When talking about fabric, figuring out what you can and can’t do with it can be a bit tricky. There are several reasons you might want to microwave felt, like to disinfect it or to soften it to make it pliable.

While some fabrics are perfectly safe in the microwave, unfortunately, felt usually isn’t. We’ll go over why felt isn’t a good choice to microwave and which fabrics are a good substitute if you need to microwave fabric to heat it up, such as for a heating pad, to stretch it, or to disinfect it.

Why Felt Shouldn’t Be Microwaved

The main reason why you shouldn’t microwave felt is that it is difficult to tell what it is made out of. Felt is a synthetic material, and depending on what’s in it, several problems can occur.

For one, materials like polyester can melt in the microwave, which will ruin the fabric and likely your microwave too. Secondly, some materials may catch fire in the microwave, and this can be a dangerous hazard. Lastly, some materials can release toxic chemicals when put into the microwave, which can be harmful to your health.

Felt is a great material to make things, but unfortunately, you should avoid the microwave unless you know exactly what it was made from.

Safe Alternatives to Felt

The general rule of thumb when thinking about microwaving fabric is to go with all-natural fabrics only.

While some synthetic fibers are made from natural materials or materials that are microwave safe, most don’t have a label that tells if they are microwave safe. To be sure, stick with 100% cotton, wool, linen, and other natural materials. If you find a label and it says microwave-safe, you should be ok.

Curious which other fabrics you can safely microwave? Make sure to read our posts about wool, shoes, fleece, and flannel.

Can You Microwave Felt - Wrapping Up

Well, there you have it, the truth about microwaving felt. Now you know some safe alternatives for fabric that are microwave safe.