More on Merino Fiber Project

Because I will be going to the dentist today, I thought I would make it a clean sweep with difficult things!

Two days after the previous business with the merino fiber, I decided to see if I could wash it.

1.  I pulled a batch of the wet fiber out of the tub where there was even more green slime.

2.  After zipping that fiber into two "delicate laundry" bags, I took it into the kitchen, filled the sink with hot water and Dawn dish soap, immersed the fiber bags in the water, and let it soak for 30 minutes.

3. After 30 minutes I filled the other sink with clean hot water, and, after draining the disgusting water from the soapy sink, let the fiber sit in the clean hot water for another 30 minutes.

4.  Repeated several times, gently smushing out the dirty/lanolin-y water.

5.  Went to the garage for an old screen door that I used for this project once before.  Instead of bringing the saw horses to the front of the house to support the door, I placed the door on the railings at the corner of the porch, then place a sheet over the door and laid out the fiber.

6.  Covered the fiber with the rest of the sheet to keep bugs out, and let it start drying.

The fiber was VERY lanolin-filled even after several Dawn washes.  It was also still very dirty.  After it dries I will try again washing it.

In the meantime, the rest of the fiber is still in the big black tub.  At spinning group tonight I learned that I should have put soap in the big tub closer to the beginning of this project.

Well, the plants most likely enjoyed the "barnyard tea" that I took out of the tub the first two times.  Maybe I will do more watering with the tea tomorrow. 

Dear One was rather perplexed when he returned home and found that our house smelled like a sheep fold.  I sincerely hope that I can get the smell out before anyone comes to visit.  This is even worse than the day dear friends came to visit when I was making vegetable broth.  Since I had been in the kitchen all morning I did not notice the smell of the vegetables simmering away on the stove.  When I returned to the house after being away several hours, there was a VERY SHARP vegetable smell.  How embarrassing.  Our friends did not say anything.  So polite...