ANOTHER THREE BAGS WASHED

DAY FOUR - Possibly the final wash? I hope!!

I didn't intend to go on washing EVERY day but a very warm and blowy day which is perfect for drying has forced me to do just one more three-bag lot!

Here's the result of yesterday's three bags - a whole table full of clean wool, most of which will be usable I think.

A START ON THE SECOND BAG (i.e. the second alpaca)

As I got down to the bottom of the first bag I found what seems to be the whole saddle - across the back - and while it looks fine underneath, the top is - oh dear!!! - just a mass of sticks and seeds and dirt and general muck! 

They do love rolling around in the dust, particularly under trees, and I guess that's where they've picked up all this stuff. And we mustn't forget, they've had TWO years to collect it all!

I don't think it's going to be at all usable unless I can manage to snip a layer off the top. 

I'll give it a try later and report progress.

              The second bag has provided quite a bit of reasonably clean fleece - thank Heavens! I've                                            only taken one washing-bag full out of it so there's still lots left.

                 Here's the amount of washed fleece I have already - still with today's three bags to come. 

                                              Looks like enough for a doona to me!!

CLEAN UP

       Okay - once I've put this last lot out to dry in the sun and wind, it'll be time for a big clean-up.

                I'll put all the towels I've been using through the washing machine and 

                   with a bit of luck, that should get rid of all the grimy water that's been 

              through it in the last few days. A wipe of all the outside of machine and trough - 

                                    as well as floor - and then it may be time for a small break. 

                                                              Is it wine o'clock yet? It could be!

WASHING THE FLEECE - Yet more experimentation!

DAY ONE - Monday, 3rd November, 2014

Opening up the first bag to have a look at what we've got - closely watched by Maya, who looks as thought she might like to have it back again!

Oh dear! It does look VERY dirty. Full of bit of twigs, casuarina 'flowers', wattle bits, and just general DIRT. Hm!

So I picked out enough relatively clean stuff to loosely fill a laundry bag and will continue as per instructions from a YouTube clip. This is where I've done my research on this whole procedure.

Here's the link to the video - there are four parts in separate clips. I watched them all, followed the instructions to the letter - on the first day - and then made my own modifications, as you'll see.

Link:  How to wash an alpaca fleece - Part 1.

As per instructions, I put warm water into the laundry trough, added some of Geoff's shampoo (not my expensive one!) and gently put the bag in to soak for half an hour. NO agitating as this can cause felting, so very gentle pressing is all I do.

Then followed three rinses - gently squeezing out the water from the bag, putting the bag into a bucket while I refilled the trough (so the water wasn't agitated to prevent felting) and re-soaked each time for half an hour.

After the last rinse the water was FAIRLY clear so it was then rolled in a towel, pressed till most of the water was out of it and then left out on a dry towel in the sun and wind to dry.

And here it is. It came out pretty well - a few daggy and dirty bits on the edges but they can be either pulled off or cut off when I'm ready.

All in all, quite successful BUT very tedious and time-consuming. I'm not very good at going over and over that sort of thing too often so.....

ON TO DAY TWO - Wednesday, 5th November, 2014.

Decided to try two bags instead of one and, this time, I filled them quite a bit more.

Treated them in the same way but used some ordinary washing liquid (Earth Core - Ultra concentrated) and added some Sard Wonder Oxyplus Eucalyptus. This is a liquid and is used for heavy dirt removal. I think it also makes the water softer and creates some suds and, being 'of a certain age' I rather like to see suds!

Instead of towel drying, I used the washing machine on 'Drain & Spin Only' for the final dry. This lot came out even cleaner and much quicker to dry.

Her's the result of the second day's efforts.

DAY THREE - Thursday, 6th November, 2014.

Really getting into the swing of it now! I had purchased three bags way back when I first thought of the idea, so now they ALL came into use. 

I filled the three laundry bags QUITE full, tripled the amount of warm water I'd used for the first bag, soaked them for half an hour and then - MASTER STROKE - used the spin cycle of the washing machine IN BETWEEN each wash and rinse. This got SO much water out each time that the three bags needed only TWO rinses to get the fleece as clean as the previous day.

CONCLUSION

 I think this is going to be the way forward from now on. I can handle the repetitiveness of the process if I know I'm getting quite a lot done each time. And the machine spinning makes it so much easier.

DISCOVERY

As I progressed down into the bag (still the first one) I discovered that there was quite a lot of the fleece that was relatively clean. I may be a little more picky from now on and reject the really dirty fleece with bits sticking all over it. 

So this may be the end of discussions about washing. It will probably be a few weeks before I get on to the next step. Although, maybe I'll have a look at cleaning up the washed fleece and beginning the teasing out process. If that happens, I'll be blogging the process to keep a record of how I'm doing it and how it's all going.

Feel free to comment if you've anything to add or suggest. 

Till next time,

Cheers!

Gillian

FIRST - THE SHEARING

Maya & Inca - September, 2014.

They hadn't been shorn for two years and were carrying a BIG LOAD of fleece. So the shearer was booked and, on Wednesday, 29th October, the deed was done!

The girls weren't at all happy getting shorn - but it had to be done!

And here they are - slightly stunned and very cross with us -  

but they'll be a lot cooler for the summer.

The multi-coloured coats they're wearing are the result of rolling in their dust bath.

And they really loved that - they could actually feel it!

... and Maya.

Inca

We ended up with two big garden bags stuffed full of fleece.

It's going to be some doona!!