How we prepare our wool
First shear your sheep
The sheep are sheared by professional shearers who take the welfare of the animal very seriously. They are asked to visit by our friends every year. The sheep are sheared because it's more comfy for them - imagine carrying round pounds of thick fleece in the middle of summer! It also prevents disease and infestation from flies which would make our friends very poorly.Collect the fleece & bring it home
The sheeps' mum & dads let us know when the shearers are coming so that we can go and collect the fleeces straight away. We sort the nicest ones and bundle them into our car to bring them home.
Check & sort the fleece
When we get home we lay out the fleeces and take off any nasty, smelly bits and any grass, seeds, burrs and insects that have got caught up in it.Our dog Rosie helps with this bit. We can genuinely say our wool has been 'Lab' tested
Washing, drying & carding
After we have sorted the fleeces it's separated into manageable size chunks and left to soak in hot water and eco-friendly detergent for an hour or so. The water is changed until it runs clear, (we keep all the water from this process and use it on the garden, we also share it with our neighbours who do the same).The wool is then hung out to dry. Once dry we card it to make it fluffy and easier to spin and felt.
