Laffing Horse Crafts

You’ve found a gorgeous fleece that sets your imagination creating beautiful shawls, hats, rugs, jackets or other flights of fiber fantasy. Or you have a desire to make something of your very own – starting from the beginning.

You can’t get a sheep here on ebay – but you can find raw (unwashed) wool fleece here almost any time of year. Since you can’t get your hands into the fleece and check for cleanliness and quality, you have to trust the seller. Look at the pictures and description they have posted. Send them any questions you have, look at their feedback for previous fleeces they have sold.
For spinning, you want -

1. A fleece that has a 3 to 8 inch fiber length, also known as staple.
2. A clean fleece – some hay and grass will fall out as you work with it, but it is not fun to work with.
3. A fleece that does not have any second cuts. Second cuts are where the shearer made another pass and sheared some shorter wool. These create nubs and prickly parts in your yarn.
4. A strong fleece, with no breaks in the fiber.

Your fleece will most likely arrive packed in a plastic bag. Open it right away to allow the wool to breathe. It is better to store fleece washed, and in paper or cloth bags rather than in plastic. The lanolin on the fleece will get harder to remove as it ages, so washing it before you store it will save you a lot of work in the future.

Step One: Washing
I wash our fleeces in the bathtub, you can also use a washtub outside if you have a source of hot water. Before putting your fleece near the water, lay it out on a sheet, or the concrete driveway and pick all the bits of hay, grass )and other unsavory bits of being a sheep’s coat in a barn yard) from your fleece.
First rinse:

1. Fill the tub 1/2 to 3/4 full of very hot water.
2. Spread 1 to 2 pounds of fleece (for a standard sized bathtub, less for a wash tub) over the top of the water. You want to fleece to lay over the water in a single layer.
3. Push the fleece down under the water. Push it up and down several times with a stick or large spoon or wear wash gloves. The water should be too hot to be comfortable on bare hands. Do not swirl the wool around, that will felt the wool, just push it up and down.
4. Scoop the wool out of the water and into a plastic laundry basket or similar container and let it drain.
5. Drain or dump the very icky water out of the tub.

First wash:

1. Fill the tub 1/2 to 3/4 full of very hot water.
2. Dissolve your soap completely in the water. We use our own goat’s milk soap, dissolved in water, but Dawn dishwashing detergent works well, too.
3. Spread the rinsed fleece over the top of the water.
4. Push the fleece down under the water. Push it up and down several times with a stick or large spoon or wear wash gloves. The water should be too hot to be comfortable on bare hands. Do not swirl the wool around, that will felt the wool, just push it up and down.
5. Let the wool sit and soak for about 10 minutes, then repeat the pushing up and down in the water. Don’t let the water cool off, or the gunk will re-deposit on your wool.
6. Scoop the wool out of the water and into a plastic laundry basket or similar container and let it drain.
7. Drain or dump the very icky water out of the tub.

Second wash:
Repeat the step one washing. Some wool is clean enough that you only need to wash it once. Other fleeces take 2 or 3 washings.

Rinse clean:
Repeat your initial rinse, adding a 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the water, if you like, to bring up shine in the wool and remove the last of the soap.

Step Two – Dry:
We dry our wool on racks made out of 1X2 wood slats and chicken wire. Spread the wool out in a shaded place, either out of the wind or put a second rack on top of the wool to keep it from blowing away. Depending on the humidity in your area, it will take 1-3 days for your wool to dry. Check it and fluff it daily.

Step Three – Store:
When the wool is completely dry to the touch, you can put it in big paper bags or cloth bags for storage. We write the name of the sheep and the date of the shearing on the bag. To keep moths away, consider putting cedar bits, or moth repelling herbs like lavender in a bag with your fleece.

The next steps are to card your wool, either with hand carders or a drum carder and then to spin it! I will put the carding guide up this week, and to learn how to spin your fleece, visit my Learn how to spin yarn on a drop spindle guide.

If you have any questions, drop us a line