Spinning Tools

Re: Wool Washing

BGMeyer — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:26:24 GMT

Orvis is good too. I got some from a friend and use that for now.

Barb

Re: Wool Washing

SBreit — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 14:53:02 GMT

Hello from Ireland :)

I soak mine in cold water overnight and then wash in hot water the next day. I have a 5 gallon bucket (an old homebrew fermenter) and my partner installed a heating element in it (from an electric tea kettle). The water needs to get up to at least 71 degrees Celsius to melt the lanolin, so I wash in one bucket of 72 degree water with a detergent like Ecover Delicates Wash (this wash has surfactants but no enzymes or optical brighteners which are not so good for wool). The trick is you need surfactants to emulsify the lanolin, and you also need a little extra grease cutting umph. So, I also add a squirt of Ecover grease cutting dish soap.

After 20 minutes or so at 72 degrees I transfer it to another bucket heated to 72 degrees to which I have added a shot of vinegar. This process may need to be repeated twice. Finally the wool goes into a heated bucket, but this time brought up to simmering with a dye bath of Kraftcolour Landscape wool dyes. Boiled for 30 mins, squeezed and laid out to dry.

I have also tried using Kookaburra wool wash, but I don't think it was great at getting all the grease out, and it is much more expensive than dish soap and delicates wash.

Re: Wool Washing

Hostagarden — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 12:34:23 GMT

When I wash wool I rist put the wool in a bath with K9 Schampo. I leave it in the bath for about 12h. Then I rinse it and puts it in a bath with klorin. I only leave it in there for 15-20m. Rinse it again and puts it in a new bath with K9 Schampo and K9 Conditioner. Leaves it there for a few hours. Rinse it and dryes it on drystands in the garden (summertime) or on newspapers on the kitchentable (wintertim).

The wool is so soft and clean after that and wonderful to work with.

Re: Wool Washing

L Tyler — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:10:17 GMT

Hi, Denise,

historically, I"ve read that it was a common process to use ammonia (in the form of stale urine) mixed with hot water, to scour fleece - followed by a good rinse! LT

Re: Wool Washing

Denise Jackson — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 14:32:59 GMT

I'm a strong proponent for anything that works. As long as you are happy with the results, good. Work with what you have.

I have no problem with using ammonia. It all depends on what your water is like. I was talking with one woman who said she use quite a bit of ammonia. Another listener gasped. The first woman turned and said, "I don't leave it [fleece] in there overnight. I condition my water for washing."

Re: Wool Washing

jennyct13 — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 12:04:34 GMT

Hi Denise! I use mesh baskets, too. When I first started scouring, I dabbled with Dawn and laundry detergent, but I started using Unicorn's Power Scour a couple of years ago, and I haven't gone back. I've found that Power Scour actually ended up being more economical, because I use much less of it, and my water doesn't have to be quite as hot. I buy it by the gallon from the company, and it has never let me down.

If a fleece is really, really dirty, I'll give it a long (sometimes overnight) soak in cool water with a squirt of Power Scour before I actually get down to scouring. Very heavy grease fleeces also get a shot of ammonia in the first wash, balanced by a glug of white vinegar in the first rinse. I've also had very good luck with using Unicorn's Fibre Rinse in my final rinse. It's a little like using hair conditioner, but with really remarkable results.

Re: Wool Washing

Denise Jackson — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:16:59 GMT

This is also how Margaret Stove washes her fleece. This is how she produces such beautiful lace. She was commissioned to spin and knit a lace receiving blanket for Prince William.

I believe she uses a bar of Ivory soap. There's a DVD out on how she does this.

If anyone can fill in, please do so, I would love to learn more!

Re: Wool Washing

Chris Perlmutter — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:55:43 GMT

Dear Destiknit, Thank you so much for this posting. Your ideas are exactly what I have been searching for. I was scouring wool on Monday 1/17/2011 and I find a good result but I am searching for another.

I use mesh bags filled with fleece fiber and my washing machine full of very hot water for soaking, rinsing and for the final washer cycle to spin the clear rinse water from the fleece. This works very well, the wool is much cleaner than it went in, but I find the result is not best for spinning.

I was fascinated to read your method of lock washing! My method completely dislodges [don't know if that is the correct fiber-term for my scouring result] many but not all of the lock fibers from each other. Then there is the carding, rolags and finally spinning. This seems to me to put most of my time on fiber preparation and not spinning; don't get me wrong, I love handling fiber, but I am seeking a scouring method that result in more wool spinning time.

Your method would seem to shorten that fiber preparation time with just a bit of lock combing prior to spinning. Your method also facilitates maintaining the fleece lock, just as they grew together. Would you please share more about this method? Is there a written source for this method? Thanks again, Chris P, Aurora, Colorado, USA.

Re: Wool Washing

JaneanE — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 12:37:54 GMT

While I have not washed raw fleece before, I have been a hairdresser for 24 years and am quite familiar with shampoo. Shampoo is designed to be used twice. The molocules of the shampoo bond with dirt and oils in the first shampoo, the second shampoo washes it all away. So it will take two washings, or you will likely be left with a lot of the dirt, oil, and left over shampoo in your wool. In addition, not all shampoo's are ph balanced, so look for one that says ph balanced on it. Make sure you like the scent too, a lot of shampoo fragrances are designed to linger, the people that make shampoo know that a lot of people continue to buy a brand of shampoo because they love the way it makes their hair smell. If you use too much shampoo, you will be rinsing for a long time. I can tell when people use too much shampoo and don't rinse enough. Their hair feels tacky, and gets dirty faster. Hair is very porous, don't underestimate how much may be inside of the hair rather than on it, like smells and stains. Vinigar will seal and smooth the cutical and return the ph to the acidic side. The ph of human hair is between 4.5 and 5.5, not sure about wool.

Re: Wool Washing

Denise Jackson — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:31:46 GMT

White Vinegar does many things. It resets the pH, it also cuts the suds. I have soft water and also use it for that reason. Oh, I use rubber gloves to protect the hands from everything including wringing out water.

You could use Cider Vinegar, but that's more for food rather than cleaning/washing. It has a distinctive smell. If you have a sore throat a tablespoon of CV and another of honey all in hot water will kill what ails you. Mind you it's nasty stuff to drink. I usually put in lots more honey and sometimes skip the vinegar in favor of lemon. Who want's to punish themselves when sick. I save the CV for making ginger snaps.

The trick is to use enough soap or detergent (yes, some use laundry detergent with no ill effects or even shampoo) so that the lanolin has no chance to resettle. That's where the Borax can come in handy. I don't use a lot. I also don't let my fleece sit for a long time since its not good for the fibers - 15 minutes tops, then rinse.

I use the cheapest hair rinse available. I prefer the lavender scented ones, but am happy with whatever is on sale. The rinse water just needs to be hot enough to dissolve the rinse. I've used Suave and White Rain.

I'm not sure what my water temp is. When the Heating/Cooling people come over, they always set it lower. I move it up. I hate running out of hot water.

Here are my basic steps (in PDF). When I use the Wool Scour, I don't have to use so many steps. I can get a whole Columbia fleece done in one day and have time to relax and play with the kids - by hand. During the drying process, my cats make sure my fleece don't go anywhere. I also keep mine covered when outside so the birds don't take off with it.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Re: Wool Washing

maire8797 — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:00:48 GMT

Ahh!!!! I wondered what the vinegar listed in your first post was for... just forgot to ask about that....

How much vinegar to water ? Apple Cider or White vinegar? Does it matter?

Any particular hair rinse preferred?

My water temp is set at 145... what is the best temp to use on fleeces?

My sister told me she thought about 185. We have been trying to remember out Gramma's steps as she did the wool processing and we were "too young" to help with more than carrying... it has been a good process for us to remember those times and it ties in with why we both like sheep now and want to do our own processing. Gramma did the dying too...we helped collect the plants and spices she wanted; when and the way she wanted...

I have Finns, Shetlands, Icelandic and Dorset sheep here... fleece grease varies by the breed and somewhat by the individual sheep. Learning to process it is taking me time as I want to do it well.

I tried the washer... It seems to take forever to get a fleece clean... maybe have to much in the load as per another post... so will try less.

I want to try the lock washing by hand on some of the finer fleeces.

Mary Tucker, NY

Re: Wool Washing

Denise Jackson — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:35:08 GMT

A friend of mine uses it all the time with no ill effects.

Just make sure it's cost effective.

Re: Wool Washing

L Tyler — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:44:25 GMT

Hi, has anyone else tried using cheap shampoo as wool wash? Someone in my guild suggested it, & I've been using it with pretty good results. ( VO5, White Rain, brands like that.) I've used it on dirty fleece (wool & alpaca), yarn, even finished knitted items. I wouldn't use the pricier salon brands for washing fleece! LT

Re: Wool Washing

Denise Jackson — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:31:39 GMT

I found an article about dish washing soaps and wool washing. Most are surfactants - they need the suds to get at the grease on the surface. They don't work well for things under water. These work better if you want to felt.

I use Ivory, Palmolive, Dr. Bronner's, and Kookaburra Wool Scour. That means, whatever is on hand.

For the dish soaps, they may be alkaline. This doesn't bode well for protein fibers. However, I doubt you'll leave them in for more than 15-20 minutes before rinsing (with a bit of vinegar to reset the pH and kill the suds). In the final rinse, I use hair conditioner. It does some multi-duty things like condition the fiber, work as a spinning oil, cut the static... you get the picture.

The wool scour, mine can use warm water. If I have a greasy fleece, I use hot. I still rinse even though I don't need to.

I don't use the washer method. Mainly because I don't like cleaning out my washer afterward. My gray water pipes are not up to snuff and cannot handle the wool and grease (that is, they will clog and I'll have to call the drain cleaner guy and spend $$ to get snaked out). If you want to, feel free. Some day, I'll get my hands on an old fashioned roller washer.

The best way to learn is to take small amounts of wool (1-2 oz) and experiment.

Re: Wool Washing

annsilvernale — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:21:51 GMT

I've scoured many a fleece, and no one way works for all types of fleece. I have used Unicorn scour, and it works very very well. I've also used Dawn, and it works well, too, but it has a lot of suds, which are difficult to rinse out. My preference is using the Unicorn scour with the hottest water that comes out of the tap. I put the fleece in a mesh bag and soak it for at least 20 minutes, but not so much that the water cools and the grease solidifies. I let the fleece drip for a while, and then I put it in my washer on spin. I have one of those front loading washers that spins very quickly, and that works well. it is then much easier to rinse out.