Re: [AlpacaTalk] RE: Re: What DO you do with your fiber?
HI there everyone,
Finally something *I* can give advice on...
There are some basic rules about your fibre that you need to follow for
washing/storing/
Your fibre degrades if stored dirty. Big time.
Even if you have no clue what to do with it, or no time, give it a quick
wash and dry before you bag it away.
How?
Well go to the dollar store and get some of those mesh type laundry hamper
liners. They will be mesh bags with a drawstring closure. In a pinch an
open loop synthetic lace curtain (old) can do.
I like to fill the bag no more than 1/3 of the way with fibre. (It gets
cleaner that way)
Fill a wash tub (or if, like me, you do several batches at once you can use
your bath tub) with HOT water - approx. 140 F as this is the temp that the
pooh balls melt at - enough so that the depth of the fleece will be covered
10-12 inches.
YOu may use about 1 tablspoon of a basic shampoo as the water runs.
You will want to pick up a pair of INSULATED rubber gloves at Home depot or
wherever. YOu can also use that weird silicon oven mit thingie. (Trust me
here, do NOT try this with regular rubber gloves)
Take your bag of fibre and immerse it to the bottom of your tub of water and
hold it there until it stops bubbling. Do not swish it, move it, or
otherwise agitate it or you will have felt. In about 10-20 seconds when
most of the air is out let go of the bag. Do NOT touch it. Yes it will
float to the top.
Just Walk Away. (If you poke at it, swish it around, squeeze it, etc...you
will have a bag of wet felt)
After 25-35 min (how dirty was it?)
Pull the bag up out of the water, place it where it can drain while you
change the water. Fill as before, but the water does not have to be quite
as hot. Still hot though. (110-120).
No shampoo in the water.
Immerse the bag as before.
Repeat the entire process, again with the Do Not Touch!
Rinse as above 2 more times.
So that is a Wash, Rinse, Rinse, Rinse.
AFter the last rinse you can take the bag and place it in your washing
machine. Run the SPIN cycle for NO MORE THAN 30 seconds. Remove bag.
Open and turn bag inside out on suitable drying surface. (skirting table, or
those sweater drying racks are good,Plastic snow fencing tacked over a 2x4
frame even works and is cheap)
Do not try and spread it out. Just let it sit there in a clump for an hour
or two. Yes I know, you want to move it around so it drys better/quicker.
Ignore your OCD...save it for the removal of vegetation later. : )
Fibre is weakest and stretches or breaks easily when wet. (Like your hair)
Handle as little as possible that first hour or two as the fbre rests from
the process. As it is less wet, spread it out a little bit. Then come back
to it.
Once again, when it is first wet you will see bits of veg that you will want
to pick at.
RESIST! The wet fibre can stretch, and be damaged. Wait a bit.
As it drys spread it out and work out those bits of veg.
A very dirty fleece (and especially a stained white one) will often require
a repeat of the entire process to get things as bright as possible.
If the fleece is really bad or it has been stored for some time yo may wish
to try a tablespoon of palmolive dish detergent as opposed to shampoo.
Particularly if there is an odour from the fibre.
When the fibre is dry I like to get a weight on it, pack it in a clean bag
with the name of the alpaca, and the year and mark it Cleaned and skirted.
This is from the course we teach at our little alpaca collective on fibre
sorting/skirting etc. Our collective also has a full mill now and two of our
members are certified fibre specialist by Olds College in Alberta. (Where
Canadians send our fibre samples for micron analysis).
So this info is based upon what is best for the fibre, what is best for the
processor, and how to get the best results as far as quality goes.
I'd be happy to answer any specific questions, what I don't know I can find
out from our fibre people.
Yes, if you have long time stored fibre, you can usually still use it, but
what was once a 24 or 28 micron fibre will no longer have the handle it once
did due to biochemical changes.
And I am washing a batch of my Suri fibre right now.
I plan on bringing some to the handspinner.
will keep when she is done mine. I also have her and her children out for
alpaca outreach days and treats several times a year...it is amazing how
faster things get done when it is a labour of love. : )
Check out your local fall fairs...see who enters the
spinning/knitting/
that are good at that stuff and who enter these fairs are often people you
really want to deal with. They love their art, and if you contact them to
have them spin or weave or knit for you it's a win win situation.
Hope this is helpful to someone, sorry for being long winded!
Dar Long
Serenity Suris
Ontario, Canada
and founding memeber of...
Perth County Alpaca Business Collective
www.serenitysuris.
On Fri, Aug 1, 2008 at 12:22 PM, <houckj@aol.com> wrote:
> I love both Heather and Wendy's ideas....especially Wendy's as I am an
> organic farmer. The "paca poop" makes for some tremendously healthy
> plants, but I have never thought of using the odd bits of fiber as mulch
> - what a great idea!
>
> My idea, as I gather up every precious bit, is to use to stuff that
> quilt I am going to make one day :-). What a nice warm cozy quilt it
> would make.
>
> I have never felted, but have always wanted to learn. Sounds like a
> great way to use the less than great fiber as well.
>
> I have a fiber 101 question. I have never in these 8 yrs found time to
> actually DO anything with my fiber, so it sits around in pillowcases
> taking up space in my house. I am afraid to store it outside - moths?
> mice? etc. However, I am in GA and not air conditioned, so it gets
> quite humid in the house during the summer. Some of my older bags have
> a faint mildew smell.
> Do you wash the fiber before you do anything with it? If so, can
> someone tell me how you do it? A friend of mine puts her sheep fleece
> in her washing machine. I cannot imagine. Seems it would clog it up
> something awful.
>
> Can you all tell me how you store your fiber - for long periods of time?
>
> Thanks! Janice
>
>
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posted by Chaddo at 10:43 AM
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