You can get sticky back felt. I'm in the UK, you should be able to get it in the US also, on Amazon. I stick the piece to the felt first, then cut round the piece. Works perfectly.
Thank you. I think I'm getting old, because it did not even cross my mind that there might be such a thing as sticky back felt.
Congrats and be sure to post about how you did it and what you learned so we can all learn from it.
I have some sets that need to be refelt, thank's to all thhose who are sharing their experiences!
You could go to a hardware store and buy felt pads which are meant to be glued to the undersides of furniture pieces. They come in sheets, and often in circles in many different sizes, they're affordable, too.
is it ok to use different color of felt fabric for restoring pieces? like white or yellow or pink perhaps or will it be affecting the game? I haven't really seen any clause in FIDE handbook for this but I want my pieces to be neat and unique at the same time.. I only know that we are not allowed to have different color for the pieces and board but not exactly the felt fabric at the bottom.. I just want to be sure. hope someone can help.
I don't think it matters. Green is normal but I think that's just because baize is often green. I have seen some old sets with red baize, and some with brown leather.
I have used rexin/ leather for refelting my chess pieces but the green baize has been the best in terms of smoothness.
https://hollandfelt.nl/en/applications/retail-sale.html
Here is another quality manufacturer who distributes throughout the world. Click on the language that interests you and you will find resellers in the different countries. I get supplies from them, thickness 1 mm, never disappointed ;-)
Thank you so much for all your help, @IpswichMatt, @DeDEtlev67, and @Walterbiensur! Big help. I'm going to use them to re-felt my plastic chess pieces however I don't know exactly what to use. I tried felt paper but it faded in an instant after rubbing it against the chess mat. So I searched for the best type of felt that I need to buy that will have a smooth friction on both rubber and wooden board.
I've found stiffened felt cut with a compass cutter works well.
I've re-felted 4 sets over the last couple of months using various methods.
- I think using glue is a lot more painful than using felt that is self-adhesive.
- Cutting the felt before or after placing it in the pieces will be up to your patience level.
The main question I kept finding myself asking while doing it, was "How important is this, and to whom?". Very few people spend time looking at the bottom of the pieces. The quality of the set also determines how good of a job you want to do.
For our plastic club pieces, I found the easiest way was to using self-adhering felt. I used a coin for tracing a circle that was slightly smaller than the base of the pieces and cutting with scissors before sticking it straight on to the piece. True, some pieces were better (more precise circles) than others, but I think you will find doing 32 pieces (perhaps multiple times) to be a bit wearing on your patience and time.
If you are doing a nice set of wood pieces, I think following some of the advice given in these threads will serve you well.
Overall, realize there is a learning curve and you will improve with experience. Perhaps do a cheap set first and see how well you do with it before tackling a more important set.
DIY ;-) -> Tournerie Roz
and long time before, patiently and dexterously
Do different variants of felt like green baize or leather impact the playing experience. Or these variations are just for aesthetic purposes.
I think this impact the playing experience. Personally I like felt on a leather board.
@Jouss_LT
I tried the leather felt vs green baize. The green felt the best on a wood base chess board.
Thank you for this https://www.myaarpmedicarehealth.com
Yep, I reckon if you find excellent billiard table Baize, some wood glue and sharp scissors - you’ll love the outcome. I think new felt is a wonderful upgrade. It’s so good that I am doing everything in my power to talk myself out of re-felting all my old sets - even a 90-100 year old French Regence set … it’s probably sacrilege… but gee it would look and play better and it’s not like a museum piece worth heaps … but still, I probably won’t as it’s the closet thing I have to a proper antique chess set and I want to respect its history.