> Emphatically, NO! :) I bow to none in my respect for Cyril and his
> fabulous fleeces, but this recipe gives me the shudders every time I
> hear about it :)
I totally agree with Holly on this one. Not only is soap alkaline, but can
leave a curd all over the fleece. (One reason why we use detergents for
our laundry.)
As for alcohol, in my fleece processing business, I sometimes used
denatured alcohol for a particularly stubborn fleece. A friend of mine did a
study, soaking a sample of fleece in an alcohol solution for a week and a
sample in an ordinary detergent solution for a week as a control. He
found no difference in either sample after rinsing and drying the samples.
The very hot water is key for fine fleeces, especially. I prefer to prewash
with a small amount of detergent (to break the surfact tension) first. This
gets rid of much of the gross dirt and grease. Then I draw the HOT bath,
add plenty of detergent and the wool. (BTW, it is best to add the
detergent after drawing the water to minimize the suds.) I enter the wool
and cover the bath with a styrofoam sheet to help keep the heat in.
I rarely let it soak for more than half an hour. If necessary, I rewash,
rather than giving it a longer soak. Rinse.
Jean in Eastern PA - where is was sleeting and is now snowing...
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