There is something very gratifying about getting wool straight off a sheep’s back and going through all the processes to turn it into a finished item of clothing. Washing the fleece is a step that many people tend to avoid, but it’s not difficult and can be a really satisfying experience.

The first step is to find a place to lay out your fleece. I usually sweep an area on my patio or driveway and unroll the wool carefully- trying to keep the fleece as intact as I can. This makes it easier to know where the shorter and less desirable wool is. If the fleece has been well skirted most of that wool will already have been removed. If not, that is the first thing to do.
Look for large pieces of hay, burrs or mud and remove them. If there are areas of wool that are especially dirty or full of seeds and hay (often called VM or vegetable matter) just pull them off and put into the discard pile. Also look for especially coarse fiber and for second cuts- very short fibers where the shearer had to cut twice. Removing them now will cut down on pilling in the finished yarn.

If you have a finer fleece that you wish to comb instead of card you would separate sections of wool according to staple length and wash different lengths in separate batches. Some people even sew small sections of locks inside tulle material to keep them in order during washing.

I prefer to card my fleeces so I generally don’t sort by staple length. I simply start pulling off small sections of fleece and give them each a good shake to try and get as much VM out as possible. Once I have worked my way through the whole fleece I place the wool in a laundry basket and take it to my laundry room.

I use my old top loading washing machine more like a soak tub than a washing machine for fleeces. It’s VERY important to never let the machine go through any agitating cycles with wool.

I only will soak four pounds or less at a time. I fill the tub with hot water and then turn the machine off and add one cup of Dawn dishwashing liquid (the old non-concentrated one) then I add the wool. I let the wool soak for an hour with the lid closed to retain heat, and then set the washing machine to spin out the water. After taking the wool out of the washing machine I wipe the inside of the drum off with a paper towel then fill it up with hot water again. Then I put the wool through a series of soaks, spinning out water and removing wool from the machine and wiping the inside of the machine each time. All but the dirtiest of fleeces get well washed following this series of soaks: One hour with one cup of Dawn, half hour plain water, half hour with a half cup of Dawn, half hour plain water, fifteen minutes with one cup of vinegar, then one last fifteen minute plain water soak.

I have used this method of washing fleeces for years with only one mishap. I had forgotten to turn the washing machine off once and came back to find a giant nest of felt entangled around the agitator of the washer. After that I always made sure to double check that the machine is off before I left the room. Agitating or stirring wet wool can cause it to felt, as can rapid changes in temperature. When in warm water the scales on wool fibers will open. If warm wool is suddenly put in cold water these scales will quickly close up and pull wool fibers together into felt.

I have heard some people warn that it might not be good for septic systems to let water with lanolin go down the drain. I only wash a few fleeces a year and have never had any problems, but if this is a concern you could follow the same sequence of soaks using large buckets that you dump outside.

If I have a fleece that is muddy I will soak it overnight before starting with the first hour long soak. If the fleece has cotted tips I will spend the time waiting for the washing machine to fill pulling apart the tips.
After the last spin cycle I’ll lay the fleece on top of an old window screen propped on chairs to dry. Every now and then I’ll go turn over the wool and pull it apart to speed the drying. This should get fleece to a point where you can pick and card it to spin. If I’m going to dye wool naturally I will go through the extra step of scouring wool in a large pot on a stove top with orvus paste, and then mordant-but that’s a discussion for another day.