking felt.

Ron

[David DeCristoforo]

Another vote for the 3M spray adhesive. But consider using "billiard cloth" instead of typical fabric store felt. It's much finer, way more durable and does not "fuzz up" like felt will.

[Dan McGarigle]

Another vote for the 3M spray adhesive. But consider using "billiard cloth" instead of typical fabric store felt. It's much finer, way more durable and does not "fuzz up" like felt will.

I like to use "Weldwood Contact Cement" to fasten real Velvet, or felt, to wood. Here's how I do it to have no overspray anywhere at all.
1. Brush a very think coat onto the cloth. Very thin, and I mean so thin that all you have are tiny little pin head size balls of glue on the surface of the velvet or felt. I use a very soft 1/4" wide brush and load it just 1/4" up the bristles for really small jobs. For bigger jobs I use a cheap "China" paint brush and clean it with lacquer thinner after gluing.
2. Brush a very thin coat of Contact Cement onto the wood. Again, a very thin coat is all that is needed.
3. Let the cement dry both on the cloth and on the wood.
4. Carefully position the cloth over the wood and press down gently.
The Weldwood Contact Cement ( 11.49 for a pint can ) holds cloth like crazy to wood. Once it's on, it's ON !
And with a brushing on of contact cement there is absolutely no over-spray anywhere.
I just finished covering 1,347 maple fingerlets that hold silverware in a very nice guy's dining room cabinet in Los Angeles. And I trimmed it all with glued on silk ribbon. It's purely a beautiful set of flatware drawers in a 1931 Berlin Germany Bauhaus built dining room breakfront cabinet.

[Mel Fulks]

I like Elmer's school glue because it has no smell and is easily washed off if it has to be replaced. For the inside of boxes
sometimes it's easier to glue cloth to thin cardboard then fit to box. Apply glue thinly.

[Steve Gojevic]

Do you have the felt already?

I built a few felt-lined items at work and I just used self-adhesive felt. Just peel off the liner and stick it on. I think we bought it at McMaster-Carr.

If you already have the felt, I agree with using the 3M 77 spray adhesive. We also use that at work. You can get it at Home Depot.

Steve

[Dan McGarigle]

Another vote for the 3M spray adhesive. But consider using "billiard cloth" instead of typical fabric store felt. It's much finer, way more durable and does not "fuzz up" like felt will.

I like to use Weldwood Contact Cement ( $11.00 per pint ) to fasten real silk velvet, silk ribbon or felt to wood. It's much cheaper than 3M 77 Spray, you don't get any overspray, and you get a very tight bond that does not seep through any fabric. Here's how I do it.
1. Use a small 1/4" to 1" wide soft brush. Dip it about 1/4" into the glue in the can.
2) Brush a VERY thin coat onto the fabric. So thin that all you have are small pin-head sized globules of cement on the surface of he fabric.
3) Brush a thin coat onto the wood. A thin coat is just enough to put a film of glue onto the wood, say 0.003-0.007".
4) Wait for the glue to dry.
5) Carefully place the fabric and gently press the fabic onto the wood.
6) Wait 5-10 minutes for it to dry.
Now the velvet, ribbon or felt will NOT come off the wood but the fabric will still be very soft to the touch.
I clean my brush with lacquer thinner because Mineral Spirits makes the contact cement a gooey mess and I can't buy naptha, MEK or toluene thinners in Los Angeles.
I have just finished covering 1,347 maple fingerlets with silk velvet for a rich guy's dining room cabinet where he keeps all his individual pieces of silverware each in its own holder set of velvet fingerlets using this technique and it works very well.