>>I read somewhere that leaving the lanolin in the fleece by washing with cold >>water only before spinning will make a somewhat water 'repellant' yarn - but >>eventually that must wear off.<<
If it's not broke, don't fix it. :) I can only think of the Irish, at the moment, but the Irish have been knitting 'waterproof' sweaters for centuries. The wool isn't fully scoured, so some of the lanolin is left in the fiber. The lanolin helps 'turn' the rain away from the wearer. I know people who use human shampoo to wash fleeces. Most of it isn't strong enough to take remove all the lanolin, from the fleeces. The result is a roving that definitely has some lanolin in it. Personally, I don't like to spin in the grease, and I want all the lanolin out, out, out. But if someone is going to spin a waterproof sweater, then I can understand why some left in lanolin would be acceptable. Yes! I know spinning in the grease is good for your hands and cuticles, and, if only we all spun wook in the grease, it would bring about world peace. I still don't like spinning in the grease. wrnk d2 To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
