Shown is a grease Polwarth fleece, a wool very nearly as fine as Merino. One "sausage" is complete, one needs to be tied, and one is just started. Step by step instructions are below. Return to Wool Washing |
You may now wash this wool in very hot water, or even dye it using immersion or microwave techniques, without having to worry about felting or waste due to the locks becoming disarranged. The nylon netting will not be melted or otherwise harmed by boiling water temperatueres. When you're done, just drain or spin out the excess water, hang or lay out to dry, cut the strings, and unroll the wool. The washed or dyed wool is ready to comb as soon as it dries.
This method may be used to prepare other fine fibers for washing or dyeing--for example, I've dyed angora rabbit fiber this way, with excellent results.
My thanks to the members of Fibernet, Ron Parker's email list devoted to the fiber arts, for suggesting this arrangement for washing fine wools.