Chinese Calligraphy Felt Mat: Complete Guide to Selection and Care
Many people who practice Chinese calligraphy or painting keep a Chinese calligraphy felt mat as part of their essential supplies. Previously, Qi Ming mentioned calligraphy felt in the article “Essential Chinese Calligraphy Tools Beyond the Four Treasures: A Complete Guide“
For experienced practitioners, a regular calligraphy felt may not seem particularly noteworthy. However, for calligraphy beginners, Qi Ming believes it’s important to discuss this topic in detail, especially now that Qi Ming Wen Fang has added calligraphy felt to its product lineup.
What Does Chinese Calligraphy Felt Mat Do?
Calligraphy felt is a wool pad placed underneath paper when writing with a Chinese brush or painting Chinese ink paintings.
The tiny fibers on the felt surface support the paper while absorbing excess ink. This prevents extra ink from soaking through to your table and staining it.
Additionally, you may have noticed this: without a felt pad, when too much ink is used, it can seep through to the table surface and then expand back into the paper, enlarging the ink bleed area and ruining your original brushstrokes.
That’s why using a calligraphy felt pad when writing or painting is actually quite necessary.
Calligraphy felt doesn’t get dirty easily because its surface isn’t smooth like fabric. Instead, it has tiny fibers that lift the paper and ink away from direct contact.
Even the most basic calligraphy felt can be used repeatedly. I still use the felt pad I bought from a stationery store when I was in middle school.
Some say veteran calligraphers and painters use the same quality felt for decades. I believe this is absolutely true.
Types of Calligraphy Felt
The market offers various types of calligraphy felt to choose from. Generally, calligraphy felt is made primarily from wool or synthetic fibers. Different materials and manufacturing processes create various styles of felt pads.
First, regarding materials: some felt pads are pure wool. Among pure wool options, there are those made from domestic wool (first-grade calligraphy felt) and imported wool (premium-grade calligraphy felt). Some felts are made from synthetic fibers (synthetic calligraphy felt), while others combine wool with synthetic or other materials (blended calligraphy felt).
Regarding craftsmanship: some felt pads have edges wrapped with dense fabric, others have edges finished with stitching, and some are simply cut pieces without any edge treatment.
Wool felt with wrapped edges
Felt with stitched edges – this is the most common edge-finishing method
This type has no edge finishing at all, commonly seen in larger felt pads.
Additionally, wool felts come in natural colors, or they may be bleached or dyed. When it comes to dyeing, the color options are numerous.
The image above shows six different colored felts. Most people prefer darker colors, and Qi Ming also recommends using dark-colored calligraphy felt because it hides stains better.
How Should Calligraphy Beginners Choose the Right Felt?
At this point, some readers are probably wondering: how should I choose the right felt pad for myself?
Qi Ming suspects most readers of this article are calligraphy beginners. As mentioned in various places before, and quoting Teacher Huang Jian from “Huang Jian’s Basic Calligraphy Course,” beginners should start with larger characters, as this helps you master brush techniques.
In my view, for beginners, a felt pad costing around 10-20 yuan (approximately $1.50-$3 USD) is perfectly adequate. These felt pads come in sizes like 50cm × 50cm, 50cm × 70cm, or 45cm × 80cm, and so on.
Qi Ming Wen Fang’s 45×80cm felt, suitable for most calligraphy practice paper.
Before purchasing, make sure to check the felt’s dimensions carefully.
This type of felt is only suitable for writing small regular script and is very portable.
Another advantage of small felt pads is that you can easily pick them up and place them beside your model text.
Next, consider thickness. Of course, thickness isn’t the most critical factor. The market also offers ultra-thin but densely woven felts that work very well. Avoid free promotional felts – they’re thin and sparse, and if you spill too much ink on them, it can seep through.
Finally, if you’re creating large artworks, you’ll need to buy larger, thicker felt. For example, if you frequently use four-chi Xuan paper (for paper sizes, refer to my previous article “Common Xuan Paper Sizes and Folding Methods for Different Paper Specifications, with Size Chart”), then consider buying even larger sizes, such as Qi Ming Wen Fang’s micro-elastic felt in 80×120cm.
Large artworks typically mean using more ink, which increases the chance of seepage. Larger, thicker felts have better ink-supporting and ink-absorbing capabilities, making them obviously more suitable. If you’re writing small regular script, you can also choose thinner felt with finer, softer, and flatter surface fibers. I won’t elaborate further on all the options here.
Can You Wash Calligraphy Felt? How to Clean It?
Can calligraphy felt be washed? How do you clean a dirty felt pad? Many calligraphy enthusiasts have this question.
For Qi Ming personally, I rarely wash my calligraphy felt. Generally, if it gets dirty, I just let it stay dirty. After all, calligraphy felt is meant to be sacrificed – its job is to sacrifice itself to protect your table or artwork.
However, many friends who love cleanliness may find dirty felt unattractive and still want to wash it. Here, Qi Ming still recommends not washing it. After all, it’s inexpensive – you might as well just buy a new one.
If you absolutely must wash it, you can refer to the following methods.
If your calligraphy felt gets dirty and you decide to wash it, do so as quickly as possible. The stability of Chinese ink means the longer it stays on the felt, the more firmly it sets, and the harder it becomes to remove. The specific cleaning method is:
1. For small, localized ink stains: Use a towel dampened with neutral detergent or wool-specific cleaning solution to gently wipe the felt surface. After removing the stain, use the same method with a clean towel dampened with plain water to remove detergent residue. You can repeat this several times. Dry promptly in a shaded area.
2. If the felt has large stained areas requiring full washing, note the following:
① If the felt has printed patterns, do not wash it under any circumstances. The colors will very likely run.
② Don’t use detergents high in alkaline content. If washing with water, use neutral, enzyme-free detergent – preferably wool-specific detergent. Washing machines are not recommended; hand washing with gentle rubbing is best. Don’t use a washboard to scrub.
③ Don’t use water that’s too hot. Cold water with short soaking time is best – water temperature shouldn’t exceed 40°C (104°F). Gently squeeze and wash; don’t scrub vigorously. Dark colors generally bleed easily.
④ Use squeeze-washing method; avoid wringing or twisting. Squeeze out water, lay flat to air dry in shade, or hang folded in half to air dry. Shape while wet or half-dry to remove wrinkles. Don’t expose to direct sunlight.
⑤ Do not use chlorine bleach products; oxygen-based color-safe bleach is acceptable.
I hope the information about calligraphy felt shared in this article is helpful to everyone. Please feel free to share this article to help more friends interested in Chinese calligraphy and those with questions about traditional writing supplies.
