Decide how much wool you want to wash at once, and where you want to wash it. Depending on the breed, how it was sheared, and how much skirting took place, one bag may hold an entire fleece. Washing Your Wool; 1. EASY WASHING MACHINE METHOD FOR LARGE AMOUNTS OF RAW WOOL FIBER Fill washing machine with hot water; add soap (see step 1 above) and let agitate a moment. Remove bag(s) of wool. Alpaca is inherently dusty and benefits from multiple overnight soaks and spinouts prior to beginning the wash routine. Wool can definitely be washed in hot water; it can even be boiled! Don’t let the wool migrate all over the basin. These additional washing tips may be useful: You can use a top-loading washing machine to wash some types of fibers, if you do it carefully. Wash wool clothing by hand or on the gentle/delicate cycle in your washing machine. Put the wool in the first rinse bath and gently push it down until it is covered. But if you concentrate on getting the temperature of the water right, using enough detergent, and limiting agitation, you can get very clean, soft wool without felting. Fine wools have a higher grease content and surface area than long wools and may require more Power Scour. Cocobolo. Add Unicorn Power Scour and stir in. You will have noticed that space is an issue when washing wool. It is up to you to decide whether to wash them together or separately. The important thing is to make sure the garment is completely still during the process. Read a book. Give this wool a cold water soak (in its bag, of course) for a day before washing it--no detergent is needed in this presoak. Fill machine with 160*F or hotter water. However, some wool garments may have already been pre-shrunk, so you can machine dry them on medium heat without risking additional shrinkage. Machines for easy and ecological washing of raw greasy wool | Check out 'Machines for ecological washing of raw greasy wool' on Indiegogo. Add Wool & Cashmere Shampoo according to the machine type and load size. Heating the wool grease and then allowing it to cool on the fiber will bind it to the fiber and make it very difficult to remove. As the hot water travels through (relatively) cold pipes, it will lose temperature. Remove bag(s) of wool. Add Unicorn Fibre Rinse and stir in. Now you don’t have to run to the dry cleaner whenever your wool blanket needs refreshing! A gas water heater is ideal for heating the amount of water needed to wash wool. Put the lid down on the wash machine. Tags – the clumpy bits from near the rear end – and dung can go straight into the compost pile, along with any shorts or second cuts. Our water heater and washing machine are side by side; we fill almost directly out of the water heater with an insulated rubber hose. Let the wool soak for another five or ten minutes, with no agitation at all. Fill them both with warm water the same temperature as the baths you just emptied, or slightly hotter. Wool is a delicate fibre and should always be handled with care. Steps. If you machine-dry wool on high-heat, it may shrink drastically. Let your fleece drape back into the water...no need to bunch it up. Lay a clean, dry towel out on a … Squeeze it slowly and gently to help drain off the dirty, soapy water. Fill your container with HOT water, and add soap. Take off the very dirty wool around the edge of the … Remove bag(s) of wool and set them on your drying rack. There are several soaps, soaks, detergents, pastes, etc. Immerse the wool slowly and let it soak for ten minutes so the dirt can loosen. Contact us for an estimated time to expect your finished items. Lay the fleece out on your surface and do your best to recreate fleece as it was on the animal. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area we have excellent water, so Henry didn’t find it necessary to tweak the quantity of soap from the recommended amount. Use … There's a difference between allowing the wool to swish and agitating. Remove bag(s) of wool. Use a soap MADE FOR WOOL. Washing raw wool (often referred to as scouring) removes dirt, straw, and wool grease – lanolin from the sheep fleece. Here are some of the answers to common questions about machine washing and hand washing … Mango. They do make it easier to felt though. Our Eco-Wise Wool blankets and throws undergo an anti-felting treatment, so not only are they washable, but they get softer with every wash. Finish drying on a towel. Add the wool, making sure the bag or bags are below the surface of the water. You can use your washing machine, *BUT ONLY AS A CONTAINER *. It is essential to remember that exposing raw wool to heat and agitation will cause it to “felt”. (Refer to drying instructions as explained in step 8 above. Turn OFF washer. Two keys throughout the process are to maintain a consistent temperature and agitate the wool as little as possible. With multiple soaks, Henry has found that one wash and two rinses can be quite effective for washing an alpaca fleece. ; Add vinegar. You will be able to take a stinky, greasy, dirty sheep fleece and turn it into lovely, clean wool, ready for spinning, carding or felting! Spin out washing machine and drain water. Now is the time to separate and/or remove any unwanted parts of the fleece. Vegetable matter is also typically easier to spot when moist, so this is also a good time to pick out large chunks of VM that did not wash out, See table above for recommended quantities of water, detergent, and fleece. SKIRT. Close lid on wash machine, set timer for 20-25 minutes and walk away. Locks will open and separate easiest while they are warm and moist just after the final rinse. 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