"To find out a fleece I paid for weighs less when it is clean . Truthfully that did surprise me."
*****UPDATE*****
after washing 10 fleeces so far I have discovered it is only that one that was such a big change in the before and after weight. Not one of those other fleeces changed so much. The other fleeces I got including the free real bad ones still washed out to weigh very close to purchase weights. The best ones so far were the oatmeal romney and the chocolate corriedale. These two dealers had the cleanest and easiest to prepare fleeces. I actually bought more than one from the oatmeal romney farm. The hardest to clean was the white shetland. The black and white shetland came prewashed and was superb. The white shetland had hard to soak tips. Not unexpected but just a different cleaning than a more open fleece tip. I also noticed BIG differences in the carding of the fleeces washed like this. When I washed them in mesh bags and more packed together I had all kinds of little 'noils?' in the cards and sticks and dirt. The big tub method made a very big difference in how much 'stuff' falls or floats out of the fleece. I still have some assorted bits and pieces to clean up then I am done.
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I do know now that a change in before and after weight is expected. I don't think anyone was trying to fool me. Experienced fleece buyers already knew it. As a newbie I just thought it was gonna turn out to be more. But still if I had known the projected before and after weights of fleeces it surely would have been included in the math of cost of fleece for me.
7 comments:
Oh Jean, you poor thing...seems you're luck is on the bad side lately! :( Hope things start looking up soon for you!
Love & hugs!
Rachel
Blech! That is just too gross.
I heard that there is this really nice oceanview property for sale down in Tucson...
Well, I have some really nice oceanview property for sale myself now that trek mentions it. Or maybe you would like to buy another 29 year old kid that still lives at home. But I forgot you already have a surplus of them love you sis
Now if we are swapping a kid oh boy do I got a couple I would be so glad to trade off. I will swap you one grown kid for a dirty fleece any day of the week and even be willing to discuss that oceanview property!!
doens't really sound like a blanketed fleece to me. You do usually lose some but with top fleeces usually not that much. Try a Mary Pratt fleece, I've never recived a bad fleece from her and there absolutely beautiful fleeces! You can't go wrong with any of her breeds
Maybe you could talk with Toni at The Fold about fleeces. It is true that you end up with maybe 1/2 weight of fleece when totally processed. Sorry you didn't know that to start. I normally get local fleeces, though I have sent off for gorgeous ones, too. I don't pay over $6-$7/lb for them, though.
It really depends on the breed of sheep as to what your clean yield will be.
Some fleece (merino & merino crosses) will lose a lot of weight after cleaning due to their high lanolin content.
I usually limit my wool purchases to already washed fleece. The cost is a lot higher, but I am not paying for shipping lanolin or dirt. Again, you have to buy from someone that you trust to sell clean wool with minimal vm.
Barbara
http://the-string-and-i.blogspot.com/
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