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Post by ketoriverfarm on Apr 8, 2016 2:10:50 GMT
This year I am going to get my backlog of fleeces skirted and washed. Since April 1st I have skirted and/or washed a fleece every day. I just counted my fleeces. I have 39 spring fleeces and 15 fall fleeces. I can typically skirt a spring fleece in 1-2 hours, and then another hour to wash. Fall fleeces take much longer to skirt, especially a lamb fleece. I normally spend 6-8 hours on a lamb fleece just skirting. My game plan is to process 5 spring fleeces each week and skirt one fall fleece each week. I will keep you posted on how I am doing. I think that posting my goal will help me to stay on task. Fingers crossed.
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Post by Callie on Apr 10, 2016 1:47:18 GMT
My goodness! How do you get a fleece washed in just an hour? I'd take an hour on each piece -- of about 1/8 of a fleece! You must really pick them clean when you are skirting. Good luck getting them all done!
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Post by ketoriverfarm on Apr 10, 2016 7:53:54 GMT
My goodness! How do you get a fleece washed in just an hour? I'd take an hour on each piece -- of about 1/8 of a fleece! You must really pick them clean when you are skirting. Good luck getting them all done! Callie, I do pick my fleeces very well. My washing includes an overnight soak in cold water. Then 30-45 minutes in hot, soapy water. If it is a really dirty fleece a second soapy wash and then three rinses. Elapsed time is over several hours. But the actual Time spent on Filling the wash tub and spinning out the water takes just a few minutes each time. I have have washed between 100-150 fleeces over the years. So I have the process down.
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Post by Callie on Apr 11, 2016 1:05:05 GMT
That sounds better to me! I was thinking 2 hours total time! I just use a sink since my washer is a front loader. When I'm feeling daring, I use the washer to spin the fleece for a few minutes to get a lot of the water out before I lay it on the trampoline to finish drying. I have felted a few bags here and there though.
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Post by ketoriverfarm on May 1, 2016 16:48:01 GMT
I am going to update my progress monthly. The bad news first. I found more fleeces. I did get some fleeces done. but since i found more. I am going to keep track of what I have accomplished each month instead of counting what I have left to do. Because it is so depressing. Sigh! I know that I got 2 fall fleeces done and I think that I finished 7 spring fleeces. I am taking 6 days off to attend our youngest sons college graduation and visit with some friends. But then I will be back to work skirting and washing fleeces.
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Post by shellymay on May 1, 2016 17:34:25 GMT
What you have accomplished....yeah I like that way of thinking also Congrads to your son and enjoy your trip!!!!!
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Post by Maura on May 2, 2016 18:06:06 GMT
I also have a front loader, so can't use the washing machine. I do presoak, which saves a lot on washing time. Presoaking also makes it easier to store the fleeces until washing them. When moving bags of roving from one house to another I found one that had never been washed. Thank goodness I had done a presoak. I wash using three stock pots. It's slow, but gets the job done.
You are doing a great job on all those fleeces.
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Post by Callie on May 2, 2016 21:34:53 GMT
All of ours but the caboose at home have graduated from college. It's a great feeling to see them accomplish so much. Congratulations to you and him!
Not such a bad thing to "find" fleeces laying around.
I use my front loader to spin the fleeces so they dry faster. I used to use the trampoline to dry them on, but DH tossed the matt away the last time the trash went... He decided that so many of the springs weren't attached anymore that it wasn't worth keeping anymore. sigh....
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Post by ketoriverfarm on May 2, 2016 22:26:10 GMT
When we built this house, DH put a double laundry sink in the one car garage which is attached to the house. I have a laundry alternative spinner which is worth it's weight in gold. I normally do my overnight soak outside in a huge metal tub and use that water on my flowers. Then I wash in as hot of water as comes out of the tap. Icelandic is very low in lanolin so I do not need 140 degree water. I typically use dawn, but if the fleece is extremely dirty I use laundry detergent. If I have to do a second wash, I use orvus. I actually do not mind washing fleeces. But I do get tired of skirting. Just not a fun job! On these warm days my fleece will dry in 2-3 hours on the deck. I lay the fleece on screens on a protected deck out of the wind.
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