Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Wool And The Washing

Having returned from The Dorr Mill store recently and having just paid my bill I was motivated to get some of the wool I bought washed and dried and on the shelves for sale. It was a mostly texture buying trip.

Now as many of you already know, you do not EVER need to wash off the bolt wool you will be dyeing.
But I am not going to be dyeing this bunch of wool so I need to get rid of the "finishing " and get it nice and fluffy and soft.
We all love the "good hand" of wool. And it's up to me to make the magic happen.

These textures come in a variety of weights.
I do try to get wool that I guess will be good, it can be a a real crap shoot. And sometimes I am seduced by certain colours and combinations and get some iffy bits.

So I found I had wool that felt thin, perfect and a bit thick.

I do avoid wool that will not flop or drape , if it is too thick it is only good for penny rug bases or maybe my embellisher or if I were to suddenly open a coat factory. So I steer away from that.

I also don't want to feel rough, shiny or bristly wool.

I don't mind an odd non wool thread as it adds quite a bit of merriment when you wash or even felt it up.

So in order to make sure I didn't over process some wool or under process others I divied to wool into three piles.
Thin
Thickish
Perfect
(These are relative judgments of this wool in comparison with one another)

I have the thick ones in the washer with cold water, little soap on Gentle.

The thins will be washed with more soap, warm water and regular agitation.

The in betweens I'll wash with cold water, little soap and regular agitation.

I hope to achieve success and not over or under process these wools.
See Medium and Thin piles below.
At least I'm generating steam or heat and still getting something done.

1 comment:

  1. I am learning so much reading these posts. I had no idea that the amount of soap or agitation of the washing machine had anything to do with how thick a piece of wool would "felt up". I knew that the temperature affected it but not anything else! I love your Blog!
    Dana in VA
    www.TheThingsILove.typepad.com

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