3 Safety Tips To Remember When Using A Needle Felting Machine

If you would like to get started with needle felting — which can be a great way to make beautiful, intricate crafts — you might be thinking about investing in a needle felting machine. However, it is important to know that you could poke yourself with the needle or otherwise hurt yourself if you are not careful. Luckily, following these safety tips can allow you to use your new needle felting machine without harming yourself.

1. Use Pins — Not Your Fingers

It can be tempting to hold the material in place with your fingers while you are working with your needle felting machine. This can seem like the easiest and most convenient way of doing so, but it can also put you at risk of pricking your fingers. Instead, you should make sure that you have plenty of straight pins on hand so that you can use them to hold your material together instead. Then, you can keep your hands out of the way and greatly reduce the risk of pricking yourself.

2. Use Good-Quality Needles

Make sure that you have sharp and straight felting needles when working with your needle felting machine. Needles that are too weak can easily break or bend, and even higher-quality needles that are worn out and that are starting to bend or break can be more at risk of this, too. If your needles break in half while you're working, they could both damage your project and become uncontrollable, meaning that they could fly into your hand or otherwise hurt you. This is why it's a good idea to go ahead and spend a little more money on better-quality needles, to carefully inspect your needles to make sure that they are in good shape, and to keep a few extras on hand in case you need them.

3. Make Sure You Have Your Tetanus Shot

No matter how careful you might be to use your needle felting machine safely, there is always a chance that you could poke yourself, especially as you become more comfortable and don't pay as much attention or as you work on more intricate and complicated crafts. Making sure that you are up-to-date on your tetanus booster is a good way to help protect yourself.

As you can see, there are a few safety tips that you should remember when using a needle felting machine. If you follow these tips, you can help keep yourself safe while enjoying this new hobby. For more information, contact local professionals like Felt Loom.