Regular scheduled Feline Friday will commence shortly (after I collect more photos) for now, enjoy Fiber Friday!
I wanted to know if processing a fleece was something I would enjoy doing. I had some raw wool from the spinning class that I took before I purchased my wheel.
I weighed it, curious how much was there. I was very surprised to find out it was quite a bit. Dirty it was 9.14 oz.
I read quite a few different sources to find out how to scour a fleece. What I learned was that hot water was needed to dissolve the lanolin or "grease". The different sources listed many different temperatures, but 120º was listed in several, so I went with that. That temp was exactly what I could get out of my tap as well, so it seemed a good temperature.
I washed the raw wool twice in dishsoap baths.
What came out was pretty disgusting. I can only describe it as dirt soup.
After two wash tubs. I rinsed about 3 or 4 times in just water. I stopped after the water was clear.
Then I laid it out to dry.
The sun went down, so I took it inside and laid it out to dry. It took about 4 days. However, it was rainy and humid, so I think that's what took so long. The last day I left a fan on it for 1.5 hours, then took it to my yarn room.
Its much cleaner than it was, as you can see. I weighed it post washing and it was 7.2 oz. There is still a small bit of vegetable matter and ick in it that I will pick or cut out.
Here is a lock.
And here is that lock carded with my flick carder. There is still a bit of lanolin in there, but not too much. I do get a "just put lotion" on feeling after handling it.
I enjoyed the process a lot. I think I will be in the market for a full fleece soon!
