How do you know if you’ve gotten all the lanolin out of a fleece?
I washed mine, but it feels like there’s still some in it, but maybe not.
I don’t really know how to tell if it’s lanolin I’m feeling or just normal clean wool…
I’ve boiled Cheviot and it didn’t felt, but it had a fake feel to it, like pillow floss. Boiled Babydoll during color dyeing, didn’t felt, and it feels pretty much the same as my hot water washed Babydoll. So maybe I did get most or all of the lanolin, idk…
Help…
Hi @Secuono!
Boiled wool will have a different ‘hand’ (feel) to it. It’s hard to tell if you removed all the lanolin unless I actually feel it myself.
Try putting a little bit in the refrigerator and see if it will draft freely when it is cold. Fleece that still has lanolin in it will become sticky or hard and not want to draft when it is cold whereas lanolin-free fleece will draft regardless if it is hot or cold.
What is pillow floss??
Cyndi
So I tossed some rolags into the freezer. One had some crunchy areas, others just hardly some crunch to them or none.
The forum keeps having a loading timeout error, anyone know what’s happening? Did that a few days ago, too.
Thanks … pillow floss is polyfill … check!
A friend’s cheviot that was processed at a mill felt like that.
I pulled out “In Sheep’s Clothing a Handspinner’s Guide to Wool” to see what the Fournier’s had to say about Cheviot fleece.
“The resilient, bulky fleece produces lofty yarn. Its staples are rectangular, with slightly pointed tips. The wool is resilient and airy, but not as quite as spongy as a true down fleece. Because some Cheviot wool is harsh, it is often overlooked by handspinners. Commercial uses include the manufacture of tweeds, blankets, knitwear, and hosiery yarns. Stronger fleece is used by the carpet industry. Fiber diameter: 48s-56s”
Wish I could help more, @Secuono.
Having a little lanolin helps these super short fibers grip each other and not fall apart while I draft. The Corriedale slivers were very slippery, squeaky clean, but long, so it wasn’t hard to hold onto the rest while drawing some out.
Guess I’ll just go with my other plan of sending some to the mill to sell sliver or yarn instead of me bothering to do it. I don’t think I can fully wash it out.
Anywho. Thanks. =)
I really hope your stain is not bothering you still. But anyway, lanolin has the was consistency, so better to wash it with hot water, so it will melt and get washed away easily. By the way which one are you using? I’ve been using Lanolin Anhydrous and interested in trying something new.
IDK what that means.
I’ve since raised water heater temp, but I need to do tiny batches.
No mill will spin up wool under 3in, so I gave up on that and the roving I had previously made was not quality enough to me. So fleeces will be sold raw only.
I use dawn dish soap and then one of the unicorn washes. Never found one with the name “power scour” either.
