Customer Reviews

Clover Felting Needle Mat Large

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While this felting mat works just fine with the Clover felting tool, it really is unnecessary. An equally thick felting foam pad works just as well, if not better. Flat felt tends to stick to the bristles and get kind of messy, which might make roving felt faster in the first place but will mess it up as it felts, too. Also, it's pretty worthless if you switch to using a single felting needle, and it doesn't work as well with thin layers of roving which sometimes work their way down the bristles before they get a chance to really felt.

This Clover mat does have three advantages over a foam pad: 1)It has a hard plastic back that lets you use it on a pillow in your lap (whereas a foam pad should be used over a hard surface lest you poke yourself), 2)It is well-made and more durable than a foam pad, and 3)It will hold things in place, and so it works better when needle felting onto a felt ball or such.

I really like this mat and the Clover multi-needle felting tool together. I like that the bristles are stiff and allow you to felt a larger flat area for incorporation into other projects, and that the project doesn't get stuck to this mat like it might when you felt on a piece of foam. But if it were 2" wider and 2" longer, it would be perfect. However, with the current compact size, it IS very easy to store with my other supplies.

I had been using a foam piece for felting until I bought this brush pad. I could kick myself for not trying it sooner. So firm!
Made felting so much quicker and easier without damaging the needles. Placed a flannel cloth on it, and it is wonderful!

After needle felting projects on both foam pads and the clover brush pad, I much prefer the brush pads. The needles for both hand and machine needle felting are fairly expensive. I've found that felting needles wear down significantly faster when using foam pads due to the increased friction. Depending on the project's shape and size, I always experience some penetration of the needle through the project and into the base (foam or brush). This is great for folks who sell needles --not so great for me.

The foam pads can provide a larger work suface (I've seen up to 12x12 dense, thick pads for needle felting). Clover's largest brush pad is limited to 3"x5". Mind you, I still use both pad types depending on the project but I go to the brush pads first.

Why 4 Stars: I own both the smaller Clover Needle Felting Brush Clover Felting Needle Mat Large and this larger one. I rated this product at 4 stars due to the fact that this larger one is not much larger than the small brushe. Clover, the next time there's a "surge" in interest in needle felting, crank out a big brush pad -- at least a 9"x9" pad if not a 12"x12" brush pad that's is easy to rotate in order to access a fair amount of area on a scarf or some other wider project.

As the other rater mentioned, a brush does not provide a surface conducive to needling smooth projects. The fibers are pushed into or dragged along the brush making the underside of the project fuzzy.
Tips: Reclaiming and cleaning the fibers from the brush is remarkably simple with the Clover rake/brush cleaning tool. It's a MUST have with this brush.
All of the con's for this tool make it worth the decrese in needle decreased needle expensive.

When I needle projects on the brush pad, I lift and move the project frequently. If it is a project that I ulitimately want to finish smoothly, I place a sheet of scrap paper, a thin paper bag or even a paper towel over the brush between the project and the brush. It's important to move the project after ever few punches to keep ahead of the holes in the paper and prevent felting the project to the paper or into the bristles.

Happy Crafting!

So i bought this thinking it would be super useful for some of the things i would be working on.
Truthfully a cheap fluffy pillow would have done the same thing that this brush could do, and its cheaper too! Pillow at 99cent store works wonders, and if it's small it's easily transportable. The only thing i dislike about this product is how the bristles stick to your felt. So if you like to work with loose layers this would not be ideal. However, I gave this product 5 stars anyways, because I know this product has more uses than directly felting on it. For those of you working on clothes, this product would be very handy because of its nice solid bottom and construction. You won't have to deal with your clothes shifting as you felt. However do note that this product is designed for other Clover products aka the needles. So if you have the bare basic needles without a handle like i do, you do want to make sure you don't stab your felt too deeply or you will hit the tip of the needle on the bottom of the base of this product.

This makes needle felting so much more easier and cleaner compared to using foam blocks. Thinking about getting the smaller size to use on small projects.