[Elfsea] Wool Preparation

[Spence and Robin Mabry]

For those of you who wish to learn the fine art of wool-spinning at the
Highland Games, HL Robin has asked me to post the following instructions of
the preparation of Wool.  She had planned to do this on-site, but because of
mundane regulations, will not be able to.  Thus, she hopes that many of you
will follow these instructions and come out to learn a new art.  (These are
the same procedures that she herself uses to prepare wool.)

Ceatta

Fiber preparation - Washing Wool - HL Robin de Shealladh


Also called "scouring" = Washing wool in water hot enough to melt the wax
and lanolin, with enough detergent to bind with the wax & grease and to
separate it and the dust from the fiber. It is important to be thorough job
of scouring for several reasons:

* As unwashed wool ages, the grease hardens and becomes increasingly
difficult to remove.
* Grease attracts dirt, which soils and abrades the fabric.
* Sometimes you can find skeins of yarn that you thought were well cleaned,
but that have become stiff and sticky months after they were washed. It
would be bad for business if someone bought your hand spun only to discover
that it changed texture while sitting in a drawer.
* Dying dirty wool is smelly. And there can be chemical reactions between
the grease and dye materials that can result in a scum that is NOT
water-soluble.

To begin:
Gather a few items of equipment:
1. A large (about 5 gallon) bucket to wash in.
2. A rack of some type to drain the fleece (I've been known to take down a
sliding screen door a time or two. Chicken wire on a frame also works, as
does a colander.)
3. Liquid dish washing detergent. I prefer Ivory. The cheap stuff works, but
you have to use more of it, so it balances out.
4. If you're working inside, set up some sort of straining gadget to keep
the wool out of the drain. A mesh scrubber can work if it's large enough.
5. Run the garbage disposal before you start. That way, if you have to
rescue some wool, it won't be dirtier than it started.

Wool does not like to be crowded. 1 lb. wool to about 12 quarts H2O will
work well.

A word about FELT:
Wool + Hot-&-Cold Water + Agitation + Soap = FELT.
Never shock the wool with abrupt temperature changes.
Leave out the agitation and you'll avoid a lot of problems.


Now to the part you've been waiting for:     WASHING THE WOOL

1. Fill your container with the hottest H2O from the tap (about 140 F). As
it's filling, squirt in the dish washing liquid and do a slow count to FIVE.
Sounds like a lot, but trust me. If you use the cheap store brand, you might
want to count to 12.
2. Stir the washing solution but DON'T make SUDS. I stir until the water is
slippery.
3. Add the wool.
4. Press it down with a spoon or stick.
5. Walk away for about 10 minutes. This will keep you from poking & moving
the wool too much.
6. Set up your rack or colander to support your wool as it drains. The rack
allows dirty water to drain out. Just letting the wool lie in the other sink
won't get the gunk away from the wool and will result in more work when
rinsing.
7. Drain the wool.

Usually fine wool has a lot of wax and grease. An especially dirty fleece
can use a second wash. Therefore,
Repeat the above steps. The suds still left in the fleece will keep the
fleece afloat, so you might want to weigh it down with a plate.

To Rinse:
1. While the wool is draining, fill your bucket with hot water.
2. Submerge your fleece.
3. Now leave it alone for a few minutes.
4. Drain as above.
Repeat this section two or three times. Watch the color of the water leaving
your fleece. When it is clear, the fleece is done.
About 1/2 cup white vinegar to the last rinse will adjust the pH.


A few more tips:

Some folks like to put their fleece in a mesh bag and wash it. This works
great, especially when you have absolute control of your washing machine. If
yours has a spin cycle that doesn't squirt water onto the wool, it can save
you a lot of time by spinning out the water. This can also be accomplished
by placing the wool into a pillowcase and spinning it around by hand. (Which
can be a great way to cool down in a Texas summer.

Now spread your wool out on a rack to dry in the sun. If someone is mowing
nearby or if it's windy, you might want to cover the wool with a net or mesh
of some kind.
The wool will dry more quickly if you turn it over from time to time.
If you can't dry it outside due to the weather, once it's spun out, it
should take about a day indoors to dry.

If you weighed your dry wool before starting, you might want to weigh it
again once it's dry. Usually there is a marked difference in the weight.
Very fine Merinos can loose as much as 50% of the original weight.

"Plain Talk of Scouring Fleece", Cathi Boronkay. Spin Off, Summer 1994, pg.
35-40.