Washing Wool: How to Select and Wash Wool

You’re ready to take the plunge—literally—into raw fiber processing, and you know that wool can felt and shrink into a matted mess. But it doesn’t have to (after all, sheep get wet without shrinking). Let our experts guide you through selecting the proper animal fiber to meet your goals, then through the steps of washing wool without fear.

It’s not nearly as difficult as you might think, and it produces great results. Have fun splashing in a basin of water. Watch wool transform from a greasy,dirty handful into a fluffy, puffy, silky mass. It’s like magic. Inside you'll find:

• Choosing Fiber—Where to Start? - So many of us choose the project after the yarn is spun, especially when we're working with just four ounces of fiber. But what if you want to make a sweater or another large project? What wool do you choose? If you know more about the fiber, you can plan the project and not let the project plan you.

• Washing Wool Fleece - Washing, or scouring, works wonders on wool. It removes the dirt, dried sweat and urine, oily grease and sticky wax, and transforms raw or greasy fleece into clean, soft, fragrant puff that's a pleasure to process and spin.

• Washing Wool - Washing wool is a process that eludes most new spinners and can even cause problems for the most proficient wool worker. Getting the fleece squeaky clean and not felting it in the process can be a spinner's first hurdles as there are many ways to wash wool. Robin goes through the wool-washing process step-by-step and discusses best practices when washing wool for the best results.

• On Washing Fleece - There are probably as many different methods of washing fleece as there are fleeces waiting to be washed! To understand how to clean wool, it is helpful to understand a bit about the nature of fleece and how it is produced.

Download our FREE wool washing eBook today and get started!