Felting and Fiber Studio

Earlier this spring we went out to Princess Auto to look at some fiber prep equipment, who would have thot they would have such fabulous fiber equipment. The item I was considering was on sale, but Glenn thought he could modify my small fleece washing bins. I was getting sore, so we headed home without it. I had not-buyers-Regret.

It’s now June, last week was very hot, sunny and perfect for washing fleeces, but I had no buckets ready to go.  I was finding it more and more difficult to use the large buckets and strainer baskets. Tipping the buckets when they were full of water was getting challenging. What I was looking at has a drainage system that a tap and hose could be attached to. That would eliminate the tipping of heavy buckets full of very dirty water.

We are very lucky, we live in a city with two Princess autos. I went online to see if the West End store had one in stock, nope, but the East End store has four. So off we went in my little KIA soul to find “the item”.

1) LITTLE GIANT 75 Gallon Black Poly Stock Tank, SKU: 9281205, In Stock Online, 4 available for In Store $129.99

This is called a stock tank. It is meant to hold water for cows or horses. This seems to be the smallest size with a drain option.  This one is 48 x 34.5 x 18 in. (L x W x H). In larger sizes, they are also used by athletes for ice baths, and by koi as a backyard pool.

When we arrived at Princess Auto, we headed to the customer service desk. The nice lady immediately asked what I was driving. I said “a KIA”! Her response was “I hope it’s not a Soul”. “Why yes, my soul is grey, not black!” I replied. She looked worried and called the warehouse. She asked if they thought it might fit in a Kia Soul. They were sure it would. I added “with a walker?”  The answer was still “it should”. We were to browse for about 5 minutes, and then go pick it up at the back of the store.

Ooh Lovely!! Yes, that will probably fit in the car. I purchased it and a couple of other things we found while browsing and headed back to the car.  Glenn was able to put it in the back of the Kia Soul, and stuff the grocery bags in the tub and still have room for the walker too!

When the last renter next door moved out, he left a metal backless bench. It’s very rusted and doesn’t have a cushion. I was going to put plants on it. I think I have a better idea. Glenn found the hose extension and the tap attachment, which we hooked up to the tank, which is now sitting on the bench with a base of 3 4×4’s for extra support.

2.1) The stock tank sitting on 3 4X4s on top of the metal bench. Connected to the drain is a hose extender, then the tap valve and the old hose to send the water down the driveway.

All right, I have a hypothesis. This should be easier to use than the big round bins I had been trying to bend over to lift baskets and tip the bin to drain. (Lately, it tended to get me wet and make me sore. But, they did work!) You have seen me use the strainer baskets in previous posts, but I have to go one basket at a time. I think I can do at least 3 baskets per wash in the stock tub, and just turning the drain should be much easier on my back.

Now I need a volunteer fleece to help me test out the new tub. Cupcake has volunteered! Thank you, Cupcake!

3.1) Cupcake is a BFL X Romney fleece, which was 6.4lbs. 

Normally, I would set up my skirting table, but I gave away the extra small rain barrels, which were part of its supports. Ok, it looks like it was well skirted, and not too much Vegi-matter. So let’s see if I can sort directly into the strainer baskets.

I gave the stock bin a quick rinse and realised the drain is over an inch up the side….. ok, there will need to be a bit of tipping to get the last bit of water out. Silly me, I got too excited to be fleece washing again and put the soap in before getting a couple of inches of water added. Oh well, the suds will dissipate, eventually.

3.2) Too many suds, I guess the fleece is about to have a bubble bath instead of scouring.

Since I don’t have hot water outside and I don’t have a space inside to set up to wash fleeces, the fleeces get a bath in the ambient temperature water. That’s ok, if there is a bit of lanolin left in the fleece, it works wonderfully to wind bird feet and toes.

Now let’s see how many bins I can fit in. I think I may be able to get four in the stock tank! The fleece is (6.4 lbs), and I split it into five bins. It’s a bit tight, but I can get 5 bins in.

3.3) 5 bins just fit in this size!

There is a smaller size of strainer basket if I want to work in smaller amounts. What I have now is the larger one from Dollarama.

3.4) The soap (not Detergent) helps with wetting the fibre as well as releasing the dirt. Look at all the fabulous colours in this fleece

3.5) A good soaking and suds-be-gone, so time to get out of the bath.

3.6) Look at the dark brown colour of the soap wash water as fleece-filled strainer buckets are coming out. That sheep was dirtier than it looked!

3.7) Rinse #1 refilling stock tank to the first ledge.

3.8) Rinse #1, after the strainer baskets have been removed, inside the stock tank, the water is getting closer to clean!

The inside of the stock tank has 3 stepped edges, which are spaced to suggest each is 25 gallons, since the total it can hold is 75 gallons. So, I am using about 25 gallons for each wash and rinse of five strainer buckets.

Rinse #2 cleaner still, but we were rushing against the weather, which was threatening rain. I also had a camera malfunction…. Both the battery died (I can recharge it) and the lens cap I just bought a week ago broke. I will order another one.

3.91-3.92) End of rinse #2. And resting the strainer bucket on the side of the rim to drain most of the water out before hanging it up to finish dripping.

I can not feel the lanolin, and the fibre feels quite clean. I have had to rinse out fine sand each time I clean out the stock tank. Did this sheep have a fabulous beach holiday?

Glenn is on holiday, and since we are not going to the States, he is helping me today. Two of the strainer baskets look like they need another rinse, but three are looking good. So each basket that seems clean gets gently dumped into the spin dryer.

4.1) This is an RV washer/spin dryer.

Think of it like a giant salad spinner for clothes, er.. Fleece! There is a dial at the lower edge that can turn on the drain or keep the water in and rotate your clothes.  I set it to drain, and Glenn spun it for me! I found this at a second-hand store, recognised it as a wonderful fibre prep equipment, and bought it!!

4.2) just like a giant salad spinner (but I don’t advise it for clothes or salad after all the fleeces it’s been washing.

Glenn brought the drying racks (from Ikea) up from the basement and put them under the covered area of the back patio (the part that doesn’t have blacksmithing stuff)

5.1) the small forge, Sears-Roebuck light duty farm forge and the bigger forge under the large black cover.

We set one drying rack up behind the large forge and the other on the other side by the house.

5.2) The green bucket is handy to move the fleece to the drying racks.

5.3) The plastic owl takes his job of guarding the wool seriously.

 5.4) Two buckets on the right drying rack, and one on the Left. The plastic owl is still supervising. I hope it keeps the evil chipmunk from “Helping”. He will be eating all my blackberries shortly!

5.5) This is part of the blackberries along the house, and one of Glenn’s blacksmith footed vices under the blue tarp. It could be a very good crop of blackberries (which will make up for the rabbit cutting all the canes off at about a foot for the raspberries.

We pulled out the last two buckets to drain a bit before going onto the racks. And I got busy weeding and then adding more little plants of Tie basil and parsley to the planters. There is a bit more Thai basil and weeding to do, but it’s starting to drip.  What have we learned in previous summers about drying wool?  If you put wool out to dry, it will probably rain….

We moved the 2 draining buckets a bit closer to the overhang, moved the umbrella to give more cover and then put the drying fleeces back in their buckets and moved them and the racks under the cover of the dog-covered area of the side yard. I had a barking Cat, not a dog. He didn’t like to go out if it was raining, so we had to cover a section for him. It’s where I set up my outdoor studio. I haven’t got that sorted out yet this summer.

5.6) Moved drying racks under cover to avoid the rain.

In the morning, the wind is up, and the fibre is still there, but still not dry. Ok, one drying rack when in front of the garage under the last umbrella, and the other went by the side door.

5.7-5.8) I still have one strainer basket to put out to dry.

5.9) The last strainer basket waiting for space on the drying racks.

I have been ready to start another fleece, but with the drying racks being full, I don’t have a spot to put them once they are washed. So this is the new bottleneck in fleece washing.

Let’s review the Stock tank: Pros /Cons

6.1) Chart of pros and cons that I can think of for the stock tank as a fleece washing tool.

For those who want to see if the washing worked, let’s take a last look at this lovely fleece.

7.1-7.2) Washed locks of BFL X Romni. The locks are very soft and crimpy. Unstretched, the locks range up to 3.5 inches

If you think this may work for you and are now thinking about a quest for a stock tank, look at farm supply stores if you don’t have access to such a diverse store like Princess Auto (they also have some blacksmithing equipment).

So I think the stock tank will be a great improvement to fleece washing. I will now have to figure out an upgrade to my fleece drying equipment. Maybe I will have to take the long, arduous, 7-stop sign (one is in their parking lot) trip to IKEA and get a third drying rack. I love an excuse to go to IKEA!!! (and it is just down the street, dangerously close to home.) I hope you are enjoying lovely fleece washing weather and getting some fun felting done while the fleeces are drying!

UPDATE: the Princess Auto Flyer just arrived. the 75 Gallon stock tack will be going on sale July 1-13th 2025, but the store is closed July 1st for Canada day. check on line, there may be a free shipping option. or watch for one at a garage sale!