Morning Sun
Fiber Barn
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Fiber Barn |
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Owned and operated by: Morning Sun Fiber Barn customersvc@morningsunfiberbarn.com
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WASHING INSTRUCTIONS
Washing: Washing is the most critical step in preparing your fiber for processing. This is how I recommend you wash yours: * Very Hot Water * No Agitation 1. Sort: your fleece and remove tags and bits of debris and other foreign matter. 2. Fill: a tub with very hot water & add detergent (Tide, Whisk, Era, Dawn, Etc.). Add the fiber and submerge so that the fiber is completely covered with water. DO NOT AGITATE OR OTHERWISE BOTHER YOUR FIBER or you may make felt, let the fiber sit for 20 to 30 minutes, spin out water. 3. Shake: When the fiber has spun out, you can lift out of washer and shake it. You will be amazed at how much vegetable matter will come flying off a fleece that appears quite clean. 4. Rinse: Fill rub with hot waters & return fleece let sit 20 to 30 minutes. Drain water and spin out excess water. Do not let water run on fleece during spinning (as some washing machine will do). 5. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 until the fiber feels clean. After last rinse open fleece up and then set on racks to dry. 6. Rest the fleece: (This mainly applies to fleece with oil in them) I have found that fiber that feels quite clean can become tacky after it sits for a week or so. In order to avoid having to pay us to rewash, we recommend letting the fiber sit for at least a week. Then take a handful of fiber and put it in a bowl of hot soapy water. If the water turns milky you need to rewash. A single rewash at the point generally takes care of remaining grease in the fiber. Picking: When picking your fleece it must be free of burrs, stems and other foreign matter that can damage the carding cloth. We can pick out small amounts as the fleece goes onto the cloth, but excessive amounts that require separate picking will be charged in the final cost of the processing. Excessively contaminated fleece will be returned to you at your cost. You do not need to tease the fleece open, this can be done as it goes into the carder. You will be informed of any extra charges before processing your fleece. Carding: We have three carding options: roving, batts or clouds. Roving aligns the fibers and pulls them into long ropes wound for easy spinning. Batts are approx. 20” X 36” and weight will depend on the fleece. Clouds are just what they seem to be: the fiber is opened and falls in random wisps into a bag. Simply pick up any part and start spinning. Blending: We can combine types of fiber or color or both for truly unique fiber preparation. For exotic fiber blending, a 75/25 to 60/40 are a good ratio blend. |