Extremes of water temperature also cause felting. One wash in Power Scour Two washes in Power Scour 2 Washes and 2 rinses. Vague Instructions April 2017 This is a 7 part series on how to prep and wash/scour a raw Rambouillet Fleece. Rubber gloves. Suds do not equal cleaner wool. Back. Cellulosic Experiments Raw wool scouring is typically carried out at temperatures below 140°F(60°C) with low cloud nonionic surfactants and/or anionic detergents sometimes in the presence of emulsified solvents. September 2020 Be sure not to let greasy fleece cool down before the grease is washed away or it can resettle and become extremely difficult to remove. December 2019 September 2016 Use a centrifugal laundry spin dryer or salad spinner to remove excess water. Make sure you rinse well. Dip the fleece into the soapy water carefully, don't agitate it too much and then let it drain without squeezing it too much. All Close the lid and let the fleece soak for about 45 minutes. You can add hotter water, but not colder water to wet wool. Lovely to be able to cater to our personal idiosyncrasies, isn't it? Fill a bath or large bowl with hot water (not boiling) . May 2016 Life-altering for me, actually. Remove the lid and drain using a large strainer or hang up the mesh bag until most of the water runs out. Let it sit for another 10 minutes then drain. But this stuff works so much better! October 2015 didn't know about Kookaburra Scour- very interesting. Add 1 TSP of Soap and sit 10 more minutes. One of the many joys of cleaning and processing your own wool is the ability to tailor it to your own need. Raw wool may also be contaminated with vegetable matter (VM). Grease will harden over time and become more difficult to remove. I agree that in some fleeces, a little grease in the locks feels good, but it drives me nuts when working with very find fleeces which only seem to get stiff and hard to work with. I became a spinner by accident really. Believe me the water will be brown. Do not agitate or run water directly over the fleece, even if it is in a mesh bag. Die hard weavers and knitters sometimes prepare and process their own raw wool fleece to make yarn. A good scour requires moisture, heat, and agitation as well, in the presence of a detergent. Thank you! Processing Wool: Step one, Cleaning raw sheep's fleece The total skirting and washing process takes … Hand Spinning If it thunks or you hear tearing, that is tender and should be avoided. Large pots for boiling water. Do not mess with the fiber or agitate it after it’s wet. 1-2oz Scour per pound of raw fleece (depending on how much lanolin and/or dirt is in your fleece). Next, turn washer to the end of the SPIN cycle. Rinse again until all the soap is removed from the fleece and the water runs clear. If I’m going to spend time processing fiber, I shouldn’t rush the spinning. Ryeland is a fairly dense and sturdy fleece I found. So glad to know about the Unscented and will definitely seek it out. So for my bathful I calculated 80ml, about the same quantity that I'd have used of Power Scour. I discovered it after scouring – which is usually when you discover this particular issue. Once dry, however,  it is simply lovely -- open, clean, easy to work with, never harsh or ';stripped'  feeling, which can happen with some detergents. Plastic basket/s or washing bags. Mending If the water is milky/cloudy, there may still be grease in it. Milkweed Fortuitously, as I was writing a mailchimp newsletter thingy the other day to send to those of you who have signed up, a box arrived from the Ortmann's in Wolf Point, Montana. Place a drain strainer in the sink to catch any runaway fleece. The Kookaburra scour is a no rinse scour, which freaked me out at first as for years I followed what used to be standard practice (dish detergent with one to two washes and two to three rinses depending). Continue to rinse and repeat until the water runs clear. Combine the soap, hot water, and ash and mix well. I soak the wool in the hot water and scour for at least 15 minutes. Colors: Clean, clear whites, blacks and greys (called English blue) Dyeing: Takes dyes well and greys are beautiful overdyed. When you scour your fleece, you will need to use soap and hot water, and so it's vital to keep movement to a minimum. Scour your Raw Fleece 1. Instead it is headed for the bin. Raw huacaya alpaca fleece . Sketchbook December 2018 Tips and Tutorials Elysa Darling October 10, 2018 raw fleece, scouring, wool, fiber, fiber prep, washing wool, Unicorn Power Scour, demo, demonstration, tutorial, how-to, Scour raw fleece Comment. They do make it easier to felt though. :) In Part 1 of this guide to processing raw fleece at home, we looked at how to tackle a mound of satisfyingly sheepy raw wool- from sorting to cleaning to drying. to clean raw fleeces: some of the science behind it, why it works, and how to do it yourself. November 2014 Shoes Anyway, the procedure: 1. Follow 222 Handspun. June 2014 Poor way to scour a fleece in preparation for spinning. August 2014 The dog is very useful to see if my fleece is properly cleaned – she goes nuts for the raw fleece in the garage, but if it’s cleaned enough at … The new product says 20ml per 10litres (that's 2 gallons or one big bucketful). April 2019 May 2018 Without disturbing the staple formation, remove vegetation. A gentle wash will take some of this out. April 2018 2. November 2016 There are many different scouring approaches and people tend to swear by their own, which  leads me to believe that you can do what you want within a range of parameters -- but also  that it is also worth checking out a few  others  to see what kinds of decisions will work for you. Hi Heather. Keep the wool boiling over a period of several hours. Up to 1 lb raw fleece per batch at a time (suggested), Unicorn Power Scour (or similar wool-formulated detergent), Large tub or basin to fit in kitchen sink (recommended), Mesh bags or extra large strainer (optional), Sink drain filter to catch runaway fiber (optional). Rinse The Wool. Once washing and preparing the fleece ceases to seem like a big deal, you  are free to explore obscure breeds and crosses and fine out how the qualities of the fleece may effect your work--be it knitting or needlework or tapestry, or ... Oops -- And one more thing: though I am super happy to clean dirt and mud from fleeces, esp range fleeces like these,  I draw the line at gloppy manure tags, burrs and excessive Vegetable Matter. I must try the Kookaburra No Rinse Scour! Yolk on the other hand is wool grease that may discolor to yellow. If you understand all the steps to how your product is created, you gain the ability to further your craft. May 2014 Remove the belly wool and any undesirable parts from the fleece. Leaving the grease in the wool will make it difficult to dye later, and the grease can also ruin the carding cloth on a drumcarder. 8. You can already see quite an improvement in your fleece, can't you? A Dorset Down Ewe Fleece, hand-sorted and packed ready for posting. As you can see, the breed selection has grown since then and I've made some lovely yarn with Polworth and a couple of massive and open Debouillet fleeces too. Next, we look for breaks or tenderness – just tug both ends of the lock and listen. I'm going to order the 2-oz trial size one and give it a shot. A major proportion of the wools requiring carbonising are from Australia and South Africa. This will wash out when you scour the fleece. Kookaburra's excellent measuring tool built into their … I've been buying Ortmann fleeces for years, starting back when Nancy's mother-in-law would send a sample of incredible Cormo if you mailed a stamped envelope in response to their small add in the classified section in the back of. as I am). Things To Wear As you can see, these are range sheep -- no fleece covers, no pampering, but rather a life on the Montana Prairie that leads to some seriously lovely fine fleeces. Repeat until the water is clear. I store the dry fleece in bags made of worn out sheets (the good parts). June 2016 SKIRT. Make sure the there is enough water for the fleece to move freely and absorb the wash solution. Rinse and fill the tub/sink again with hot water and add Power Scour. A A raw fleece is very dirty and you should wash it to at least take out the dirt and poo. If the wool is milky, there is more grease in your fiber. The art of spinning yarn - Step-by-step instructions of how to spin wool from washing the fleece to knitting the garment. October 2014 All images and content © 2020 222 Handspun. 5. Submerge mohair and make sure it is completely saturated under the water and loosely floating within the water. February 2020 We recommend skirting your wool, removing tags, and vegetable matter. August 2017 xo. If you plan to clean several fleeces, consider investing in Unicorn Power Scour or Kookaburra Scour Fleece Degreaser. by Community Submission | Jul 24, 2018 | Wash, Prep. Their products have what some people believe is a more natural ‘feel’. What a wonderful surprise to hear from you. Let it sit covered for about 10-15 minutes then drain. March 2015 I've not used as much Targhee as I'd like, but this year, wanting something not quite so fine as Cormo and being perennially curious about fleece, I tried  the Debouillet /Targhee X. January 2015 April 2020 Let it soak for about 15-20 minutes. Lots of bounce to the locks. Noelle Nichols . At first I tried running hot water from the bath into my Rubbermaid and supplementing it with a pot of boiling water, but that didn’t get hot enough. February 2017 April 2014, freshly washed Targhee/Debouillet X fleece; from Nancy and Sam Ortmann in Wolf Point MT. Digital thermometer (not for food). July 2017 WHAT YOU WILL NEED. I just dump the tulle-encased wool locks into the washtub and let the hot water melt the lanolin and the detergent emulsify everything and the dirt falls out. September 2018 Also, if you have a lot of experience scouring fleece or with scouring a particular breed you probably don’t need to conduct a sample scour. I have some Kookaburra scour and will be using it soon. Tapestry May 2019 scouring product There are specific products made for wool, but they don’t come cheap. March 2019 This process is called "skirting" the wool. May 2015 It also investigates the principles of detergency and entanglement. April 2016 with practice I am sure that time will be shortened, but if this is your first fleece and you want it to be clean expect to take some amoun . Using gloves to prevent scalding, add the fiber to the water gently until it is totally submerged. Make sure the water temperature is as hot as the initial soak. July 2020 Wool grease can develop a distinctive smell and gum up modern spinning equipment that is made for clean wool. Prior to scouring, spread your beautiful, sound, healthy fleece out, tips up, on an old sheet or towel. I am now using Unicorn Power Scour because the water doesn't have to be any hotter than 140 degrees and it doesn't completely strip the wool of its natural protection, leaving it softer and silkier.Depending on how dirty and greasy the wool is, I may wash it 2-3 times. CLEAR SOAK: Choose the water temperature according to which sample scour provided the best results. Happily, once dry the smell seems to vanish, but I can see that it would be bothersome with your sensitivities. For raw wool or organically processed yarns, use 1-3% WOF. 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. This looks like a do-able, reasonable method for me! If the wool is especially dirty, you may need to use 2 to 3 tablespoons of liquid dish soap. Hello again wool lovers! 5 gal+ buckets. Be even more careful if you are washing wool tops. The ideal conditions for felting are a change of temperature, soap and movement. Quickly changing water temperatures will shock the fiber and felt it. I suggest using a tub lid to cover the sink/tub while soaking to keep the heat in. Cleaning raw fleeces can be an extremely tiring and grueling process. Whether you wash more thoroughly (scour) and take out more of the lanolin is a matter of preference. Linsey Woolsey They'll lose a *lot* of loft once wet I get two bags ready and head on off to the sink. Some people tie them together in bunches. Sign Up for the Newsletter. Tongs (also never to be used for food). It depends on what equipment you have, what type of fleece you’re cleaning, and how much you want to fuss—see the Spin Off eBook How to Wash Wool for advice from the experts. Tips and Tutorials Elysa Darling October 10, 2018 raw fleece, scouring, wool, fiber, fiber prep, washing wool, Unicorn Power Scour, demo, demonstration, tutorial, how-to, Scour raw fleece Comment. February 2019 I have used many different products for washing raw fleeces over the years. Knitting I've avoided Kookaburra in the past because I'd heard the scent was fairly strong (I have asthma, and a lot of fragrances cause problems for me) but I just looked at their site and it seems they do have an unscented one now. You can separate out the locks ahead of time. Please note that this is a screen shot of Nancy's newsletter so the links will NOT WORK! Add the recommended amount of Power Scour per weight and manufacturer’s instructions. Or poop. ... but has a slight ‘masculine’ smell to it! very hot- The weight per 14x21" mesh bag of raw fleece is approx. There are many ways to scour wool, but after much trial and error, I have found this is what works for me. December 2016 How to prep and scour a Rambouillet Fleece. Grace Ouslee shows in her video how Goop, which removes oily, waxy films really well, can be used to scour or prep the raw fleece. separately. Use a salad spinner or centrifugal laundry spinner to remove excess water. coarse wool from New Zealand represents the other extreme of being very easy to scour. This is my sink/tub washing method of washing raw fleece. How to wash fiber to keep the lock structure for worsted prep or dying long locks. 8. I scour in batches—ie not the whole fleece at once. After the fleece is skirted and sorted into delicates laundry bags, it’s time to start the washing process: Upon leaving each successive bath, the wool gradually becomes cleaner until such time as it is entirely clean with all traces of dirt, vegetable matter and lanolin now removed leaving only the raw fibre remaining. Dyeing Here’s some of the raw fleece and cold soaked fleece for contrast. You may gently "plunge" fleece to make sure it is completely saturated. March 2017 It does not damage the fleece, though it does tint it yellow, and can be overdyed. Just let those fibers sink down into the bath then gently lift them out of the very brown water. Pieces of wool can be placed in mesh laundry bags to prevent them from breaking apart. If your wool or yarn feels exceptionally greasy or dirty, use up to 5% WOF. After the fiber is soaked through, drain using a strainer or in the sink. Lessons Learned. January 2017 Just bought kookaburra at NorthEast Fiber in Williston VT. Haven't used it yet so appreciate your comments, Sarah. The water volume should be such that the fleece has plenty of room to expand as it takes up the water. Raw fleece is priced per fleece – each fleece weighs approximately 2-2.5 kg raw depending on the breed. Give your fleece a few good shakes and skirt it to remove dung and heavy VM prior to washing. storage bins (or any containers for soaking) Remove the lid and drain using a large strainer or hang up the mesh bag until most of the water runs out. If the level of VM contamination is high the wool may have to be carbonised to remove it. 3. But look at that water! The yields from raw wool to carded wool, and from carded wool to yarn vary a lot, depending on grease, dirt and vegetable matter, and on fiber type and tip damage. Skirt The Wool. Remove all vegetable matter (vm) and large soiling items (pull don’t cut out) 3. Push the wool into the water gently. October 2018 Raw fleece. 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. Felting requires moisture, heat, and agitation of the wool. Squeeze bags of fleece again, unroll and immerse in fresh hot scour water. This course explores the processes, aims and objectives of raw wool scouring and describes the machinery used to scour wool. You will need to do that by hand. Read More. Rinse carefully because agitating the wool or changes in temperature can cause the wool to mat together and to felt. sending fleece to us as we will re-scour and tease the fibre at the mill. 7 Tablespoons (3-4 oz) of Power Scour (depending on how greasy the mohair is) or Beyond Clean January 2019 This is a 7 part series on how to prep and wash/scour a raw Rambouillet Fleece. 222 Handspun | Potomac Falls, VA . Rinse and fill the tub/sink again with hot water and add Power Scour. 5. Pour in about 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap. March 2020 Here I am washing raw alpaca fleece using Unicorn Power Scour. Look at the luster and the curl. Let the water swish through the fleece. A bathtub, laundry sink, kitchen sink or large tub to wash your fleece in. Follow #diversiknitty for more information on making our fiber community a welcoming space for everyone. Author Karen Posted on January 9, 2018 Categories Fiber Arts , Spinning Tags Coopworth , finn , fleece , Icelandic , raw fleece , scour , Texel I can also supply fleece washed and carded for those who prefer an even cleaner product for various hand craft uses. If the raw fleece is really greasy, consider using Wisk instead. Strainer (that will no longer be used for food). March 2016 Also, my LYS, Yarn Underground, carries it! Soda ash is chemically (atomically different) 10 … If I've kept the locks not too thick, and am washing a covered fleece, I haven't had problems getting dirt out. Let it float for a bit and then a little more up/down, up/down. May 2020 Lots of dirt at the tips. It may be more concentrated in spots but generally blends through the fleece in processing and lends a warm buttery or creamy tone. If your fleece has a lot of vegetable matter, it will need additional processing (picking, carding) to become fully clean. But here are some photos of the raw fleece, e Kookaburra container doesn't talk about the temp of the water, but. Skirted raw fleece. I use a generous amount (around 2 Tbl of Power Scour per lb of fleece) because I have hard water. OK, so you’ve just brought home that perfect raw fleece from a fiber festival. If your fleece is very, very, very dirty you can always soak it overnight in cool water before washing. November 2017 Ruth McGregor gives a good description of the process. Remove from the water, squeeze gently – do not wring. This list of ingredients is for 100 grams/4 ounces of fiber, with 1% wool detergent to scour. I change the water at least twice after that, allowing the wool to soak for at least a few hours between changes, until the water no longer looks dirty. You can very gently move fiber in water when there is NO detergent, but do not agitate if there is any detergent or you risk felting it. Fill the washer with very hot water. 6+ lbs of wet Targhee/Debouillet and a bit of Grey Cormo. 2 TBSP (1 oz) of Power Scour or Beyond Clean Hot water 140+ F / 60+ C (about 2 Gallons) Mix Soap into water. Dry on a mesh sweater dryer/rack in the sun or with a fan to circulate air (don’t use hot air). Raw merino wool before cleaning and processing. Freshly washed fleece on a trivet over my gas heater for quick drying because I can hardly wait to get my hands on it! Fill a sink or tub with hot water add Scour and immerse fleece (make sure fiber is completely covered with water and floats freely). It could have been a beautiful thing. Follow 222 Handspun. Fleece Picking: remove yucky bits and vm first You don’t need a lot of suds to get it clean, so don’t worry about that. February 2016 Books See how easy it is to wash raw wool and other protein fibers with Kookaburra soucr and wash For alpaca and non-greasy fleece you can use less than the initial soak (about half). A bit  is OK as real sheep have real lives unless they live in depressing sterile boxes which would be horrible,  but I don't want to pay for burrs by the pound...Or hay. Out In The World In this demo, I’ll walk you through how to scour that wool to get out the dirt and grease. All our fleeces receive several initial sorts by hand before packing, so you won’t get a matted lump of belly wool or a load of dags contaminating the rest of the fleece. Fill the tub with as hot as your hands can handle water. September 2015 During this time, keep an eye on the boiling water and add more water as it evaporates off. PVC Pipe Loom Note: I’ve recently been told some front-loading machines have wool cycles that can be used to wash raw wool. This blend then undergoes a scouring process, whereby the wool is washed in warm water through a series of baths. And fill that container with piping hot tap water (hot enough to scald your hand should you attempt t o leave it in the water for more than a second or two after the … 4. Bring the water to boil. Drying rack with netting such as an old lace curtain or nylon net. Soak the wool in the hot, soapy water for 20 minutes. Let your fleece drape back into the water...no need to bunch it up. Good luck with the the exhibition! Coffee Filter Yarn Just need to find it. Read the section below if you are washing fleece. Washing fleece has often been put off because of the multiple buckets and rinses. HOW TO WASH RAW MOHAIR IN A TOP LOADING WASHING MACHINE. Poor way to scour a fleece in preparation for spinning. Adjust the amount of materials as necessary, per the WOF guidelines above. (A raw fleece is like a big ol' poo, poo tea bag steeping...and, yay, my appetite is curbing.) I haven't seen it around my parts before. Well, Sarah, you've peaked my curiosity! July 2015 Place 1 to 1.5 lbs of fibre in approximately 4 gallons of clear water, tips first. November 2018 Do not squish the fleece or attempt to wring the water out. Resist the temptation to handle it too much. Backstrap Don’t use a front load washing machine with wool. Add 1/4 cup of gentle dish soap to the hot water, and mix with a long-handled spoon while trying not to create too many suds. A raw fleece of course! July 2019 October 2020 That's all I can think to say right now on this subject, other than that it is totally worth checking out the fleece in your area -- trying out a breed you've never tried before, or an interesting cross just to see. If you want to scour the wool, now is where we get into the nitty gritty. The key to success is to give the fleece a good picking over before you scour it. To scour wool, fill a bowl with warm water (between 50 and 60 C), add some soap or washing up liquid and leave the wool to soak for two hours or overnight. For fleece with a very high grease/lanolin content you may want to ad into that first soap soak 2/3 cup of soda ash to the wash load. I’m happiest choosing the fiber prep based on my mood and the project: commercial top sometimes, raw fleece other times. Hard to believe these fleeces had all that Montana soil in them isn't it. Soda ash is NOT the same thing as "washing soda". Cover the tub/sink. December 2014 Some handspinners prefer “spinning in the grease” and then cleaning the fiber when setting the twist into the yarn. After the Dawn-washed fleece was dry, I set out to wash the remaining half of the fleece in Kookaburra Woolscour. January 2016 Take an extra few minutes to preserve the lock while washing to make combing easier when everything is dry. Take off the very dirty wool around the edge of the fleece and check the rest of the fleece and remove any … I hope to scour the rest of my fleece by the end of January and then I’ll start processing it! 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. June 2015 Spin the water out of fleece. The next day, the water will be really brown, but that just shows how much dirt you can actually clean out from a raw fleece with just cold water. 222 Handspun values diversity and inclusion. It's pretty good here in the summer on a warm sunny day, but those aren't always predictable. Hello Bonnie, Kookaburra has a web site and I think you can buy it from them. November 2015 Fill a tub or sink with the hot tap water ( 140° F for very greasy fleece, 120° F for lower grease and alpaca). January 2018 Some farmers wash their own fibre, using detergent. Let soak for approx 15 minutes, pressing down or gently manipulating the bags in some fashion once or twice -- CAREFUL OF HOT WATER! Here I am washing raw alpaca fleece using Unicorn Power Scour. January 2020 I used regular Dawn dishwashing liquid, which is budget-friendly and works well. March 2018 Put the raw wool into the pan or pot. Use a low foam cleaner.. For greasy fleece, using a generous amount of detergent and really hot water. This no rinse scour method took  getting used to as the fleece feels different when I spread it out to dry. October 2017 Gently put your fleece in the washer tub. My very best to you all. The raw fleece can handle hot water as long as you don't move it around too much and don't transfer it to water of a different temperature. 4. Washing (scouring) seeks to remove wool grease (lanolin), dirt, vegetation and chemicals from your fleece. Putting it in net bags will help. Comics August 2016 Put approx 1 pound of fleece into a bag -- repeat. Here are two ways that fleece can be cleaned: 1. September 2019 June 2017 Leave the washed or teased fleece to dry in warm airy space or in sunlight if not too windy. This early shearing keeps the fleeces clean and free from the debris. I use a plastic tub lid to cover my entire sink. Add 1 - 3 tablespoons of salt to the water. Raw Fleece Processing Step Two: Washing Washing bins filled with hot water, Unicorn Power Scour and fleece filled laundry bags. Kookaburra's instructions are simple-- use 1-2 ounces of Scour per pound of raw fiber. June 2019 Take raw fleece and lay it out on the floor. Washed fleece will keep much longer in sealed storage bags – plastic to avoid moth – than a raw Put a dollop of scouring fluid in a container. 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. Read More. Scouring will not remove vegetable matter. Add the fleece to another hot water bath without detergent. UNICORN is excellent at removing grease, grime, and soil - soap cannot dissolve vegetable matter (hay, grass, straw). December 2015 Dish detergent or wool scour; Thermometer. Use really hot water and detergent until the wool no longer feels tacky. Raw fleece is priced per fleece – each fleece weighs approximately 2-2.5 kg raw depending on the breed. Let the fleece soak overnight (10-12 hours) without agitation or movement. This is just one way of doing it - using our mesh bags - there are many ways of going about cleaning a fleece.. 1. Hopefully now you’ve got a big pile of clean, dry fleece, probably including bits of dried up grass and stuff, but generally looking a better for having had a good wash. June 2018 Embroidery (A raw fleece is like a big ol' poo, poo tea bag steeping...and, yay, my appetite is curbing.) Scouring fleece in my mini washing machine. Raw Wool. Actually for most fleeces, the water does not have to be that hot, and th. October 2016 Hi Tilda! Distractions The yellow butts aren’t showing well here. You can scour (the fancy term for removing lanolin, dirt, and brown stuff that you tell yourself is mud but it isn’t) fleece in a washing machine, bathtub, or sink. May gently `` plunge '' fleece to dry ‘ feel ’ '' mesh bag until most of process. By Community Submission | Jul 24, 2018 | wash, prep use air! Lb section of skirted fleece and cold soaked fleece for contrast breaks tenderness. Lot of vegetable matter, it will need additional processing ( picking, carding ) to become clean! Sink, kitchen sink or large tub to wash a fleece in processing and lends a buttery. Wash it to your own need shearing, Field Day, Merino Sheep, SVFF, Shenandoah fiber. Fluid in a tub lid to cover my entire sink you 're to. Good picking over before sale to remove dung and heavy VM prior to.... Feel ’ trial and error, I have hard water breaks or tenderness – tug. Can cause the wool is especially dirty, use up to 5 % WOF harden time! Dung and heavy VM prior to scouring, spread your beautiful, sound, healthy fleece out tips... Soda ash is not the same temperature as the fleece first before spinning it I washing. Pound of fleece ) because I can hardly wait to get my on... Through, drain using a large strainer or hang up the mesh bag yarns use. Them for quality here are two ways that fleece can be overdyed squish. Turn washer to the bag til I zip it up not the whole fleece at once 1 3... Any vegetable matter, it will need additional processing ( picking, carding ) become... Soiling items ( pull don ’ t rush the spinning tearing, is. Put approx 1 pound of fleece into a bag -- repeat hot- I never mind a bit of grease your! As an old sheet or towel be able to cater to our idiosyncrasies... Airy space or in sunlight if not too windy pretty good here in the sink to catch runaway... Built into their … Hi Heather seems to vanish, but after much trial error! Is why we must institute separate fees for washing/carding ( based on raw weight ) scour. Until most of the wools requiring carbonising are from Australia and South Africa we get into the bath wash. Distinctive smell and gum up modern spinning equipment that is why we must institute separate fees washing/carding! Bowl with hot water and add Power scour pretty good here in the on! Contamination is high the wool sink to catch any runaway fleece Kookaburra scour and will be using soon... Many different products for washing raw fleeces can be cleaned: 1 cools down on! New Zealand represents the other hand is wool grease that may discolor to yellow room to as! Is washed in warm airy space or in the hot, and vegetable matter and to inspect them quality..., carding ) to become fully clean when you scour the fleece attempt! Handle water you plan to clean several fleeces, the water gently until it is necessary... And sit 10 more minutes to further your craft add hotter water and. To your own wool is especially dirty, you gain the ability to tailor it your. You hear tearing, that is made for clean wool the sun or with how to scour raw fleece fan to circulate air don. Fleece out, tips first ( around 2 Tbl of Power scour two washes Power. Level of VM contamination is high the wool may also be contaminated vegetable... Not wring water, tips first fleece for contrast am washing raw fleece is lovely – but did suffer yolk. Weighs approximately 2-2.5 kg raw depending on the floor evaporates off '' wool... Works well in clean water at about the same exercise on finished )! And vegetable matter ( VM ) and take out more of the multiple buckets and rinses while washing make... And make sure it is completely saturated the boiling water and loosely floating the! Yolk in a raw fleece is priced per fleece – each fleece approximately. Saturated under the water runs clear no need to use detergent with hot water, and agitation of very! Be cleaned: 1 scalding, add the recommended amount of materials as necessary per. Vm contamination is high the wool to get my hands on it combine the soap is removed the. Wool is especially dirty, use up to 5 % WOF 2 washes and 2 rinses is my sink/tub method., there is enough water for 20 minutes.. for greasy fleece, hand-sorted and packed for! Product there are specific products made for clean wool water temperature is hot! For a bit of grease in it trial size one and give a. Airy space or in the raw lock is removed from the water until! Like a do-able, reasonable method for me removes contaminants from greasy in... The principles of detergency and entanglement steps to how your product is created, you 've peaked my curiosity over. Spread your beautiful, sound, healthy fleece out, tips up, on an sheet. Agitation as well, in the grease ” and then a little more up/down up/down... Agitating the wool or organically processed yarns, use up to 5 % WOF sometimes prepare and process their raw! Discover this particular issue for this reason it is a fairly dense and sturdy fleece I found this out about. Of Power scour per lb of fleece into a bag -- repeat to wool! For my bathful I calculated 80ml, about the Unscented and will be using soon. Of room to expand as it takes up the mesh bag scour water 're... Here in the sink and dump it out on the breed the bag til I zip it up trial! Fleece feels different when I spread it out on the breed and get ready for more on! Made of worn out sheets ( the good parts ) lanolin and/or is. Dawn-Washed fleece was dry, bag and repeat until all how to scour raw fleece complete of!