washing wool from sheep»(UPDATE WITH PIC)

Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Rabbit Talk Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
My friend and I picked out all the debris we could first, then soaked and washed in a tub of dishsoapy water, then dried before carding.
 
Pretty much the same. Depending on how much grease it has, I spin first and wash after I've plied the yarn.
 
thanks.. I am doing it now in my bath tub... omg what a mess.. and not to mention the smell of sheep in my house.. GOOD thing my husband isn't home. lol. .. I have to rinse and rinse it.. it is so dirty.. the water is a dark brown. ick.. putting outside to dry.. take a pic when I am done washing .. one more load to go.
 
We used to use the Original Dawn dish soap... the blue kind ... for washing wool. That was what was recommended and it seemed to work quite well. Cold water...and little to No agitation ...Yes... it makes the water scummy... DH bought a stand alone double sink that we ran a hose to outside... did not want the crud to go thru the septic,
 
I don't have septic, and all I can say is I've been having trouble with my drains ever since. This summer I did all the washing outside, and now, I will refuse to wash wool after October. It's gotta go outside.
 
well.. I hope I don't have problems as this is going in my septic tank. I am using shampoo to wash it I wash twice and rinse like five times.. and spin in my washer as I have different speeds to spin it at.. I put it on hand dry .. then I put it outside on my picnic table. there is still lots of crud in it..
 
Sounds good. Sometimes it takes until the skein is spun and rinsed before it all comes out. I have some Merino that never did get clean.
 
Sky, try putting baking soda and vinegar down your drains. It has been an effective drain cleaner here.

This link suggests pouring boiling water down after, but our water heater is set so high that I have never done so- the water is near boiling as it is! :lol:

http://www.ehow.com/how_6470066_clean-d ... negar.html

MaryAnn, the reason you don't want it going into your septic is because it is so oily. Since oil is lighter than water, it will go directly to your leach field and coat the dirt so the water can't "leach" properly.

You should be okay, but you probably don't want to do it again.
 
You use cool water, dish soap in the water, gently get the soapy water throughout, drain, repeat a zillion times until clean. If you try to 'wash' it like anything else, it'll mat and turn into a felting project instead.
 
all done washing. it is now drying outside.
wlap0z.jpg
 
Mary Ann's Rabbitry":2jbcdupd said:
all I know is it is sheep.. what kind of sheep ,, I am not sure.. why
Click to expand...


Just curious. In my spinning adventures, I've been trying to sample as many wools as possible. They are very diverse, have different ways they can be handled, spin up differently and wear differently. So far, I've handled Shetland, Lincoln, Dorset, Merino, Navajo Churro, Cheviot, Barbados, then the Alpaca, Mohair and Angora.

__________ Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:20 am __________

Secuono":2jbcdupd said:
You use cool water, dish soap in the water, gently get the soapy water throughout, drain, repeat a zillion times until clean. If you try to 'wash' it like anything else, it'll mat and turn into a felting project instead.
Click to expand...


Not all wools felt readily, another reason why I like to know what I have. The Cheviot I have is like superwash, good luck trying to get it to felt. Navajo Churro will felt while I'm soaking the skein in hot water, so I have to be careful.
 
Mary Ann's Rabbitry":njgjo3e4 said:
I didn't know where to put this..
Click to expand...

Since it has to do with wool, I am going to move it to Wool Rabbits and Fibre Arts. :)

The washed wool looks great, by the way. My daughter recently washed some Angora (goat) wool, and I was amazed at the difference! :p
 
When it felts it mats together. You could take a handful of it and test it. Heat and agitation cause felting- so put it in hot water and rub it between your palms to see what happens.
 
You won't really know unless you know the breed, or you try felting it, but you will need to know so you don't felt the yarn or whatever you make out of it, when you wash or dry it.

Take a small bit, add some soap, and hot water, and agitate it for about 5 minutes or so, or knit/crochet up a swatch of yarn, machine wash it and put it in the dryer.<br /><br />__________ Thu Oct 10, 2013 1:23 pm __________<br /><br />Ah, I see MSD beat me to it, my post got hung up in limbo. :)
 
skysthelimit":1jrbvj32 said:
Ah, I see MSD beat me to it, my post got hung up in limbo. :)
Click to expand...

Well, I'm glad to have the confirmation. You mentioned soap- does that make it easier to felt since the fibers are more slippery?
 
Yes, it helps break the surface tension to allow the water to penetrate the fibers, and makes it easier to agitate the fibers so they slide into each other instead of just sliding around with work surface, matting into balls instead of sheets of felt.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top