Quite a few sources I've read state that moths are attracted to the
scent of dirty wool, so you should wash your wool when you get it, to
help avoid the attraction.
This makes some sense, but I haven't put it to the test. I keep my
fleeces raw, in muslin bags, in a closet. None have ever been
attacked--and I've had some of those fleeces 10 years and more. Stuff
out in baskets DOES get attacked--one of the drawbacks of living in one
place for years and years is eventually moths WILL arrive :) The key
there is to move things around, shake them out, disturb them frequently.
Definitely moths prefer finer fibers to coarser. Silk and angora I've
seen 'snipped' while the wool, even merino, it was plied with or right
next to it is undisturbed. Might be worth sacrificing a bit of silk or
angora as a 'trap crop' :)
I don't wash wool until I'm ready to use it, because I want it as fresh
and non-sticky as possible when I'm spinning it. Although I'm careful
to wash well, sometimes it's not 100% free of lanolin and eventually
that 1% or whatever WILL affect the way the fiber handles in spinning.
If I work with the fiber when it's within a few weeks or months of
washing, I don't have a problem. If I wait for more months or a year,
sometimes there's a problem. I've been spinning roving that the
processor didn't quite get all the lanolin out of--and we're talking
Shetland here, with little or none of the waxes Merino is infamous for.
It doesn't draft quite as nicely as when it was fresh, it's just a
touch less slippy. That means spinning isn't quite as pleasant, and the
yarn isn't quite as even. Fortunately, it's going to be a three-ply
yarn, which hides a multitude of sins :) Unfortunately, it's a big
project--a fair isle sweater coat, and a major color in that coat, so
there's still a LOT of spinning to go!
Holly
with the problem that I can never spin yarn until I KNOW what I want to
make out of it :)
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