Frustrated with scouring wool? Try cold washing

Рет қаралды 4,968

10 ай бұрын

When I started scouring wool it was complicated, dirty, slow and didn't always produce good results. But it was the only way to get wool clean. Or so I thought. The more I learned about how scouring worked the more I wondered if it was necessary at all. Could I get the same results using cold water? Turns out I could. Now I'm sharing what I have learned with you.

Пікірлер: 47

@lindaferguson593 7 ай бұрын

Thank you. I have not cleaned wool yet, but after viewing a lot of videos on hot tub washing, i arrived at the same aha moment as you. It came just as i found this video. Going to do this.

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 7 ай бұрын

Have fun washing wool! It's so much easier than scouring and it it's so nice to watch the wool become clean before your eyes 😁

@jenm4721 4 ай бұрын

I always do a cold prewash for my fleeces to get rid of the dirt and suint (sheep sweat). But if you have a heavy lanolin fleece, you do need the hot water with detergent/soap to get the lanolin out. But this method would be great for a prewash and for low lanolin fleeces!

@TorchwoodPandP 3 ай бұрын

You are very informative. Thank you.

@gigartina 10 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for sharing this technique! I found you here on youtube from your facebook post. I had to laugh at the faces looking over the fence - and my cat was very intrigued by the ducks. Keep up the good work! ❤

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 10 ай бұрын

Thank you! The barnyard is never boring 🤣

@markclay5347 5 ай бұрын

I'm amazed at this technique - I'd have been worried about agitation from the hose but with the cold water...... No matter what I try with my usual 'boil' with scouring solution/ detergent I often have to re-wash but this will be great if it works for me. Plus, kind to my wallet as not having to heat up huge pans of water over and over. I've got a power washer with a very low setting and might try a sample to see if it will get down into the dirty tips. I'm really not bothered at lock structures as I prefer to card my fleeces. Thanks a million!

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 5 ай бұрын

You are welcome! I am continuing to tweak this method to get the wool as clean as possible. Most wools do great with cold wash but there are a few that I can't get completely clean. Still working on it and I will do another video when I have some updates.

@markclay5347 5 ай бұрын

@@TheMarigoldShepherdesshow much lanolin do you think is left behind as compared to hot washing?

@elysianfibres1642 4 күн бұрын

One thing that concerns me a little is the abundance of bacteria and fungal spores that are not killed at low temperatures, even with detergent. Gram‐positive cocciforms are the main bacteria on healthy fleeces. Some bacterial strains have the potential to cause significant illness especially when carding, combing and spinning. Remember that the fleece will have come into contact with faeces and urine. Washing at 65°C (150°F) and above will eliminate most microbes.

@user-ou3oy8cy8n 10 ай бұрын

Thank you so much!!!!! I've been wanting to try this forever. So helpful. I'll be watching for your next video.

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 10 ай бұрын

You are welcome! Happy wool washing!

@kathrynbassett1535 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so 😊 much great video sending fiber good wishes to you from Katy from NZ ❤ can't wait to give this a go

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 7 ай бұрын

NZ! How cool! Lots of sheep there 😁

@emilythequeen1 Ай бұрын

This was actually super interesting! I’m wondering if I can try my alpaca like this!

@mywoolmitten 10 ай бұрын

How interesting! I'm excited to give it a try, and thank you for sharing your technique. You were very clear in your explanation. Also, hello sheep 😊

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 10 ай бұрын

Thank you! Best of luck trying cold washing and I hope you will share your results!

@oakmaiden2133 7 ай бұрын

I have a huge batch of grassy, dusty wool. I’m gonna try a tray. Certainly can’t hurt it at this point. I was thinking to try cold water. Lol, my wool has been stored under my house for 2 years, I feel better now ty 😅

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 7 ай бұрын

Yes! I'm glad I could help! Let me know how it goes!

@ImGinaMarie 9 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for this video, I've been worried to try this method even tho I've heard others talk about it. I usually use an expensive scouring soap and hot water. In my experience with hot water I can say that it's a lot easier to destroy your locks and even partially felt them with hot water. Handling when wet doesn't help. I have another fleece that needs cleaned, so I will try this method next week and let you know. I didn't hear what breed the wool was you were cleaning. Are they a high grease breed? Also what type of detergent do you use? Do you think liquid laundry soap would be harsh? What about handmade liquid soap?? Lol, thank you for sharing...HIT THE LIKE BUTTON FOLKS! IT HELPS GET THIS VIDEO OUT THERE!

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 9 ай бұрын

It's Clun Forest wool, it has a fairly moderate amount of Lanolin but in this case also a good bit of dirt and mud. I use power sour on all my wool but on higher micron count wool you can use the regular dawn dish detergent. Don't use any soap or detergent that has enzymes in it. The enzymes wreak havoc on wool. Let me know how it goes!

@deleahcortes3027 10 ай бұрын

I am going to try this with my alpaca

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 10 ай бұрын

I'm very curious to see how it works with alpaca

@thecrazysheeplady 10 ай бұрын

You did a great job! I've been spraying my fleeces through a netting before washing in a hot water scour, but I'm going to try the shallow tubs and soap now and see if that speeds things up and maybe uses a bit less water than I've been using. Just curious, what was the issue with the fleeces that didn't come clean with the traditional scour? Extra dirt or too much grease?

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 10 ай бұрын

Clay. Massive amounts of clay on the tips. No amount of scouring would get the clay off. I started soaking the wool and spraying it to get the caked clay off the tips before scouring. I was surprised at how clean the wool looked after just that and that is when I started developing this method.

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 10 ай бұрын

And... Thank you!

@pegz.3959 8 ай бұрын

With clay the soaking part is key. Just regular washing...hot or cold....wouldn't work. I have found soaking in hot works best.

@oakmaiden2133 7 ай бұрын

I ran across a similar problem, red dirt in Snowflake, Arizona. Flicking those ends first helps a bunch, but is labor intensive.

@TheKirstebee 4 ай бұрын

Hello from Melbourne Australia…Thanks for the vid! I’ve just finished scouring a very dirty and heavy vm alpaca fleece - wish I’d found your video before! Do you know if this technique work on fine fleeces like merino and alpaca? I thought agitation leads to felting??? I’m new to fleece prep so I am still learning - it’s fun but takes way too long! I like the sound of getting big batches done faster ❤

@jdmsmith0625 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing! Please keep up this great content! Does this get lanolin out? I have a very heavy greasy Shetland ram fleece and I have to pre open his locks! I have been doing two washes and two rinses! It’s taking me forever!

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 10 ай бұрын

Hello! Thank you for your feedback! I'm still tweaking this method, but it's been getting most if not all the lanolin out every time. And even with a little bit of lanolin left it's still very pleasant to work with because with cold washing the lanolin doesn't get sticky. I would try washing just an ounce or two of wool first to see how it responds. You may have to spread the fleece fairly thin to make sure the spray from the water hose reaches every part. Also, for very greasy fleece I will do the soap bath and first soak bath with rinses in between, and then do a long soak for 12-24 hours. After that go back to 30-60 min soaks with rinsing in between until the soak water looks clean. I hope this helps! Let me know how it goes and thank you for watching my channel!

@jdmsmith0625 10 ай бұрын

@@TheMarigoldShepherdess Thanks! Maybe I’ll try a small sample and see what happens! He’s a grease boy! Lol!

@oakmaiden2133 7 ай бұрын

I was just asking this myself, to myself. Like why not?

@valeriebishop561 3 ай бұрын

Hello from the upstate of SC! I've done a fair amount of scouring and I have used suint baths in my backyard. My water isn't hard nor soft so that may help too. I will definitely try this! Do you have a special end on your hose to make it spray harder?

@maureenfoss3076 10 ай бұрын

What soap are you using? Powder, liquid, bar? Looking for options, please. Thanks for showing this alternative method.

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 10 ай бұрын

I use unicorn power scour. I love how the wool feels and smells when I use it.

@feweff 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for this video. Sorry if I missed this, but how much and what type of soap are you using? Thank you.

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 10 ай бұрын

I use unicorn power scour at 1 ounce per pound of wool. Even with really dirty wool I haven't had to use more than that 😁

@audreydeneui192 7 ай бұрын

When I have scoured wool, I use an oval shaped mesh strainer. I forget where I got it. It fits nicely into a rectangular plastic dish tub (so that the gloppy water doesn't go down the drain and clog things up). I can scoop the strainer under the wool that is in the wash water, lift the strainer to wherever I'm setting the wool to drip while I dump the dirty water, and continue. I like the idea of just hosing the wool down. What did you use for soap/detergent? The last batch I did, I cold scoured with sodium carbonate (aka soda ash, oxyclean, washing soda, also natron). Previously I had just used Dawn. We have a pool, so I "tactically acquired" a cup or two of soda ash from the pool supplies.

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 7 ай бұрын

I use Unicorn Power Scour, but the way I wash wool outside and with the spray from the water hose, I don't have to use as much and it lasts longer. I have very hard well water and with cold scouring outside I don't have to add anything to the water to make it soft. Happy wool washing! I'd love to know how your experiments turn out!

@christiesteckelberg8366 4 ай бұрын

I thought heat was required to break down, melt he lanolin to rinse it out?is your fleece still sticky?

@pollogmoody5746 8 ай бұрын

Does this work for heavy lanolin fleece such as CVM and Merino?

@TheMarigoldShepherdess 8 ай бұрын

Absolutely! I've been washing a CVM fleece with this method that I use as part of the combing video. In fact all the wools I use in the combing demo where washed with this method.

@pollogmoody5746 8 ай бұрын

@@TheMarigoldShepherdess thank you! That is amazing and am gonna try it!