Felt washers for wheel bearings, grease or not?

Putting in new wheel bearings and I've got new felt washers. Do these need to be greased or oiled? The manual isn't clear on this point. The old ones were pretty greasy but I'm not sure if this was just due to the fact they were "old".

Depends if your new bearings are sealed or open. The older open OE bearings had a maintenance regime were you pulled them out and re-greased them. The felt seal naturally got greasy too and its job was to keep out moisture and grit. However, modern sealed for life bearings do not need any grease outside of them so the felt seal can remain as is, but it doesn't hurt to put a lick on them as a moisture barrier.

Mick