I started by watching YouTube videos on various topics. No one seemed to be taking wool from raw fleece to finished product without complicated processes. I did not want to invest in a carder or make roving or rolags. I just wanted to have some wool that was a pretty color and that was clean enough to felt. Felted shoes looked cool! But I need to do something a bit faster and more on my novice level. I finally settled on felted soap. I felt on store bought soap and on some of my homemade sheep milk soap!
I don't know much about fleece, folks. I just know a little about what I have to work with....which is East Frisian. Once that wool comes off the sheep, I bag it up. When I am ready to wash it, I take off the big bits of dirt and cockleburs. I think this is called "skirting". Before I can do anything else, the fleece must be clean.
My midwife recommends putting the whole fleece in the tub with as hot of water as can be drawn with the fleece in a netted bag. A large onion bag works well or just a netted bag. Just push the wool under the water and let the soap do its work. I use dish soap due to the high grease levels and a little laundry detergent.
When the water is cool, lift the wool out and let it drip dry or repeat if still very dirty. The goal here is to remove dirt and some vegetative matter. But there will still be plenty of bits of dirt still left inside the fleece, even when it is "clean". The lanolin, or grease from the sheep, is what is most important to get out.
My midwife recommends putting the whole fleece in the tub with as hot of water as can be drawn with the fleece in a netted bag. A large onion bag works well or just a netted bag. Just push the wool under the water and let the soap do its work. I use dish soap due to the high grease levels and a little laundry detergent.
When the water is cool, lift the wool out and let it drip dry or repeat if still very dirty. The goal here is to remove dirt and some vegetative matter. But there will still be plenty of bits of dirt still left inside the fleece, even when it is "clean". The lanolin, or grease from the sheep, is what is most important to get out.
Then I hang it up to drip dry. This can take awhile depending on the weather. Some people take it out and drip dry it in a more spread out form. You can squeeze extra water out if you are gentle and don't massage it. (That can cause it to felt into one lump!)
Do you have an easy way to prepare a fleece? If so, give me a holler!
Do you have an easy way to prepare a fleece? If so, give me a holler!
Using diluted lye that’s made with wood ash and water using a sieve that’s been lined with straw might be useful , also growing soapwort if possible in your country would be an asset
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