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I have multiple projects I am working on that are mounted on pieces of wood. I was planning on putting felt on the back of the wood so that they do not scratch the wall when they are hung or mounted to the wall.
What is the best adhesive to apply felt to wood?
I was thinking of using either tacky glue or a hot glue gun. Are either of these not suitable for any reason? Is there another adhesive I should consider?
Spray adhesive is a good match for this application. If you used the lower strength type, you might even have a decent chance of getting the felt back off later if you needed to for some reason.
Using spray allows you to get an even coat over the entire felt surface, avoiding lumps and/or hard-spots in the finished surface. The hard spots can arise where a glob or line of liquid glue is absorbed by the felt.
Spray adhesive generally has two modes of use, join surfaces while adhesive is wet, or apply to both sides and join surfaces after a drying period. I would go with the former in this case as the wet glue would allow you just a short period to work out any wrinkles. Also, it may reduce the holding strength, which will be much greater than needed anyway. That way if you ever need to remove the felt, you might be able to do it without shredding it.
Scotch-brand 77 is a common choice (pretty high strength though), and even mentions felt on the label: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00114RCP0/
The best way to apply felt for this purpose is to not use your own glue. Self-adhesive felt is sold widely in hardware stores and hobby shops, and available online. Depending on how thick you want it, it's available in sheets of different colors, so you can find a color that blends if any will show, and you can cut it to size. It's also available as small self-adhesive pads.
Going with self-adhesive felt saves the mess of applying glue. The adhesive used is selected for the purpose, so it doesn't have the kinds of potential problems mentioned in some other answers, and it is applied well at the factory. It also saves buying a specialty glue for this purpose that you might not use up before it expires.
However, if you have something like felt weather stripping that you want to cut into pads, spread a thin layer of silicone caulk on it and stick it to the wood.
Either of the two products you suggest will not wick through to the opposite side of the felt. In that respect, both are suited, but the hot glue would require more care to prevent undesired lumps. Careful thin application may cool/cure too quickly if you have large areas to adhere.
I've had good success with tacky glue. It works best when applied to a hard surface (so the wood side) and then gently smoothing the felt down onto it.
If you've only got a small area to cover and the area that would be touching the wall (or floor) is irregular or difficult to reach, superglue also works. Some caution is required here: if you apply too much glue it might seep through and will then harden the felt.
