(Bear with me, long explaination.)

Felt is really comfortable but many forms of it are not easy to wash and some forms of it can break apart in a washing. Felt is made like paper and can feasably be taken apart and put back together by placing the wet material on a mesh screen mold and letting it dry. Many felts are not good for the long haul if you are not careful with how you wash it.

...Or maybe that is what you are trying to do. Imagine if there were certain articles of clothing that we weren't sentimentally attached to and were reconstructed in a mold everytime we wanted to wash them.

Crisp, clean clothing every time, because it comes completely apart in its own washing machine designed to strain out the converted felt. No more pesky stains because the clothing in question has been cleaned by the strand. Infact that article of clothing doesn't exist any more and could be poured into another mold or the same shirt mold and another dye could be applied.

A simple soy ink or food coloring need be applied, nothing strong or long lasting.

So the follow through would look like this. You take your recyclable shirts down to their respective washer, the clothes come apart in the water and then they are cleaned with hot water and detergent. The rinsed material sludge is then piped into one of the screen molds where the dye is added on the way. Leftover water can be further strained and recycled or drained along with the wash that falls through the screen mold. Hot air is forced through the screen to promote drying and felting and after the appropriate time the dryer alerts you that you clothes may be done.

Lift up the top part of the mold and peel your shirt off the screen. Pants could be made by having slats in them that a soft could fit around.

This idea could more feasably be a take-out laundry service.

(Thank you for your time.)
-- sartep, Jul 17 2003

Felt suit http://www.walkerart.org/beuys/gg1.html
Scroll down. It felt good. It good felt. [bungston, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

for Zimmy http://www.popsci.c...2543,464012,00.html
How to destroy a tornado [RayfordSteele, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

Do-it-yourself Duds http://www.halfbake...-it-yourself_20Duds
early, failed, similar idea by [FarmerJohn, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Kil'n People http://www.amazon.c...202-8222294-0010228
'cause bungston mentioned it and it's good. [DrBob, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

No more ironing! Build a statue of sartep! This seems so far out that it should be required to be included in any sci fi book for the next 2 years.
-- Zimmy, Jul 17 2003


Not for rainy days.
-- Cedar Park, Jul 17 2003


There is that, isn't there. How long must we wait before man is able to control the weather anyway?
-- Zimmy, Jul 18 2003


You really need to immerse the clothes in order to disolve them. Also, the addition of soap with conditioners to losen up the fibers further.

It won't be waterproof but it will have a degree of water resistance. (Add borg line here.)
-- sartep, Jul 18 2003


Very "Jetson".
-- phoenix, Jul 18 2003


"Is that a new shirt you're wearing?"
"Always."
-- krelnik, Jul 18 2003


Extra nifty! I award a croissant, which is made from the reprocessed and pressed crumbs from old croissants.

I imagine a futuristic detective (like in Brin's _Kiln People_ - a fine read!) who tracks down people who obtained new clothes from the feltery on a certain day, looking for a coded thread or piece of evidence from the victim's clothing, since recycled.
-- bungston, Jul 18 2003


Would be great for those gaining or losing weight on tight budgets (there's a joke there somewhere, but I don't know what it is...). Pregnant women everywhere thank you (except perhaps during those sweltering summer months). This is a very clever idea, [sartep]. I like it. +
-- k_sra, Jul 18 2003


What about buttons and fasteners? If I want a new shirt design, I buy a new screen mold?
-- waugsqueke, Jul 18 2003


No, you could send out your laundry if you don't want to buy a new mold or something. Sorta like you could convert your other clothes into a tux for the day.

Also, was considering that instead of dyes the mold could also use an ink jet printer for more complex designs.
-- sartep, Jul 18 2003


[RayfordSteele], I did read that one. Maybe the near miss of Hurricane Claudette is still too fresh in my mind.
-- Zimmy, Jul 18 2003


Interesting article, Ray. I recall last fall the new young feller austere posted an idea about blowing up tornadoes with bombs. He wouldn't accept the naysayers so I wrote the guys from Vortex and got their thumbs-down on the idea.
-- waugsqueke, Jul 18 2003


"This suits felt."
"No it's not, it's wool!"
"No, feel it."
"OK."
"See? It's felt."

Could the lint from the dryer be re-processed in this way?
-- egbert, Jul 19 2003


Very possibly.
-- sartep, Jul 19 2003


"I just love that soft, dusky pink color you've been wearing, eggy. Wherever do you find it?"
-- k_sra, Aug 02 2003


How fabulous! No more fashion houses filling stores with new ranges every season - they'd just send out their new moulds and you could re-use the same fibres to get new styles!

They'd all have to be wool, though, wouldn't they? Anything else would start to wear down after too much felting. And sending your clothes out for washing/re-moulding every time you wore them could get expensive (not to mention time consuming)
-- mawaridi, May 20 2004


It depends on the type of felt. Some of it comes apart after 5 min of washing. Synthetic fibers could play a big part in that as well, after all not all felt is wool.
-- sartep, May 21 2004



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