FAQs
How do I know I will get my own fleece back?
I am well aware that this is a big concern for many people. My background (my past life) was warehouse management and production scheduling. Even though I now have a small shop with only a few employees, I am diligent and strict with keeping each fleece labeled and...
What is the turn around time?
We go by color, so if I receive your white fleece while I am still on whites, you may get your fiber back in just a month. However, I generally have had at least a 4-month backlog for a few years now. You can check my "What's Happening" section on my...
What is picking?
Our machine opens the locks of fiber for presentation to our carding machine. This does not remove vegetable matter. In opening up the locks, some VM may fall out. However, VM such as burr clover hangs on like Velcro and does not fall out. The term picking is referring to...
Why not schedule colors and turn around times?
This would be impossible to do because less than half of the folks who call, e-mail or fax me stating they will ship their fleece “next week” or “tomorrow” do so. This is understandable. Things come up in our lives and priorities change. I also have many folks who simply...
What is your minimum?
In general, I prefer at least 4 lbs. of raw or 3 lbs. of clean fiber for a run. But we can do smaller quantities with some stipulations. First, there is a $30 minimum charge per batch or fleece. Second, these tiny orders usually take longer to get through the shop. In washing, I usually have...
What is your washing or scouring method?
I have typical home-use washing machines and use them for only soaking and spinning out. My hot water heaters are set at a much higher temperature than your home water heater. We generally do 3 washes and 2 rinses or what ever the fiber requires. For “prewashed” incoming...
What about the dander or lice in my fleece?
Lice are sometimes seen in llama, mohair and alpaca. Dander or skin flakes similar to dandruff is occasionally seen in mohair goats and in the dual coat wool breeds like Shetland, Icelandic, and Karakul sheep. The good news about lice is they die when they loose their host so we...
Can you process alpaca, camel and exotics?
Yes, I can process these fibers and most exotics due to my carding machines many adjustments. My Ashworth – Whitin card can be reduced to a snails pace speed and the in feed can accept very thin layers of picked fiber. These fibers are more expensive to process due...
How do I “skirt” my fleece?
Skirting is removing all of the undesirable pieces from your raw fleece. This would be matted or felted parts, dung tags, second cuts, coarser fibers, hoof trimmings, stickers, vegetable material and any foreign objects. Even purchased fleeces should be closely...
What about the stickers in my fleece?
Vegetable matter (VM) in your fleece is a controversial and much discussed topic. I cannot process fiber with too much VM contamination. Some of the VM will come out of the fiber during carding but it is just being deposited into my machines. It may take me 3 hours to...
How large are your batts?
I have a 42” card and the roller is 48” around so your batt will be 42” x 48” and as thick as 10” or as thin as 2”. Every wool rolls up differently so how “fluffy” your batt is will depend on your carded wool.