04/15/2021
Email of the Day:
How do I scour raw fleece?
Answer:
Lanolin goes into suspension around 100-107F, so you'll want hot water. If you've a top-loader, an attention to detail, and nerves of steel, you can do this in your machine. If you're missing any of those, do it in a colander in a wash tub in your kitchen sink. You might want to try this on very small quantities in the sink as practice before going whole hog.
1) Fill your basin with the hottest water that will come out of your tap, plus one of the following: Tide with Bleach Alternative, Dawn dish soap, or Orvus Paste (this can be had from your local farm store).
2) Gently press your fleece into the water. If using the washer, leave the lid open, and disengage the wash cycle (by pulling the handle back out).
3) Set a timer for 15 minutes and walk away.
4) When the timer goes off, gently lift the colander out of the water / turn your machine to the spin cycle and empty the water from your basin.
5) IMPORTANT: Felting occurs when you shock fiber (hot-cold-hot-cold) and with agitation. This is why you set the timer -- you don't want the fiber to get cold and the lanolin to gum it back up. Felting also occurs with agitation -- including water hitting it straight on -- so do NOT run your water directly on the fleece, move it out of the way (in the washer), or move it out of the way (in the colander) while filling the basin.
6) Repeat Steps 1-4 at least twice more, until the fiber is no longer dirty, and it no longer feels gummy.
7) Fill your basin with hot water (no soap). Soak for 5+ minutes. Repeat until the fleece is no longer soapy.
8) IMPORTANT: No wringy, no twisty, no squishy, no folding, spindling, or mutilating your fiber. You can gently press it in the colander to remove the water, but nothing else.
9) Machine-processed fleece will be dry enough to lay out once the spin cycle is done. For sink-processed, lay on a nice fluffy towel, roll it up, and step on it to remove the water. y
10) Lay out on towels on the guestroom bed to dry.
11) Bonus points if you do this with a lock or two of fiber first, and if you play around with and agitate the second lock enough to felt it. This will help you learn more about the fiber, and give you an idea of how fast and loose you can play with the above before you make yourself a cat bed that you didn't mean to make.
12) Bon Chance!
