Washing Fleece

I've been busy washing a few fleece(s) lately.
Shetland, Blue Faced Leicester and a BFL X Romney.

To wash the fleece:
First I open up the fleece and shake as much loose chaff out as I can. Anything obviously too damaged to use (too matted or just too much vegetation) I remove.
I fill some large buckets or containers with cold water and let the fleece soak outside for a few hours or overnight to remove the suint and loose dirt. I drain on the grass or into the gardens.
I then prepare a bath for the fleece of very hot tap water (140F) and use Dawn dish washing detergent with a tiny bit of Zep orange based degreaser. This is my default method.
Usually two detergent soakings for 30 minutes work well. Some fleece need 3 washes.

I have a portable electric spinner I use for fleece and before going into the wash water, I spin the fleece.
Again after washing I spin the fleece before the rinses. I do 3 rinses; the last rinse with some vinegar in the water. I spin again.

The fleece is then laid out on screening to dry.

Variations in washing: I sometimes add a spoon of Synthrapol/ or TNA soap to the washwater. I also used some Orvus to see how that would work. Truly I didn't notice any marked difference.

It takes a great deal of time to wash a fleece. Soaking time, washing time, spinning out water time.

The end result is a lot of beautiful clean wool available for a variety of projects.

BFL

BFL X Romney

Shetland 1

Shetland 2

Shetland 3

Shetland 4

Shetland 5. The nicest. A beauty

New Yarn & Shawl

I spun up some Dorset X Dorper - what a very nice bit of fleece it was to handle & spin; soft fibres about 3" in length. I think this is destined for a woven scarf this year. Wish I had more of that. This fibre can be seen unspun in the previous post.

Shetland Shawl. Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman.

I finished the Shetland Shawl started a year ago. I ran out of Shetland wool purchased at the Woodstock Fleece Festival but purchased more in an unmatched colour a year later. I put the sawtooth border on it which added a little more in the depth of the shawl & I think it will give me much pleasure to wear it on a cool evening. The border was made with Sheltand roving handspun by myself.

Note: I've worn it a bit this week and here are my observations. It's the first shawl I have tried & since it's Shetland wool, it stays in place on my shoulders - doesn't slip around at all, just sort of 'holds' to my clothes. That was surprising to me. It's warm enough in our drafty house despite the loose knit of the garter stitch and holes of the pattern. The area where sleeves would be is just below my elbows is short enough so I can still wear it while washing dishes. Yes - it is a joy to wear.