Monday is wash day

Happy spring!

Monday is wash day here, which means I do battle with the forces of stinky socks and terrible T-shirts for lo these many hours, but it also means that once I've done the eight (or nine or ten) loads of wash that have accumulated since last Monday, I'm free to ignore the laundry for the rest of the week.  In an attempt to work through the fleece stash and start on my New Year's resolution of finally sending some fiber out for processing, I've been washing fleece in between laundry loads each Monday.  Unfortunately, this has resulted in exactly zero fleeces being sent out for processing since January.  Every fleece I wash reminds me of why I bought it, at least half a dozen projects I'd like to begin, and how much fun I'd have carding or combing or flicking it myself, but at least I'm being made painfully aware of exactly how much fiber I have on hand before fiber fest season starts.

And since I sliced the top of my left thumb off, resulting in no knitting or spinning for the past week, I thought I'd at least post some photos of my fleecewashing system.

Step one:  Get yourself a fleece.  This one is from Gwyn, a Romeldale/CVM cross who lives up at Black Pines Sheep.  Actually, this is only half her fleece.  (For the record, the fleece weighs 5 3/4 pounds, while the cat weighs 16.)

Step two:  Unroll and skirt as needed.  Generally, I'd rather spend the extra money and buy a clean, coated, well-skirted fleece, but occasionally, I find a bargain I can't pass up.  Myrtle's fleece fall into the pristine category.  You can tell the shorn side from the coated side.

Step three: Bag it.  I use mesh laundry bags with fairly large opening when washing this quantity of fleece.  Target occasionally has them in their dollar section, or you can find them with laundry supplies, even at the supermarket. 

 

Step four:  Fill the tub with water as hot as your heater can make it, and add enough detergent to make the water slippery.  My favorite fleece washing stuff is Biopac laundry detergent, but I've used Dawn dish detergent as well.  Try to avoid anything with a high pH, optical brighteners, or bleach -- none are very healthy for wool.  (If your fleece is really dirty, you may want to try a cold water soak before the wash, to get as much dirt out before you start on the grease.)  Go for as much water volume as you can, and a water temperature of at least 140 degrees F.

Step five:  In goes the fleece, to soak for fifteen or twenty minutes.  Any longer and the water temperature will have cooled too much, and grease may start redepositing on the fibers.

 

Step six: Out comes the fleece, and away goes the dirt.  The rack at the end of the tub is a former baby gate, which now serves as a draining and drying rack for fleece.  For a Lincoln fleece, I may leave the bag of fleece in the tub while the water drains, but not with a finewool. 

Step seven:  Refill the tub with very hot water, add the fleece back in to soak for fifteen minutes.  For most of the fleeces I buy, a single rinse is sufficient.  For very dirty or greasy fleece, extra rinses (or possibly even washes) will be necessary.  You can add some vinegar to the final rinse -- sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

Step eight:  Lift out the fleece, and to dry it faster, toss it in the washer on spin only.  Out here in the desert, if I spread the fleece out on the baby gate so air can circulate, it's dry enough to start processing the next day.

Before and after:

Comments

[Charleen]

Happy Spring! Doesn't look like you're going to be drying fleece outside today. That's a beautiful fleece.

[Di]

That was a LOVELY fleece! I'm almost sorry I won't be visiting Myrtle this year. Maybe I'll go anyway.....Hmmmm

[nancy]

Di - you must resist! That _is_ a beautiful fleece. Makes me want to get out my already washed and ready for processing fleeces. If only that merino/cashmere roving wasn't calling my name and already in good quantity on the spinning wheel.

When is the trip to Myrtle's this year?

[Diane Carlson]

Hi,
This post was extremely helpful to me! I am purchasing a fleece from a friend here real soon and I've never spun a single thing. I was wondering what to do with it first! Great pictorial, thanks. I was led to your blog because you commented on mine about the bathing suit. Where are you from? I'm new to this blogging thing and I'm excited when people I don't know read my blog!
-Diane