Over the last couple of years I have bought far too many fleeces and then what with the Paralympics I got Mr S to put them in the loft in an attempt to forget the task ahead, and then last weekend despite declaring loudly to any one in hearing distance 'that I don't need/what another fleece I caved in and bought another one.
This one is a beautiful Wensleydale X from Yvonne Hoskins
and it must be good because Molly spent nearly an hour rolling and grooming amongst the dirty smelly fleece! Interestingly she is only interested in unwashed fleece - never rolls in clean fleece
which I can leave out to dry all day and she completely ignores them
This one of the poor forgotten 2011 fleeces (another Merino X from Yvonne) and this only got a sniff from Molly so obviously the newer the fleece the greater the attraction for her............... this one I washed yesterday before the Men's Singles Final which by the way if you aren't aware MURRAY WON!
Today Mr S went up into the loft, where hanging in a row like in an abattoir, were five poor unloved and unwashed fleeces - well they aren't there now four are here and the fifth is already in the wash!
There is a Black Welsh Mountain and three Merino X's. As I am not washing these for combing I put these into mesh bags and plunged them in hot water with Power Scour, hotter than the bare hand can take and submerged with a potato masher.
Then into the spin dyer to get rid of all the dirty water ready for a rinse, again in very hot water. Fortunately we have a wet room so I can and do splash and slop water all over the place.
These trays are from Ikea, originally drawers for their Pax wardrobes (but they had silly plastic runners which broke and were long ago replaced with better wooden ones) and are the perfect size for the large mesh laundry bags. Another spin and then out in the sun to dry. So far in this gorgeous weather we are experiencing I have washed three fleeces and 100grams of Stein (Shetland/Gotland X bought at Unravel), spun 230grams of Polwarth and watched far too much sport on TV...............
This one will be drum carded and made into rouers (this is what Liz Northern Lace calls them) for my Tour de Fleece challenge (this day the riders go twice up Alpe d'Huez) on July 18th - long draw............
Hello, I am a new visitor to your blog. I've just got my mother back into spinning after about a 20 year break and she has accumulated 10 fleeces in two months! Now your hubby cant complain about 5 lol. We are in our winter here in AUstralia and can only wash small amounts at a time but I was wondering how the fleece went being through the spin cycle of a washing machine. Did you do it in very large amounts in those mesh bags or smaller amounts. Would it be suitable for hand combing afterwards. I have always assumed it would felt up if put through the machine even in those bags. Can you tell I am new to this lol Mum gave me a wheel back in APril and I love it!
ReplyDeleteSorry I have been so busy spinning I have neglected my blog - I use a small spin dyer, not a washing machine spin cycle! If you have a top loading washing machine you could spin with that... I would recommend Judith McKenzie's DVD Three Bags Full she explains washing fleece far better than me!
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