I have been having a bit of a tidy up around my place and decided to have a look at some of my fleeces from last year, before we get around to shearing again. This fleece gave me a big surprise as I opened it out again. It is from my neighbours sheep. It is such a bright yellow colour at the cut edge that I was a little unsure what to do with it.
I took samples from different parts of the sheep and washed them to see how the washed fleece would look. Eventhough I used hot as water and tried different types of soaps and washes I was still left with a slight yellowness in the wool. In some places it was only a patch that stayed yellow, but in others it was the entire staple. I am still undecided as to whether to keep the fleece and spend hours washing it or throw it out. One one hand I know I have lots of other fleece but then again I dont like to throw out what may be an okish fleece even if the thought of so many hours of washing does not appeal when it is a fairly coarse fleece.
Ithink I will hold on to it for a bit and then decide.
4 comments:
I have never seen a yellow sheep, it is very strange. It would be AS Lot of work to wash it clean.
I thought I might try the soak for a week in cold water wash. It is supposed to smell lots but works really well.
Had a friend who used to spin wool from a fleece and I remember that before they were washed they were smelly.
Hi sweety,
Most fleeces tend to yolk like that if left, it's the lanolin hardening. I was told to remove soak for 24 hours in cold water and then wash in tepid.
Personally I pack tightly in a washing bag and put it to soak in scalding hot soapy water, leave until cool and then wash with care. Spin rather than squish the waterout to avoid felting. Hope this might help.
Happy New Year.
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