Washing Wool

We shear our Icelandic Sheep twice a year... once in the spring and again in the fall. The fall clip is the most valuable and desirable for hand-spinners. It is typically longer and cleaner. On shearing day, the fleece is put into a bag and labeled with the sheep's name and the date. The bags are weighed and loosely stored in the barn.

The next step is to skirt the fleece. This involves laying the fleece open on a screen and pulling out any vegetable matter, short fibers or anything else that is not fleece... ok manure :) Even within the fleece itself, I will sort the premium fiber from the less premium and have it processed for different purposes. Once this is complete, I will put it back in a bag and weigh it again.

The next step is to wash the fleece. This can either be done by me or by the wool processor. It doesn't cost much to have them do it. However, the turn-around time for processing a fleece that requires washing is about 4 months. I have a fiber festival in September, so I am washing my fall fleeces. I can then call the processor ahead of time and they will allow me to bring my fleeces and have them processed on the spot.

So today is about the washing. I bought an old ringer washer at an auction a while back. I have it on the back porch outside the laundry room. You must remove the agitator from the machine as you don't want to agitate the wool or else it will felt. I fill the washer with hot water from a hose hooked to the laundry sink. I add laundry detergent and then gently push the fleece into the water. The water immediately turns to mud the color of chocolate milk. I let the fleece soak for about 15 minutes. Then I drain the water and run the fleece thru the ringer.

And, surprise, surprise ... some wasps had started building a nest inside the roller cavity. I battled them thru the washing, but they were sprayed later that night.

I repeat the process again with detergent and a third time to rinse. Hopefully by now the water is clean. I then lay the fleece out on a wire frame to dry. Depending on the weather, it will take a day or so. I then weigh it again and compare it to the pre-washed weight. The fleece typically weighs 65-70% of the pre-washed wool. This weight loss is mostly lanolin. Icelandic sheep are relatively low in lanolin. Many other sheep will lose nearly half their weight in lanolin when washed.

Now the fleece is ready for the processor. I'll share that with you when I drive down their next month!