# How long can you keep a raw fleece?



## donsgal

I have several (ahem) stuck away in my stash closet. Nice Border Leicesters, one white and the other a nice light brown with silver streaks. I just can't seem to find the time to get to them - working all the time.

They've been in there a couple of years an I'm afraid to look because I fear they will be a complete disaster now. 

What is the longest you have kept a raw fleece and did it hurt it?

donsgal


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## Marchwind

Wellllllllll, I don't know that there is a real answer. I have some raw fleeces that I've had for several years. I check them every year to make sure there aren't any unwanted guests. I put Lavender essential oil on a few cotton balls and put it back in the bag. Really greasy fleeces don't always keep so well. But I do have a few Shetland fleeces that seem to be keeping just fine.

Can you send the fleeces off to be processed for you? If you can swing it it might be worth the time effort and money to have it done.


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## PKBoo

I just finished reading Judith McKenzie McCuin's "Intentional Spinner" and she stored her 5 lb fleeces stuffed into a 5-gal bucket. 

She worked at a fiber processing mill and they compacted fleeces into 4x4 blocks that sat outside, and only the outer inch or so was ruined. The inside was just like the day it was sheared! She said oxygen reacts with the lanolin to make it "sticky", so if you stuff the fleece in tightly it will keep for years and years. I'm going to try it this year. You just label the sheep/year on the outside and you can store them in a shed/barn/etc.


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## Mrs. Homesteader

I have some that are several years old. They are all Shetland and seem to be fine. I did not do a good job of checking for moths though. I did have to get rid of some of them this year because of moths. 

Farmwannabe, that is a neat idea on the buckets. 

Lavender works well and I like the idea of the essential oil. Sweet Annie also works and it grows like crazy in my yard. I am going to dry all of it I can this year.


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## Katherine in KY

I usually wash all my fleeces when I get them. I don't do a super good washing, but I soak them in cold water first, then a hot water bath. There's usually still quite a bit of lanolin, but the yuckiest parts are gone. Moths are attracted to dirt and oils, and so far I've had no problems, and I've got fleeces that are 5-6 years old. I even have part of a fleece sent to me from Australia (super well scoured) in the late 1970s--I quite spinning and never used it all! I keep my fleeces in cloth bags in plastic tubs. I read about storing them in buckets and wish I'd done that. My parents use kitty litter that comes in plastic buckets, and I have dozens of them--oh, well, in my next life...


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## marinemomtatt

Buckets! AWESOME! We have 28 empty buckets, too bad I don't have 28 fleeces...~lol~...
I also use Lavender to discourage moths, Rosemary works well too. (too bad we forgot to put some Lavender in one stack of honey supers...yup, moths)


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## Mrs. Homesteader

marinemomtatt said:


> (too bad we forgot to put some Lavender in one stack of honey supers...yup, moths)


Do you put the flowers or essential oil?


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## PKBoo

marinemomtatt said:


> We have 28 empty buckets, too bad I don't have 28 fleeces...~lol~...


 :goodjob: this made me smile! How can this get to be such an addiction???? It's wonderful!

WIHH - the way JMM sounded, the bucket method is what she used with raw fleeces, and they lasted for years. I like the idea of putting lavender in with them too (I'm sure that lanolin smell will be strong, as much as I love it). I'm going to try storing both washed and unwashed in buckets, and see what happens.


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## springvalley

When Catherine and I owned our fiber mill, we had a lady bring in a fleece from some prize sheep that was 20 years old, it had been washed and stored away. It was a little brittle but we did end up making a yarn from it, it was not anything you wanted next to your skin , but it was useable. We also had a lady that brought in a alpaca fleece that had been sent to her and was from one of the top alpaca studs on the show circuit, the animal was then sold for 400,000.00 at auction. The fleece had been stored poorly and was full of moths, we told her to take it home and burn it. We didn`t want it in the building. So you can keep them awhile as long as you store them properly. Thanks Marc


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