Washing wool

Washing wool

So you have to wash some wool? Yea me too.  I am fairly new at it, Okay really new at it. ;P
I have two sheep, They are South down Babydolls. I absolutely love them and their wool. I was blessed to get a breeding pair, one black and one white. I don't know why, but the male, had an abundance of wool. Like it had been growing longer then the females or something. I suppose his size played a role in the actually amount he had too. Hes a big babydoll.

Anyway I am washing wool and preparing it for Etsy! Fun times. 


You can do fairly large amounts and the washing process is the same, but I like to do mine in very small batches. I pull the "locks" apart into small sections. then I pick through them a little and separate the ends a bit. 

After that is done, I fill my sink about half way with very hot water. Then I add dish soap. Most people say to use dawn I think, but we use Amway stuff and it works great for me. I kind of stir it so its spreads through all the water. I then gently lay each piece into the water.  
 Here I  did less then normal to show the effect the water has. You can see it instantly starts dissolving the lanolin on the wool. The dirt and veggie matter start to fall out and drop to the bottom.

 After you have your wool soaking, walk away! Don't stand there and mess with it. The hot water and soap do a wonderful job on their own. So go read some scripture, or practice the alphabet with your preschooler a few times. Maybe do some squats and push ups. I don't know, but give it 10-15 minutes to sit.

Time to go back, and YUCK. All the that stuff melted off into the water.

So next gently remove the wool and place on a plate, or counter, or even in the other side of the sink. I use the plate because it allows me to press on the wool softly and drain the gross water off. You don't want to press on it too often and risk felting it. So be careful with that. .

Then I rinse my sink and refill with very hot water. NO SOAP. this is to rinse the wool. I again gently lay it in the water and walk away for 10-15 minutes or so. 

I go back and gently remove the wool and set it aside. I drain and rinse my sink. If I need to repeat the process because the wool isn't clean enough I do. If not I leave the wool sitting for a minute so the water and drain out and then press the wool with my hand and drain the water off the plate and then lay the wool out on a towel to dry. I spread it out a little so air ca get into the center. Then just let it dry there, or if I am washing a large amount I will take it outside to dry. Provided it is sunny. For me, that's almost always. Here in California we are praying for rain. 

Please comment and tell me your thoughts, and don't forget to follow me. I have lots of projects to share. :)