fiber prep (#2 of the series) draft

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When I was given the lb of shetland fleece by +Petra Cosgrove-Tremblay, I researched how to wash it and posted about it here and there on livejournal.  ("there" has a link to flickr).

My preferred method of fleece washing features a sifting kitty litter pan, dawn dish soap, and the bathtub.  The 4 bags of sheepy stuff having been 4 days frozen, (I didn't have the soap yesterday).  While I was waiting for the fiber to "ripen" or finish killing any bugs, I read a bit on fleece washing.  Several sites recommended an initial soak in cold water with no soap of any kind to loosen the vegetable matter (both pre-and post sheep).

Sheepy stuff - washed and not washed

Soak the first, sheepy stuff and water

First I pulled the 4 gallon bags of fleece from the freezer and assembled everything at the side of the tub.  Cold water in the assembled kitty litter pan and I ran into my first snag, only 2 of the 4 bags fit into the pan.  I put two in the tray to soak and put two aside for the second washing.

My goodness the water came out dirty.  This is the first water, 3/4 of an hour to soak, then the wool (in the straining tray) was taken out and let trip dry.  Well, it got shaken too, I think I want a salad spinner for this step.   After this soaking the water was opaque and the wool is heavy.  Some people use their washing machine to spin the water out, but our washing machine is 2 floors away and I didn't have enough wool to justify using it.  I'm trying to do this by hand, time enough for automating/scaling up if I want to do this more..

Sheepy stuff in wash water the second
Still ooky

Wash water the first, post sheepy
ooky

So,

Next, water as hot as I can make it, a squirt (or ten) of dish soap, smoosh a bit (don't agitate the sheepy stuff, it'll felt), pull the sifting tray out, shake, decide the water is still too ooky to justify rinsing just yet, and besides, the soap is making a little crust of bubbles and suds on the top bit of the fleece,  I also spent some time picking twigs and straws and burrs out of the sheepy stuff.

Wash water the third, post sheepy
it doesn'l look less ooky, but it is

Three times loading the tray with hot water and soap, dousing the fleece, shaking it free of the worst of the soap and water, and pouring the water off.  the difference doesn't appear apparent, but the water did get less laden with ook as the washes happened.  After the third washing, (I also turned the sheepy stuff over in the tray, so that different bits would be on the bottom), I decided the soap and hot water had done as much as it could, and I started working on getting the soap out with just hot water.

That took 4 pans full, more picking out vegetable matter, more swooshing of sheepy stuff and finally pulling it out, rolling it into a towel to start drying.

To be bought yet, a package of cheese cloth.  Someone described building a "cheesecloth hammock" for fiber drying.   I have an attic that's relatively climate controlled, I can build one up there, and toss the damp fiber in to dry in a more climate controlled environment.

Future washes (the 2nd pair of bags is up doing its cold soak as I type), may need to use smaller batches of fiber.  The litter pan has almost 1.4 lbs of pre-washed sheepy stuff when I put both bags in, and the sifting tray is almost packed full of fleece, and it may not have enough water flowing through to let enough dirt get loose.