How to Skirt and Wash a Sheep's Fleece to Spin into Yarn

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By Nicandab
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Your yarn quality all depends on the quality of the fleece it is spun from.

You start with a sheep, and end up with innumerable knitted and crocheted projects. This is the first step after shearing the sheep to get you started.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

unwashed raw wool fleece
hot water (in a bathtub works best)
dishwashing detergent (one good for cutting grease)
lingerie bag or pillow case.

Step 1

Lay your fleece out (most come in a whole "sheet" of wool), and take off the extremely dirty edges. Pick out any vegetable matter you can easily remove. This is called 'skirting'.
Step 2

Separate fleece into smaller pieces and place in your lingerie bags or pillow cases.
Step 3

Put HOT water into your bathtub or washing machine. Add enough dish soap that the water feels slippery. Submerge the wool in the bags. Allow to soak 30 minutes. At NO time should you agitate the wool, it could cause the wool to knot up and weave into itself tightly (called felting). If you are working in your washing machine, NEVER agitate. You will have felt!
Step 4

Put slightly cooler water NO SOAP(still close to hot, a sudden temperature change could cause felting. Allow to soak for another 20-30 minutes. This is your rinse. If the water comes out dirty, greasy, or still soapy, you will need to rinse again.
Step 5

Clean, raw wool reading for carding and spinning.

You may use the spin cycle (as long as the wool is in bags) to press the water out of your wool. Lay out to dry as soon as the spin cycle is done. Otherwise, press as much water out as possible without agitating or rubbing the wool together. The resulting wool should feel clean and smell like dish soap.. not sheep!

Comments

swamisheils said

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on 11/16/2008 Thanks. My relationship with wool is just beginning and I'm in 'in love' phase. The sheep were sheared this morning and after boiling one batch into felt I thought I needed some help. So lets see how this goes.
Cheers