Fleece washing

[AftonShepherd]

Don’t mention soap, my parents hated me, so dispatched me off to boarding school at a tender age ! My education was like the shawshank redemption , but with less stripes and posher voices !

Suddenly lots of things make sense ....

 

[Radio]

You can do Suint washing, just dump your fleeces in a barrel of clean water, the bacteria that's already in the wool eats at the dirt. It's a fermentation, best in summer as warmth is necessary, leave it for a couple of weeks. The fleece will be very clean but the water will be the filthiest foul smelling stuff you've ever smelt, it's worse than raw sewage.

Rinse the fleece, still got a bit of lanolin in it which is apparently a good thing for working with, it keeps it softer. My wife did some here like this, and the fleece was impressively clean and white, and not holding the smell. Just keep the barrel well away from anything and keep the lid on it....

It sounds so gross that I almost want to try it.

 

[Vader]

What quality does it have to be for making into insulation?

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

What quality does it have to be for making into insulation?

Depends on the type of insulation and how much you want to buy or sell it for?

The basic wool insulation is from any old cheap wool, most of it will be from imports or the lowest possible value British wool, Swaledale, Welsh and black wools etc.
This is usually chopped up in small pieces and a process called air lay is used. This will be bonded with a type of glue and treated with Permethrin to stop the Moths from eating it.

For a quality product you can use any wool that can be combed first before putting through a cross lapper where the fibres are laid alternately at 90' in each layer, this is then bonded and needle punched and moth proofed.

The price compared to Rockwool will be around 4 x for the basic and up to 8 x for the best.
It is lovely stuff to put in though.

 

[Vader]

Depends on the type of insulation and how much you want to buy or sell it for?

The basic wool insulation is from any old cheap wool, most of it will be from imports or the lowest possible value British wool, Swaledale, Welsh and black wools etc.
This is usually chopped up in small pieces and a process called air lay is used. This will be bonded with a type of glue and treated with Permethrin to stop the Moths from eating it.

For a quality product you can use any wool that can be combed first before putting through a cross lapper where the fibres are laid alternately at 90' in each layer, this is then bonded and needle punched and moth proofed.

The price compared to Rockwool will be around 4 x for the basic and up to 8 x for the best.
It is lovely stuff to put in though.

Was just wondering why wool thrown away instead of into insulation.

 

[primmiemoo]

From memory, there isn't anyone who provides a mothproofing treatment in the UK, so washed and prepared wool has to be sent abroad for it. It's old info, though. Things may be different now.

Although couldn't camphor wood shavings be sprinkled on, instead of permethrin?

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Wool for insulation will never take off while synthetic fibre is so cheap. People go on about it like it’s the silver bullet, but as frank says, if it’s 4x the price it’s never going to be taken up by the big builders wholesale.

 

[Guiggs]

Wool for insulation will never take off while synthetic fibre is so cheap. People go on about it like it’s the silver bullet, but as frank says, if it’s 4x the price it’s never going to be taken up by the big builders wholesale.

The government should offer some sort of incentive to encourage big firms to produce it and big building firms use it.
It would put a baseline price on all types of wool and tick all the environmental credential boxes.
Obvious I'd have thought but while they are in bed with the petro chemical companies it will never happen.

 

[Vader]

Wool for insulation will never take off while synthetic fibre is so cheap. People go on about it like it’s the silver bullet, but as frank says, if it’s 4x the price it’s never going to be taken up by the big builders wholesale.

But it's not been valued correctly.
Thats why I am wanting to know who are the main washing Company's and if any wool can be used in insulation once cleaned.

 

[primmiemoo]

Beats me why motor manufacturers don't use wool for upholstery and trims. I looked at some EV specs last month, and almost all use recycled oil based materials, including microfibre, which just keeps the fossil fuels pollution merry-go-round spinning.

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

Haworth in Bradford or Standard Wools in Dewsbury will do around 9 tons greasy for you.
You will need to treat it before use with a moth proofer or it will disappear quite quickly and not insulate any more.

 

[Guiggs]

I remember an old old episode of river cottage the guy washed a fleece in his own pee... have fun

The saying "pi55 poor" comes from when poor people used to collect the families pi55 to sell to the wool mills .
If they were so poor they couldn't even afford there own pot they "didn't have a pot to pi55 in!

 

[Bury the Trash]

makes excellent mulch for fruit trees , or any young trees for that matter that need a bit of nurturing .
lasts a long time and doesn't allow weed /grass growth around that critical area. keeps moisture in / traps water particularly when watering is needed.

If anyone had said we would doing that with a fleece 10, 20, 30, 40 , ...50 yrs ago and so on... I wouldve been godsmacked as would Dad be if he were still here today .

 

[Old Tip]

How much do you want to do?
If it is around ten tons then you can get it done at one of the two plants in Bradford and if it goes to Haworth and it is reasonably fine stuff they can process it into Tops.

Smaller amounts of up to a ton can be sent to Italy, there is a small plant in Biella who can turn it into balls of wool.
You get an awful lot though when they are only 100 grams each.

Otherwise as said put it in the washing machine but it will probably only be any good for Felting.

Howarths will do smaller lots if you ask nicely but obviously it costs more, minimum is a ton I think