SELLERS, HOW TO EXPLAIN WOOL QUALITIES TO YOUR BUYERS.
Buyers, what to look for and questions to ask your fiber seller
If you are going to sell wool then explaining the wool qualities to a buyer is very important. The good the bad AND the ugly. Some fiber artists will be ok with the bad and the ugly because they have mad skills. If you are going to buy wool, here are some things to look for and questions to ask.
GLOSSARY
Skirting - Skirting a fleece is the act of removing any felted, cotted, poop laden, urine stained, second cuts, vm filled or otherwise undesirable wool.
Felted wool - The merging or linking together of wool fibers forming a firm, compact mass. This is a permanent thing and you cannot separate the wool fibers once the wool become felted.
Cotted Wool - A term applied to wool that has become partially matted while on the sheep’s back. Usually it's just at the base or the part against the animal skin. Often times cotted wool locks can be pulled apart easily.
VM - Vegetable matter that usually is earthy matter: grass, burrs, hay, leaves, etc.
Coated sheep - A sheep that wore an actual sheep coat throughout the growing season to keep the wool clean and vm free.
Hoggett - A juvenile sheep older than one year is a hoggett.
Raw fiber - fiber shorn right off the animal. If wool, still has lanolin, suint and dirt in it.This needs to be scoured, or cleaned, prior to processing.
Scoured fiber - Fiber that has been cleaned removing all impurities such as lanolin or dirt.
1. Sellers: The first thing to tell your buyer is, is the fleece skirted or not?
Buyers: If the fleece is not skirted you will most likely be paying for part of the fleece that are not usable as well as the shipping cost for a heavier fleece. The price per pound is usually a bit less than for a fleece that has been skirted to cover for the loss.
2. Sellers: What amount of vegetable matter (vm) does the fleece have? None, scant, minimal, moderate or loaded. Is it grass and hay or are there burrs too?
Buyers: VM is easily removed if you are going to use wool combs. Drum carding will not remove vm. There are some techniques to help remove vm along the way during processing, but wool combing is truly the only way to remove 99.9% of the vm.
3. Sellers: Was the animal coated or not coated?
Buyers: If the animal was coated expect none to scant vm and a very clean fleece, but you will definitely pay more for this luxury. It takes a lot of work by the grower to maintain those sheep coats throughout the season. It is worth the extrs $$ in my opinion. If it was not coated, expect some vm and more dirt.
4. Sellers: How old is the sheep? Is it a lamb, hogget, etc.
Buyers: If the sheep is a lamb, 99% of the time the tips will be weak and you will need to flick them off if you will be carding the fiber. Otherwise the tips will break off and make nepps in your batt. If you are going to use wool combs, no biggie, The wool combs will break off the tips for you. If the sheep wool is not a lamb the tips should be sound.
5. Sellers: Is any part of the fleece felted or matted? What % of the fleece is felted or matted? Can the locks be easily pulled apart?
Buyers: If you want a fleece for spinning, you would not want a felted or cotted fleece. Rug makers, this may be right up your ally.
6. Sellers: Is the staple sound? Are there any breaks in the middle, along the entire lock, does the tip break off with a tensile pull? The "ping" test, in the research, was found not to be an accurate test of the strength of the staple. Rather a tensile pull was much more accurate.
Buyers: Read more about now to manage and prep fiber with certain breaks in the book below. Just because a wool has a break does not mean it is not usable for something.
Read much more about this and how to do it in the book Camaj Fiber Arts Complete Scouring and Fiber Prep Guide. The Art of Washing Wook, Mohair & Alpaca.
7. Sellers: Is the fiber raw or scoured?
Buyers: Raw means it is right off the animal and needs to be scoured or cleaned. Scoured means it has been washed and ready to process or spin.
Most sellers would happily send you a sample so you can inspect the fiber. Test for soundness/breaks, scour your sample and see how it comes out, maybe even spin the sample. Get back to the sellers asap and let them know whether you want more or not.
2 Comments
As a producer and spinner for over 40 years, I agree. One exception is concerning lamb tips being weak. Back in the 'old days' when everyone spun in the grease, and a covered sheep was unheard of, a first clip or lamb fleece was often preferred. The claim was that the tip was tapered, not a blunt cut, and was said to thus be 'softer' because there would be less cut ends to add to the 'prickle factor'. In those days, sweaters were often identified as being made from 'lambs wool' as a marketing tool. However, I can't say I could ever really tell much difference between the first or later wool clips from the same sheep. Likewise, our sheep do not show evidence of increasing micron as they age, but climate or other factors (health, nutrition due to climate) can make a difference in overall flock averages.
ReplyDeleteWOW Mary, thanks so much for all this great information.
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