# Advice on washing wool!



## citygrlfarmsoul (Apr 1, 2015)

I was fortunate enough to get a garbage bag full of raw fleece for $5! I had never washed wool before and it was soooo overwhelming!! 

I'm currently washing it in small bins - I don't want to put it in my bathtub or washing machine because my pipes aren't the best and I'm worried the lanolin might cause some issues.
I'm using Dawn and hot hot water. I do 3 "baths" for 15-20 minutes each.

The wool is in pretty good shape and it's washing really well - becoming white and fluffy. EXCEPT for the ends!! The ends of the locks are slightly stiff and yellowed. I don't want to cut the ends off unless it's absolutely necessary!!










This isn't the best picture, but maybe you can see what I'm talking about.

I've been told to soak in cold water overnight, but it's not an issue of it being dirty. I think the lanolin hardened at the ends and is being stubborn!


Any advice on how to wash these ends and get them white and fluffy???


Thanks!!!!


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Hi there and welcome. 

From here it looks like you have some sunburnt tips.
If they aren't brittle and breaking off, they should sort of blend in when you prepare the wool for the next step.

Most of my hand washed wool has some yellowy tips.
Yours don't look too bad. 

What kind of fleece is it and what are you going to do with it?


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## citygrlfarmsoul (Apr 1, 2015)

Thanks so much for your reply!!

I'm not sure what type of wool it is actually! The woman was selling a few bags and said that it was from a few neighboring farms. She wasn't sure what breed I was getting. I would really like to know - I've known the type of all fibers I've purchased before so I am bummed that this is a mystery.

I never even considered that the yellowed tips could be sunburnt. I was just scared it was lanolin and would make my wool sticky if I didn't get it all out.

I am going to dye some, hand card it, and then will most likely needle or wet felt it.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

My experience has been that the tips of the wool are the least greasy part.
That makes sense, since it is the outer edge that gets the most weather and is furthest from the skin.

It looks like you have gotten it pretty clean.
What type of dyes do you like to use?
Not all wools are great for felting. Have you tested it yet?


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## citygrlfarmsoul (Apr 1, 2015)

That makes sense!

I've never actually dyed any wool before. First time washing and dyeing!! I have Greener Shades and am going to try it out tomorrow. I've always just purchased wool that was dyed and blended to make other colors. It was time to venture into doing it myself.

I tried the wool. It felts just fine luckily :]


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

When you have tips, just brush them out. You&#8217;ll be able to decide then if they should be cut off, like if it&#8217;s all breaking.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

I found with the Suffolk wool, the darker tips did show up in the yarn, but that was undyed. Then I dyed some Icelandic wool which had some light tips like yours, I spun them right into the yarn. You couldn't see the ends at all. Your wool looks wonderfully clean! You did a great job! I was not able to get the ends of either type of fleece to come out white. Since there were so few tips affected, I didn't mind. Do you have a lot of tips that are yellowed a little?


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