At 02:37 PM 1/22/2006, you wrote:
Hello Fiber folks, I hope one or more of you can help me out. Last year, I bought (cheap) an Australian Border Leicester fleece from the previous year's shearing. It was a nice long fleece, with good texture and color, but full of mud.
Ya, know.. it's the *oddest* thing sometimes with fleece (read oil) and mud! A number of years ago there was a really bad season in the whole upper NE and my usual supplier of really superior Corriedale fleeces had all her's with absolutely horrible mud in 'em. Something happens when it works into the ends of the fleeces along with the oils that's nearly indescribable. Those tips turn into rock (nearly enough not to worry over the difference). That year I ended up throwing away what I eventually got clean enough to use. I had to use such harsh chemicals (lesse... I started with my usual Dawn, went to leaving it in the washer for literally days at a time to try to soak into the tips - progressed to "wool wash" (horrid stuff soap based and made the sticky worse - ended up using DENATURED alcohol in the wash water). The alcohol worked but it needed so much of it at such long soaking times (it's functionally paint stripper after all is said and done) that the tips then became brittle (heck, the whole length of the staple ended up brittle). Couldn't process it further without nasties throughout the drafting. Along the way I even learned about using (clothes) washing detergents (and how they eat protein fibers while getting out your "stains" and a *lot* about desperation <LOL>.
My best advice I use to process even non-sticky stuff (sounds almost like the oils have started to oxidize to me and turn into wax..) today. I take my double pitch viking comb and open up the lock structure (mechanically) then lay the locks butt and tip into a colander (tips out so they shed dirt into the water instead of into the wool) and batch 'em in the sink. At *worst* with really gooey fleeces (those like you've described that won't wash clean with Dawn) I add about a tablespoon of denatured alcohol to the wash water (dishpan of not over a couple gallons) and let it sit not more than 15-20 mins. Drain the water, use my sprayer (larger and softer than the typical sink sprayer..) to force what's in the colander through and rewash with only Dawn. If the darned thing won't let go for *that* then you're going to have to take measures that can be too harsh to get decent wool out of the mess (imho). The only other thing NOT to do is never let the water cool beyond the point the oils settle out into the water (scum on top). Even if that means IMMEDIATELY emptying your first (hottest water) wash water to get rid of the nasties. Scum just redeposits on the wool as you empty it (or lift it out or pull it out - whatever..). Keep the water hottest from beginning to end. Leave plenty of space (about 2-3x more than you'd think necessary) around the wool (don't pack it in). The more space the cleaner it is to start with.. With really heavy (or fleeces with oily wools that have sit long enough to start oxidizing) there's almost nothing other than resorting to chemicals to get the stuff out... I account for the biggest improvement to quality of my fleece in using the comb to "flick" the tips open before washing. You can also hand pick (I admit I've tried pickers.. hated the results) the fleece too if you aren't worried about lock structure... Yes, it slows things down terribly but it also speeds them up later (no picking necessary and straight to the drum and perhaps just a touch with a comb on the lock to fluff it out later...).
Oh, those rock hard tips? I never did get them to release. I even ended up trying to cut the mud (still attached) off (while attempting to spin the locks) and even *that* didn't give decent results. One of my few really terrible experiences at preparation. I think I must have used gallons of Dawn (not to even begin talking about water) that year... <*sigh*> Sometimes you just end up giving up...
Cj. Aberte Melbourne, FL USA To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
