Preparing Wool for dyeing, felting and Spinning

 In this blog post I will be illustrating the labour intensive process I have gone through to prepare some wool that I am going to dye, felt and spin!

Above is a photo of Dino, the ewe I had my fleece from. I was lucky to be given this fleece for free, as this year the value of sheep fleeces has dropped dramatically. Due to Covid-19 many farmers this year have resorted to burying and burning their sheep's fleeces as nobody would buy them. As my dad is a farmer, I know many people in this position and this is how I became interested in using wool for this project.

One big sheep fleece rolled up and ready to prepare to be washed.

To start the process, I began by skirting the fleece. This is where I separated the clean, long staples of wool from the dirty clumps of wool that wouldn't be used for spinning or felting. This process took longer than I thought as the fleece was so big! There were also a lot of small second cut bits of wool to remove from the fleece.

I then started the four-part wash process. I soaked the wool in two hot water baths, to remove the dirt. I pressed the wool with my hands to help get the dirt out, but I didn't swish the wool around at all as this could cause it to felt. It is important to handle the wool with care especially when it is wet.

After getting most of the dirt out of the wool, I soaked it in hot water with a natural soap to remove the oily lanolin from the wool. I used 'Faith in Nature' laundry detergent. It is the lanolin in the wool that enables the sheep's coat to shed water and keep their skin dry. It also prevents the wool from felting on the sheep. This is why it is important to remove the lanolin before using the wool to felt or spin.

After rinsing the soap out of the wool, I gently squeezed out the excess water. It is important not to squeeze and not ring the water out as it can felt the wool. I then pulled it apart slightly and left it out to dry.

This Process of washing the wool has taken a lot of time but fingers crossed it will all be worth it! I find whole process textiles so personal and meaningful, and I look forward to experimenting and creating some art with this wool.

🌱Kat Webb🌱