Raw wool can be intimidating for those who haven’t worked with it before. It’s smelly, often dirty and not anything like the white fluffy clouds of soft on a sheep. However, there is no need to fear. There are tons of wool washing processes and tutorials all over the web. This is just a simple photo tutorial that will help guide a first time wool washer through the process for small batches of wool.
First we need to get our tools together.
To wash (small batches of) wool you will need a sink or washing container, soap (dishes or clothes) and your fiber.
These tools are bare minimum. You will need at least those things. The type of soap used is up to you. I have read you can use a dishwashing detergent (such as Dawn, Palmolive Ajax etc…) and I have also read that a clothes washing soap works as well. It has been said that clothes washing detergent decreases the chance of the wool felting during the cleaning process. A word of caution: Do Not use Bleach or soaps with Bleach added. The bleach breaks down the fibers in a bad way.
Next, run really hot water into your sink/container.
The water needs to be really hot in order to take out the lanolin and dirt trapped on the wool. (There may also be bits of hay, grass or vegetable matter but those are best picked out before or after the wool is washed.)
After you have filled the sink/container with hot water you’ll want to pour in the soap. Put enough soap in so that the is saturated. It should have a almost slimy feel to the water.
Using your hand, stir the water around to distribute the soap evenly. Try to avoid creating suds.
Next, Place your wool in the water.
If needed, gently push down to submerge.
Set timer for 15:00 minutes and let the wool soak. This will help to remove the lanolin from the wool. You may have to repeat this process 1-2 times depending on how much dirt and lanolin is in the wool.
Once the wool has finished soaking gently removing it from the water and empty the sink/container.
Rinse sink/container without the wool in it and then fill it with hot water again.
Place the wool back in the clean water, gently submerging if needed. Let sit another 15 minutes.
When water is clear take wool out let water run out.
Once you have removed the wool you have several options to eliminate excess water. Due to the small amount of wool, I gently squeezed it between my hands. You can also let it drip in a colander (one not used for food) or give it a few twirls in a salad spinner (again, not used for food.) Once the largest portion of water is out, you can let it air dry.
Once the wool is dry, you can pick out any hay and grass bits. Then the wool can be teased apart and spun from the locks or after teasing can be carded into a spinning batt.
I hope this photo tutorial is useful for those new to washing wool. There are all kinds of washing tutorials available online. Some include washing machine tutorials for larger batches (like fleeces.) Others can teach you how to preserve the lock structure of the wool which is quite useful with Mohair and Lincoln locks.
Here are some other tutorials you may want to consider visiting for further information: