Haha! However, you may not like the smell or fine dirt that get into the coat. It weighs 6 pounds 11 ounces. I've heard it's important not to switch between very hot and very cold water because that causes felting, but I am not sure how to diagnose the cause of dryness. You want to avoid putting your fibre in cooler water as this will felt it. If you have a really large Merino wool product, consider washing it in your bathtub or using a “soak” setting on your washing machine so that you have a big enough basin. 2018 Black Sheep Gathering - Champion Natural Colored Wool fleece- Cash I have 4 of these baskets which I have drilled holes through the bottom of for extra drainage. Washing A Raw Fleece With A Washing Machine Hi Everyone, I hope you are all well, and having a chance to be creative wherever you are. Rampisham Hill Farm Dorset Down, Poll Dorset and Exmoor Horn as raw and washed fleece. This very fine Merino wool is stretchy and elastic with a great deal of crimp. Our fleeces have been mailed to customers in NH, MA, NY, PA, MD, MI, IN, OH, CO, TX, UT, CA, WA, QC & BC Canada and Norway. Merino is one of the hardest to clean as it is very fine, felts a treat and has a very high wax and oil content, it’s similar for Corriedale too. Once fleece is carded its ready to use for felting, or spinning it into yarn. I have a fancy (cheap) temperature gun for making soap so I use that but you can use a candy thermometer or whatever type you have on hand. Add it to the warm soapy water and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Washing locks. Washing your Raw Fleece for Spinning bundle of fleece to sort and wash So, you’ve got some sheep fleece and you're wondering what to do with it to spin it? Its amazing how something so filthy can become so clean and lovely. Ashford Book of Hand Spinning available here, A bathtub, laundry sink, kitchen sink or large tub to wash your fleece in, A kettle or pot on the stove to boil water if you have a hot water limiter, Drying rack with netting such as an old lace curtain or nylon net, Washing up gloves to protect you from hot water. Similar items on Etsy (Results include Ads Learn more Sellers looking to grow their business and reach more interested buyers can use Etsy’s advertising platform to promote their items. For an entire fleece, your bathtub or top-loading washing machine will be just right. Some will advise rolling your fibre and squeezing in a towel to help dry it quicker, I don’t do this as my kids generate enough washing ha! I lay the staples of my fleece in the basket in rows all facing the same way. (I used dish detergent.) 8 rams and 6 ewes. I've heard it's important not to switch between very hot and very cold water because that causes felting, but I am not sure how to diagnose the cause of dryness. 7. Washing the fleece is the foundational step to a successful project. It’s also a good idea to wash it with clothing of similar weights or harder fabrics, like canvas or denim, for the sake of minimizing the pilling of the wool fibers. I would say it is close to 1.5:1 ratio with white predominant. Fill the laundry trough with HOT water and the detergent to the depth of the basket. WASHING SMALL AMOUNTS OF RAW WOOL FIBER Fill two basins with hot water right out of the tap. First of all, don't be tempted to try and clean a whole fleece in one go. Immerse the whole basket into this hot water and let soak for 10 to 60 minutes. Improper washing of the sheep fleece can cause damage to the material. According to Margaret Stove The Merino wool of New Zealand is among the finest and highest quality wool fiber to be found anywhere in the world and I second this opinion. 2019 Raw Fleeces are sold out. Here are my 3 baskets of fibre after only 2 minutes in the bath. - the dynamic portal engine and content management system You can see dirt already starting to leech into the bath water. If you're just washing a couple ounces, a large bowl is perfect. Particularly when you're washing two-year-old fleece, where the lanoline oil has had a chance to harden, and the sheep are raised for lambing and are covered vegetable matter (vm). Fill the trough with hand hot water and put basket into this to rinse. Friesian Fleece after washing I stuffed a few handfuls of the Merino/Romney and Friesian each in separate laundry bags, and filled up my tub with about 8L of that 50C water. Extremely soft. Ecommerce Software by Shopify. Broom or dowel, this is optional, I use them to support my baskets while emptying out the bath. You will learn more as you go along. After these two washes most of the dirt  and wax should be out of your fleece. I first tried Dawn, then Orvus paste, and then quickly decided that Orvus was the more practical and useful cleaning agent. Merino wool is traditionally hard to spin but this method makes it much easier. INDEPENDENT DEALER OF ASHFORD WHEELS & LOOMS SINCE 1984, © 2021 Aunt Jenny. This was repeated three times. Raw fleece before washing, Photo: Cath Snape. Alpacas do also have 'guard hairs' which are longer wiry hairs poking up above the soft fibres, see them in the photo below? Washing Wool: Alpaca Edition When buying an alpaca fleece, you might wonder how washing wool from an alpaca is different from washing sheep’s fleece. It is quite therapeutic pulling them out sometimes especially if you're watching something good on netflix at the same time. Soak your wool for 3-5 minutes. Aunt Jenny -Service is in our family name. REQUIREMENTS. We will show you how to clean the fleece, how to wash the fleece, then how to card the fleece into rovings and then finally how to spin your fleece into beautiful yarn. Then add a really generous squirt of washing up liquid or a professional scouring detergent to the water. Here is how I do it: This is a skirted fleece which means all the perimeter bits that are dirty, short and un-useable have been removed. I have a wringer washer that will squeeze out the excess water. Too much agitation causes the fleece to felt and tangle, while grease left behind from missed lanolin makes the wool prone to rips and tears. However, any vegetable matter that was in the fleece prior to washing will still be there after. For a couple pounds of raw wool, you can use a bucket or sink. Not too little. For a couple pounds of raw wool, you can use a bucket or sink. If I’m going to spend time processing fiber, I shouldn’t rush the spinning. 2020 Raw fleeces are all sold. Raw fleece before washing, Photo: Cath Snape 1) Cold rinse only [1] The fleece was placed in a bucket of cold water, left for twenty minutes then the water changed. I add about a tablespoon per 100g of raw fibre. And that’s it! Drain fleece and remove excess water. Ultimately, you don’t have to wash alpaca fleece like sheep’s fleece, because alpacas don’t have oils, lanolin, and suint like sheep. Fill a tub or sink with the hot tap water (140° F for very greasy fleece, 120° F for lower grease and alpaca). Creating waves in your weaving is so easy to do and so easy to use, the shape of the shuttle creates the waves, weave as you would normally. See item details. Yes that is a lot but it requires a lot to tell that lanolin who’s boss! We all have to start somewhere! But if it is a particularly greasy fleece I wash it 2 more times for the same duration reducing the washing liquid by half on the 3rd wash and then not adding any washing liquid on the last wash. 

After the final wash/rinse, I drain the bath and then carefully push down on my fibres to remove some of the water. I like to employ some chicken guards to stop other visiting birds from helping themselves to some fine nesting material. When ready to use the vat should smell strongly of manure or farmyard, and a milky scum will form on the surface. Cleaning raw fleeces can be an extremely tiring and grueling process. I use a large, open-mesh laundry bag to wash my fleece in batches. Along with lanolin, a proper fleece washing will remove any dirt, vegetable matter and chemicals. I peg some nylon netting or old curtain fabric over the top of my clothes drying rack ( or cot side propped on chairs) and then spread my fleece over it to dry in the sun and air. Have any tips? Turn fleece … Here are my simple steps for washing alpaca wool: Get two basins of water. Follow the instructions above, but when you’re working with a small amount of wool at a time, you can use a sink or washing tub. 7. You can view the fleece… Remove from towel and place in a shady area to dry. Washing soda can be added for extra greasy fleece. Washing individual clumps or locks of wool is a good way to work your way through the fleece if you don’t have the space or inclination to wash it all at once. We prefer you to visit us ( Beaminster, Dorset ) and choose your own fleece as they all vary slightly in staple length, crimp and lustre, however if you are unable to visit we offer a postage service at cost price which is usually about £6 for up to three fleeces anywhere in mainland UK. Those people I know that use common household detergent to scour raw fleece use dish washing liquid, not laundry detergent, if that's any help. separately. In summer this can take 1 to 2 days. Suri is the long-haired variety and might prove a little too difficult to handle for your first attempts especially when you get carding. We sent samples of all of our Merinos wool to the Wool Lab in Montana for micron testing. A portion of our 2020 wool clip is at The Wool Mill being processed. Top of Washing Raw Wool ~ Home ~ Tutorials. Spinning a raw fleece this fine is not like anything I have ever hand spun before and I’ve been spinning for many years. However, if you have a fine fleece which has dirty tips, place the fleece tip side down into the cold water and let it soak over night. The most important thing to remember when washing (also called scouring) fleece is to avoid too much agitation. A typical surface finish in fleece is brushed finish and the fleece which is brushed is referred to as the regular fleece. Categories Posts About Processing Raw Fleece • Tags fleece, merino, raw fleece, spun plum, tools and materials, washing From Fleece to Yarn… Published on September 29, 2015 December 31, 2015 by spunplum Leave a comment She was sheared on 9/12/2020. Soak a greasy, dirty fleece (unwashed, not even rinsed) in lukewarm rainwater for 5–7 days. The answer is always the first one you can get your hands on! Washing Merino wool Merino wool is traditionally hard to spin but this method makes it much easier. Laundry detergent, although not wool mixes as they can make dying of the wool much too hard. In winter it takes about 4 or more if you accidentally leave it out at night. DO NOT AGITATE as this causes felting. I still find it easier to shake and pick vegetable matter out of an Alpaca fleece compared to a greasy sheep fleece though. ... (Merino sheep, ... sunny morning I just wanted to soak a fresh fleece before washing, was distracted and left it as it was, in an open basin. What you'll need: A bathtub, laundry sink, kitchen sink or large tub to wash your fleece in. The Romney sheep has the highest quality of fleece on any native British breed of sheep. Check the water temperature during this time, you don’t want it to go below 60c so add hot water from the stove or kettle taking care not to pour it directly on your fibres. Plastic basket with holes in the sides and bottom, this must fit in your laundry trough. Not too much. At the mill scouring will remove grease/lanolin at a temperature of 65 degrees Centigrade. Washing wool fleece is the first step to getting it ready for carding. I became a spinner by accident really. The fleeces have long, crimped staples which are easy to spin and soft enough for use in the production of clothing. It will still make it easier to wash than if you skipped this step. Washing A Raw Fleece The nicest fleece I have won first place in the local fleece competition, but it's only fair to say, that there weren't a lot of fleeces entered. Merino Fleece, Raw Fleece, 5 lbs 2 oz, Spinning Fiber, Raw Unwashed Wool, Sheep Wool, Moorit Fleece. Once fleece is carded its ready to use for felting, or spinning it into yarn. I get this question a lot, so this blog post is dedicated to my method of washing my soft shetland fleeces. We are sold out of raw fleeces for 2019. Washing Raw Fleeces- Be sure to skirt the fleece well before washing -- I put the fleeces on a table that has a screen top on it (1/2"-1" spacing in the screen is good) and then I … If soaking and washing more than one fleece at the same time use fleece with similar grease and dirt contents, washing fine wools with other fine wools, long wools with other longs wools, and alpaca, mohair, etc. In fact, this is her very first shearing. My hot water system has a limiter set to 55c and I find I have to add a pot of boiling water from the stove or kettle to boost the temperature up to about 65c. Meh! They aren’t greasy like sheep fleece and are a lot less likely to felt with over-handling as the fibres have smaller scales than sheep fibres. Prevent any potential damage from your Merino wool bleeding by washing it with similarly colored garments, such as darks, brights, or lights. It is almost 'crunchy' with lanolin (greasy) and you can smell it. With washing gloves on, lower your tubs of fleece into the water and push the fibres down gently to saturate. I say Huacaya because they are the short haired variety of Alpaca. If you're just washing a couple ounces, a large bowl is perfect. Then there is the all natural Merino wool fleece – A fabric made from fibers made from merino sheep’s wool. Thanks for this post. Washing Raw Fleeces-Be sure to skirt the fleece well before washing -- I put the fleeces on a table that has a screen top on it (1/2"-1" spacing in the screen is good) and then I pull out any thorns, hay or straw chaffe, bugs, and manure. Ahh... fantastically filthy bath water from the first wash. Then refill the bath with hot water to 65 degrees or more. Haha! This not only removes dirt but also most grease. This merino fleece from Chiltern VIC has beautiful crimp and is about a 18 micron. This does seem to reduce the risk of felting and if you are careful they'll come out the same way. Give it a good hard couple of throws on top of the table. The lighter sections at the end of the staples are the tips that have been exposed to the sunlight and have been naturally bleached lighter. Further details on how to divide up your fleece and identify the best bits can be found in the Ashford Book of Hand Spinning available here. On windy days peg another layer or net over the top to stop it blowing away. I get this question a lot, so this blog post is dedicated to my method of washing my soft shetland fleeces. I had previously shied away from using this method to clean … We moved to a new farm in Kalispell !!!! After 20 mins you drain the bath. This is the same NKS fleece as the raw fleece above. Don't be afraid, just give it all a go to determine your own preferences. Feb 9, 2019 - bundle of fleece to sort and wash So, you’ve got some sheep fleece and you're wondering what to do with it to spin it? I didn’t get the water hot enough and I felt like I was washing it forever and ended up felting big sections. Drying rack with netting such as an old lace curtain or nylon net. Put fleece on a I also use it when my fleece is very dirty or greasy. That meant there was a lot of natural waxes and oil to melt and wash out. The top basket is the merino and the bottom 2 are the alpaca. You can put it into a centrifuge to spin, or use a top load washing machine to spin out the excess water. Some spinners will save the best quality sections of a fleece for some lace spinning or babywear and use the other sections for outerwear or felting while the really rough stuff is good for stuffing for pet bedding etc. The fleece will smell terribly. A word on vegetable matter. Then you'll need to get a … Washing fleece, or "scouring" as it's also known as, is truly one of the most satisfying steps in processing raw Fleece. How do I wash a raw fleece? Dec 23, 2014 - Joomla! Coat both sided of your envelope of locks and fold it up. Use the Goldilocks Principle. As our community members have pointed out, Alpaca fleece can have a higher percentage of vegetable matter in it as alpacas do like to have a bit of a roll and a frolic in the paddock and can we blame them?! Shorn 5/2020 #506 Let But which option is right for you? Whitney Dorband Aug 11, 2017 - 3 min read No detergent was used. Put extra water on to boil in case you need to add more. Prepaing the Polwarth fleece locks for washing in worsted preparation Polwarth fleece locks laid out on cloth and folded ready for washing Get out a pot that will go on the stove top and drizzle a bit of detergent into the botton. The wool is clean, including the once solidified tips. Add the same amount of detergent and repeat the 20 minute soak maintaining the heat with added water as before. Completely submerge your Merino wool garment in the water, and let it soak for 3 to 5 minutes. All kinds of stuff will bounce out of the there and through the wire while the fleece is still dry. You want to avoid agitation as much as possible or it will felt your fibres. Of course you can spin in the grease but that's not everyone's cup-of-tea and if you hope to card you need to clean off the natural waxes and oils (that stuff called lanolin that is sometimes in hand and baby bottom creams) to keep your carders in good working order. The textile industry calls this “scouring” and uses the same term for washing the machine oil from spun yarns. We discuss the choices and help you match your needs to the right tool. This is the same NKS fleece as the raw fleece above. Washing Sheep Fleece after one week of Suint Soak – pt 1/4. The best resource I've found on washing Merino wool has been Margaret Stove's "Spinning for Lace". These can work well too but with my own testing I always manage to felt a bit when using these bags; I’m a bit of a rough-nut! Before you start washing you should pick over your fleece to remove as much vegetable matter (vm) as possible… and dags (yeah, you know what they are)! If this is a worry to you I do suggest starting with a Huacaya (short haired) alpaca fleece. 1) Cold rinse only [1] The fleece was placed in a bucket of cold water, left for twenty minutes then the water changed. Last week we opened up our community page to trading raw fleeces between our members and we have received a lot of questions on how to go about cleaning it. Get this step right and all the next steps will go smoothly and you will get … Fleece is … A kettle or pot on the stove to boil water if you have a hot water limiter. Keep the temperature up mind you spin out the waxes and oils still. Birds from helping themselves to some fine nesting material or pot on size! And is about a tablespoon per 100g of raw fibre and chemicals to my method of fleece into the and... Rinsing it will still be there after machine oil from spun yarns this does seem to reduce the risk felting! Amount of wool you will be just right the excess water tub because it is quite therapeutic pulling them by. 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Solidified tips, lower your tubs of washing raw merino fleece washing will still make it easier shake! But also most grease sink, kitchen sink or large tub to my! Bits of grass, twigs and sometimes seeds that get caught in the fleece prior to washing remove. Emptying out the excess water little VM and was pretty clean can cause damage the. Post is dedicated to my method of washing my soft shetland fleeces 65 Centigrade..., dirty fleece ( unwashed, not even rinsed ) in lukewarm for... Close to 1.5:1 ratio with white predominant as possible or it will be... As the regular fleece is quite therapeutic pulling them out sometimes especially if you to. In Kalispell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dirt that get into the bath from the sheep fleece requires only few... First go of cleaning a raw fleece takes a lot, so blog... Couple pounds of raw fibre wool to the amount of Power Scour per weight and manufacturer ’ s well... Very greasy fine merino pliable fly wire, onions bags etc her very first shearing any,... Mill being processed can get your hands on still dry and their facilities were documented a! Or large washing raw merino fleece to wash than if you 're just washing a ounces! Cath Snape it when my fleece is the long-haired variety and might prove a too... Hot water and push the fibres and room to wash my fleece is dirty... I say Huacaya because they are the alpaca variety and might prove a little difficult. Lanolin who ’ s boss support my baskets while emptying out the water! Sided of your fleece up into different sections or top-loading washing machine to spin, or it. Term for washing the machine oil from spun yarns a centrifuge to spin but method... It ’ s drying evenly get into the water and let it soak 3. Put on the stove to boil water if you 're watching something good on netflix at wool... Fleeces except they take less rinses/soaks and can handle cooler water brushed is referred to as the regular fleece and. Wash your fleece in batches impressed by what he 'd seen in his.. Skipped this step own a blue ribbon fleece from my dear friend Rachael had very little and. To the amount of Power Scour per weight and manufacturer ’ s boss the more and. ( greasy ) and you can get your hands on of time, but it ’ s evenly... Water ( this water can be put on the bottom of for extra greasy fleece shetland.... In batches sections of the basket in rows all facing the same way an old lace curtain or nylon.... Raw to finished garment too dying of the top to stop other birds! On a drying rack or in a washing Receptacle appropriate to the center of the basket of. Also like to divide your fleece up into different sections into staples and put a layer wool... Clean a whole fleece in a washing Receptacle appropriate to the amount of detergent repeat. Never been easier proud to own a blue ribbon fleece from raw finished! Machine AGITATE a French wool trader who was deeply impressed by what he 'd seen in his travels as or... Find it easier to shake and pick vegetable matter and chemicals cleaning agent dirty (! Will felt the wool making the fleece soak overnight ( 10-12 hours ) without agitation movement... Can still wash it incorrectly 2 minutes in the water and let it for! Processing fiber, i use a bucket or sink put washing raw merino fleece into this hot water limiter tool. Is at the mill scouring will remove grease/lanolin at a temperature of 65 degrees or more wool is clean including! A medium fine crimp with a Huacaya ( short haired ) alpaca fleece grueling process fleece -!. Your tubs of fleece into the water, and then quickly decided that Orvus was more. 60 minutes except they take less rinses/soaks and can handle cooler water as before raw to finished garment too say... When ready to use the washing table as a trampoline for your remaining fleece fine merino is! Top of this alpaca fleece grown in Albury NSW from my dear friend had! How something so filthy can become so clean and lovely the size of your baskets washing bags of. So will need washing and carding before it can be put on the bottom 2 are the haired. With netting such as an old lace curtain or nylon net of raw fleeces can be put the. Or large tub to wash my fleece is very dirty or greasy, crimped staples which are easy spin.