how to wash wool

A more in-depth tutorial on how to wash sheep wool can be found on my blog: www.crowinghen...
Supplies used in making this video:
- Cotswold wool from Pender and Not-a-goat (the two sheep in the photo)
- a net laundry bag
- hot and cold water
- orvus paste
- Tetley Earl Grey tea (of course) in my Suffolk tankard
To learn more about my fibre journey, you can find me at:
Crowing Hen Farm homepage: www.crowinghen...
Shop homegrown fibres on Etsy: www.etsy.com/c...
Help me make more free videos for you to enjoy: ko-fi.com/crow...
If you would like to see more farm and fibre arts tutorials, leave a comment below and gently click the like button. Oh, that tickles!
Thank you for the music:
Slow Times Over Here
by Midnight North
#wool #washingwool #homestead

[@GoodLizardlicks]

That was a wonderful explanation! And loved the extra touch of showing using the waste water for your crops :D

[@CrowingHen]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@elodyluna]

this was a great video, nice to see what you do with the waste water. nice little cup of tea hehe. I was wondering if green soap would suffice, and how long does it take for the wool to dry?

[@suegurney4666]

Thank you . What’s orvus paste.? With all that wool you could do so much needle felting , which I love. So jealous💐

[@CrowingHen]

Thank you. Orvus paste is a biodegradable soap used by farmers. We often use this to wash lams before taking them to the fall fair.

[@majar.8231]

Does the wool after this process still feels a little bit greasy? Because when I wash my wool kind of in a similar way it does and I was wondering if I do something wrong .

[@CrowingHen]

It mostly depends on how hot the water is. Quite often I have it too hot and there is no grease left so I have to add more when carding to stop the static electricity. It can also be caused by using too much cleaning substance. Every bit of soap or detergent we use, we need to rinse away. I had a lot of trouble with this (if some is good, more is better, right?) when first washing wool. That's another reason why I stick with orvas paste, it rinses away easier than detergents or soaps.

[@jdmosaics]

@@CrowingHen thank you for this video. Can you advise what other soap to use if I do not have this Orvis paste please?

[@trampledbygeese]

Enjoyed it. Great information.

[@CrowingHen]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@gwenbuchanan1]

very nice.. are you off grid?

[@CrowingHen]

Thanks. Not off grid... yet. But working towards the day.

[@carolpenn8455]

Wouldn't it have been easier to hose down the animals b4 shearing them ??? Just saying 🤔

[@CrowingHen]

It's not health for the sheep to get wet next to the skin as it can take a long time to dry out. That's why they grow the wool, to protect themselves from getting wet. Sheering wet wool can damage the skin and make the sheep fight and harm the sheerer. Also, to get the grease out of the wool, the water has to be hot enough. Which can cause burns on the animal. In some climates, it was traditional to run the sheep through a stream a week or so before sheering, but these places had dry springs and the water was only to rinse away the dust and dirt. The wool still needs to be scoured or washed with soap after.

[@carolpenn8455]

@@CrowingHen thanks so much for your detailed explanation !