scouring shetland wool

Jane1036 wrote

on Jul 17, 2012 3:35 AM

Hi

I'm spinning a Shetland fleece which is very greasy.  I've soaked it in rain water, I've soaked it soap flakes, I used washing soda and even tried soaking it in washing up liquid.  A lot of the grease has gone but its still sticky to the touch when dried.  Any suggestions?

Jane

lwilson wrote

on Jul 17, 2012 8:55 AM

Is your water hot enough?  I have had a lot more success removing grease since I started using a cooking thermometer to make sure my water is 125 degrees F.  My hot water heater isn't set that high so I add boiled water to bring up the temperature.  By using the thermometer I can make sure the water is the same temperature between rinses, too, so I haven't had any felting.

Martin Curtis wrote

on Jul 19, 2012 12:02 PM

Dear Jane, my company scours huge volumes of wool and we actually buy the vast majority of fleeces grown in the Shetland Islands.

I have also washed many individual fleeces by hand - we do it in the office to see what the colour will look like after scouring (commercial washing).

I find thta you just have to repeat the process - soap and rinse and soap and rinse and after a few of those the grease will be removed and when dry the clean wool will smell fresh and will not be sticky. We have 8 water bowls in our commercial scouring plant, each immersion cleans the wool that little bit more than the previous one.

We also have a combing plant and many spinners prefer to spin from combed top. If you need some please let me know.

Best of luck.

Martin Curtis

Curtis Wool Direct Ltd and also of Jamieson and Smith Shetland Woolbrokers Ltd

Jane1036 wrote

on Jul 21, 2012 12:33 PM

Thank you.  I've had another go with my latest skeins, using hotter water than before and keeping at it the results and much better.  I have soft yarn instead of stiff and greasy.  It is lovely to spin though!

Jane

BitsyKnits wrote

on Jul 25, 2012 9:49 AM

You might want to try Unicorn Power Scour on your next fleece. It works at slightly lower temperatures and makes washing a whole lot easier.

jackrobert wrote

on Nov 1, 2012 4:51 AM

You can take the help of detergents also if it is very greasy. Rain water is the purest form of water so it can work even better. Spinning yarn can also be taken into account with the help of washing soda. 

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spinning yarn

BGMeyer wrote

on Dec 15, 2012 12:11 AM

That is very true, IWilson! Using a thermometer takes the guess work out. Also, soak the wool in hot water first (about 110f) for 10 minutes or so, then putting it in very hot water (about 120f or 125f) with soap dissolved in it. Don't let it cool before you are pretty sure the grease is out, it is harder to get out if re-coagulates on the fleece. Pre-soaking the wool softens the grease and makes it easier to get out.