Wool needs to be cleaned to remove the lanolin etc. Sheep's wool, when cleaned, isn't oily (try feeling a bit of knotting wool). Cleaning wool to remove the oil is called scouring. Spinners and weavers have their own preferences to scour or not to (I didn't). I have a feeling that my HG came with a small replacement tuft of wool (although I use cotton). I found it too difficult to get on the strings so threw it away. May have been a synthetic but I didn't ask the maker as cotton sounds fine. Colin Hill ----- Original Message ----- From: "ungava" <[email protected]> To: "hurdygurdy" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 5:07 PM Subject: [HG-new] Re: Curious about Cotton
> > As for wool from sheep, I agree. Experts kept telling me to avoid all > oiliness with the wheel. Sheep's wool is oily. > One wouldn't ever put soap on the strings, for example. Oil and soap > are closely related chemically. > I have a llama. I doubt that would be different. No doubt that oil > they produce helps to keep them warm. > "Chemically, lanolin consists of a mixture of several sterols, fatty > acids, and their esters... > Fatty acids are typically found in plant and animal lipids (fat), such > as glycerides, sterols, and phospholipids. > They occur naturally in waxes, fats and essential oils. > They are used in cooking and food engineering and in the production of > soaps, detergents, and cosmetics" > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
