tearing bushing cloth

[William R. Monroe]

Hello Veterans,

So I've always used pre-cut felt for damper guide rail bushing.  Decided to 
"do the right thing" and tear it from the bolt.

Y'know that sick feeling in your gut, like when you're polishing a just 
installed set of keytops and you melt one?

Well, I went to make the first tear, and, ugh.  Felt sick.  A big piece of 
bushing cloth is not cheap, and that first tear went at an angle.  I tore 
fairly quickly, thinking it proper, and over the course of about 30cm, the 
cloth went from about 9mm wide to about 17mm wide.

What did I do wrong???  Or is there a bias to the material that you can't 
discover until you tear the first strip?  Then, do the following strips tear 
straight?

Thanks for your advice.

William R. Monroe