# Shetland fleece, matted, how to start?



## Olivia67 (Mar 6, 2008)

I've finally set aside time to go through all my fleeces from last year. I usually sell them raw but skirted but the first one I laid hands on was my Shetland/Romanov fleece and it is so matted that I don't think anyone would even want to buy it. So I thought, this might be my chance to actually work with a fleece since it won't sell in the condition it is currently in. I don't have anything yet, no carding combs, no spinning wheel, etc. So all I want to do is to get it straighten out so that someone else will want to do something with it and in time I'll get my wheel, but right now I can't afford one. The combs look like those are going to cost me a fortune. Now can anyone tell me, what is the name of those combs that are made from nails? What is the difference between the ones that look like large cat combs and the nail ones? Do I clean the wool first even though it's matted? Won't that make the matting worse and keep it from drying properly? 

Thanks for any advice-remember I'm a newbie and I don't know the technical terms yet. But I learn fast.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I agree. Is it matted or felted? There isn't much you can do with felted - other than use it felted'felt it further. I'm not sure how you would use it. Maybe someone else here can chime in? Also not sure how you it would turn out if the fibers aren't washed yet. I had one nasty fleece I looked at and determined I'd use no matter what. I decided life was too short.

The smaller cat and dog comb-like implements are called carders.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Pictures might help us to see what the problem really is. WIHH is right if you can tease the wool locks apart with your hands chances are it's not too bad. So times fleeces can look worse than they really are, sometimes not.


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## Olivia67 (Mar 6, 2008)

I might be over reacting because it feels matted, not felted and yes I do have some sentimental value on it. That ewe was a wonderful girl and gave us beautiful twin lambs every year, then she started throwing triplets and her pelvis was too small and so I gave her back to her breeder. She was a bottle baby and her breeder sold the rest of the flock but kept in touch with me and told me that she would take her back when she was done here. Well, after the last $300 vet bill to deliver her triplets, she got her early retirement at the age of six. She is living happily with her "mom" and her son from her last lambing. So this is the last fleece I'll ever get from her. I don't understand it though, my Babydoll fleeces never matt or felt but I guess thats just the difference in wools. I don't mind working the fleece myself but I just want to know where to start. Somehow I don't think washing it first will work, I think it needs to be carded or whatever it's called, the matts need to broken up before I try to wash it. I just wanted to know what tools to invest in to help me along. They are expensive and I can't afford both kinds/sets. I don't think my cat hair brush is strong enough but the things with the nails look kind of scary to me. I'm clumsy and tend to cut myself easily, maybe the nails can be dulled?


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I would lay down a big sheet, place the fleece, cut side up, on the sheet. Start at one end or the other and tug out small pieces of locks. Open these up by hand, set them aside.

You can sort the opened locks by color, length, hand (feel). 

See the sticky at the top of the forum for tips on scouring


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

Is the whole fleece that way? Or is it just around the next and back end? My shetland/BFLs get matted around their heads/necks, and in their britch area. I just skirt that away. It's hard to imagine your whole fleece getting matted...

You may still be able to pull individual locks out. See if you can separate out some locks, then take a dog slicker brush, or flick carder (you can get one for ~$15) and try to 'brush' the tip out - it may help to separate the fibers. Then you can spin from right from the lock. 

Here's a picture of the flick carder I used on these locks:









I put them in a basket and just pulled each lock out and spun from there:


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Washing may actually help tp opoem it up a bit. Lots of very good advise here.


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## Olivia67 (Mar 6, 2008)

OHHHHH---

I didn't even consider how the tools would get gummed up. Thank you so much!!! Well, that's why I always try to get my information on anything from the people who actually do it- You guys are terrific! 

I just bought a new/used camera off of someone on Craigslist and so I can take a picture of the fleece and send it to photobucket and then to you guys for your honest opinion. I think because she is Shetland and Romanov, that her fleece is just weird and so matted more easily than it should have. I have had Shetlands before and their fleeces were never-ever like this. I did experiment with cleaning some wool last night, not from the S/R but from one of my Babydolls and I just did a tiny bit but the fleece is so beautiful that I'm just getting more and more excited about working with them. Now, here's another question, should I worry about gumming up my septic with lanolin from washed fleeces? My Babydolls are lanolin making machines.


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

If all else fails, there is an interesting shawl made with cotted or felted wool in the new book "Hand Spun" by Lexi Boeger (not sure on the spelling of that) 
It is quirky- but interesting.
PKboo- love that shetlandxbfl!


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## Falls-Acre (May 13, 2009)

How is fleece worked "in the grease"? Is it combed rather than carded? Spun from the unwashed lock? I've really been wondering this since I saw this thread.


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

I have an older wheel to use when doing in the grease fleeces- because all that dirt, etc is passing through the orafice and onto the bobbin. Be sure to put a sheet on your lap....around your wheel, etc. Some fleeces cry out "spin me in the grease!"


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Another option for a fleece that is so far gone as to be unuseable is to make a felted rug.

I have seen beautiful ones made from matted alpaca and then dyed!

The basic strategy is to clean it as much as you can from VM (pick it clean by hand). Maybe use a dog comb to lift out bits where you can and comb out some of the locks.

Then flip it over to the 'underside' and spread clean, carded batts of a feltable wool over the back of the fleece and wet felt the whole thing together - the batts give the wool a 'solid substrate' to bind to and provide a smooth base so you don't get holes.

The alpaca fleece I saw this way was then put in a royal blue dyebath and the resulting rug was STUNNING! Very soft, and a great way to save a fleece that otherwise was too far gone.


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

Thanks for the tips about gumming up equipment WIHH - I had forgotten about that.

There's a woman in our Guild who loves to spin in the grease. She soaks the fleece in cold water overnight to get a lot of the dirt out. As long as you don't wash over a certain temp (is it 180? can't remember right now)... the lanolin will stay on the wool.

She may even do several cold water soaks, then dries it. Then she makes rolags and puts them next to her wood stove while she's spinning, and they spin like butter! The heat melts the lanolin, and makes it really easy to spin. If it's too warm for a fire, she uses a heating pad, and just folds it in half with the rolags inside. 

I love spinning in the grease, but haven't done it for two years! I was using my hand carders before I realized they could get gummed up. But now that I have a drum carder, I may have to try it again, since I hardly ever use the hand cards. I really love spinning in the grease - love the smell, love the lanolin on my hands... time to dig out a fleece! :rock: Thanks for bringing this up!


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

So again, check out the book Hand Spun by Lexi...... just out!
She is singing the praises of spinning in the grease, and does a rug like Frazzle said, too!


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

In my experience, spinning in the grease really depends how much grease you're talking about. 

If the lanolin is so thick the fibers stick together - bleah. Spinning is nearly impossible. 

If you didn't even do a few cold soaks to get the guck out - bleah. Spinning is gross.

If, however, you wash it GENTLY but do not scour the living daylights out of the fleece, you can have SOME lanolin left over, enough to lubricate the spinning without dealing with lots of ick. I prefer my fibre washed but not scoured within an inch of it's life - so I will do cold soaks, FSM, and / or a hot wash or two but I do not use a ton of soap or simmer the fleece until it is squeaky clean. 

PKBoo - you do NOT want to put greasy fleece through your drum carder any more than you want to use it on your hand cards! Combs are fine cause you can clean those - but carding cloth is blastedly expensive to replace and the grease will break down the rubber backing (ever worked in a commercial kitchen? the cooks where I worked went through shoes like nobody's business, simply because the grease on the floors/in the air/everywhere broke down their soles).

Combs are your tool of choice for greasy wool - you can just wash em in hot soapy water and there is just metal and wood, so nothing to be damaged by the grease.


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

So combs for spinning in the grease - I can do that! 

I knew not to get anywhere near my drum carder with a raw fleece, so I haven't done that phew! But I was going to use the hand cards. 

But combs would be so much easier anyway! Oh, I love this site :kiss: Thanks frazzle!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Here is yarn that is Shetland that I spun in the grease. It is not thick and lumpy nor is was it difficult to draft. In fact in the grease it was extremely nice to spin as the fibers slipped over and past each other while coating my hands in lovely lanolin. I used a pet comb to comb out the locks before spinning. None of my equipment got gummed up in the process.







[/url] skein of shetland washed by mymerripu, on Flickr[/IMG]


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

Marchwind said:


> Here is yarn that is Shetland that I spun in the grease. It is not thick and lumpy nor is was it difficult to draft. In fact in the grease it was extremely nice to spin as the fibers slipped over and past each other while coating my hands in lovely lanolin. I used a pet comb to comb out the locks before spinning. None of my equipment got gummed up in the process.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Beautiful!


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## Olivia67 (Mar 6, 2008)

Thank you everyone, the pics and video are wonderful!! Ok, it is my experience from the few Shetlands and I had, that they don't have very much lanolin to begin with. No where near the amount that my beloved Babydolls have anyway, they are lanolin making machines, it even gums up their tear duct under their eyes sometimes and I trim the gunk away of course when I catch it. I love the smell and feel of their wool though, I wish they made a perfume that smelled like that, it's such a clean, earthy scent. Sometimes when I'm waiting in line at the store, I discretly smell my coat or gloves...yes I'm a little sheep crazy. Thank you for confirming for me that yes, the lanolin gunk from wool will harm our septic and to be careful. I will. Again, thank you everyone for taking the time to answer my newbie questions.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Olivia67 said:


> I wish they made a perfume that smelled like that, it's such a clean, earthy scent.


Not a perfume, but I do make a lotion that uses lanolin (and has a fresh natural scent of aloe vera & lanolin). I'll be making another batch soon. Unfortunately, I only have 4 oz containers left ... all my 8 oz containers are gone.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

My 2c. With a dirty, gunky, or icky fleece, I have been combing the fleece first, then washing. It is time consuming, but if you have sentimental value in the fleece then it is worth it. The combing loosens the fleece. It helps to get rid of solid debri in the fleece, put a piece of newspaper under the table for easier clean up. It takes out the weed seeds whole before they break up. It opens up muddy tips so they can get clean. It keeps the fibers all north and south if that is important to you. Washing the fleece will be easier because you've already removed much of the dirt. I can use less detergent and therefore fewer rinsing. After washing and drying I will comb it again, but it's a breeze.


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