Washing Some Wool
This weekend I decided to wash some of the masses of raw wool I have. This is a small piece from one of my sheep she is a mixed breed meat sheep. Here it is before washing.
I put it a large tub with hot water and dish soap.
Here is the water after the first soak. The problem with a dark fleece is you can never see how dirty it really is. Here is the water after the first wash.
I washed it 3 more times then gave it a rinse. The water was still to dirty and I washed again. So I had to wash it 5 times. Then I rinsed it twice, the first rinse had some vinegar in the water.
Here it is all dry. I don’t know if I will card it or use chunks of it to make something primitive looking.
12 thoughts on “Washing Some Wool”
Ann i’ve had fleece that i’ve had to wash 1/2 doz times to, not pretty but when its clean its gorgeous. Maybe card some and use some raw, there looks like there’s a nice mix of colors in that pile 🙂
Ooh lovely! I am reallly enjoying working with raw fleece and locks at the moment – a nice change from carded wool or tops!
Oooh – it looks lovely. Have fun with it!
I’ve seen photos of raw fleece made into rugs and bags (purses) and they look so interesting and pretty.
It looks gorgeous 🙂
I’d save the best looking locks then card what’s left.
I don’t think I could afford the water bill to wash fleece!
Some interesting shades there. I have a very dark Herdwick and I’m thinking of trying a rug ‘in the grease’. It’s a new venture for me, so we’ll see how it goes.
Lots of work and water later… I love the colors in the fleece. A wonderful wooly rug sounds perfect!
Thanks everyone. it is very shiney now its clean. It is a lot of water to wash. Fortunately I have my own well. my hot water is preheated from my wood boiler so it doesn’t take so much oil to heat it the rest of the way. I like working with clean wool in the grease. it is expensive to do. I plan to coat a couple of the sheep this year. A friend has volunteered to help. we have to find the right fabric to make coats. It needs to breath but keep them dry. i think they use canvas to make coats.
Do show us some photos of the sheep in their coats once you get them done 🙂
will do.
Hi! I have 2 ryeland x Shetland fleeces I need to wash, been looking for inspiration and came across this blog! am wondering what the vinegar does in the rinse and what type of vinegar would be best please? Thank you for sharing all this wonderful information! Nikki x
We are happy to help and glad you like our blog. You can use just regular household vinegar. You are retuning the PH to the right side. Wool likes acid and not alkaline, most soap is alkaline.
Thank you so much! I was told vinegar in the rinse water when finishing wet felted pieces was a good idea but i didnt know why, thank you so much for telling me, makes sense now. The next sunny day i get i will tackle my fleeces! So excited! Nikki xxx