How I Wash Wool: A Practical Method

When I first began spinning in the early 1990s, I would buy a pound of raw fleece from a local craft shop or take whatever free fleece was available from local hobby shepherds. I had no special tools or techniques but knew that I needed to wash the wool. I first started washing wool in the kitchen sink, filling it with hot water and some dish soap and placing an entire pound of wool loose in the sink all at once. It was never my favorite part of spinning, and to this day I look at washing wool as a chore. The real fun for me begins once the wool is clean and dry.

Over the course of many years and many discussions with other spinners, I have developed a practical method that works for me and results in a product that works well for how I spin. To me, it also reduces the drudgery to a minimum. There are many methods for washing wool, so see what works best for you.

Getting Started

I wash my wool using mesh bags in plastic tubs. This lets me control the wool, keep agitation to a minimum, and reduce water use a little. I do not weigh or measure the wool when placing it in a mesh bag, nor do I try and keep any order in the fleece. I simply grab handfuls of fleece and place it into the mesh bag, filling it as full as I feel is practical. My goal is to wash as much wool at once that will still get clean—the water must reach the center of the wool and the dirt and lanolin must be able to loosen and dissolve into the soapy water. The amount of wool that works well this way differs by breed. Longwools will be heavier, and I can fit a lot more in by weight, while my favorite breeds (the downs and down-types) will have much more volume than weight. It really takes a little experimenting to find the sweet spot, and I suggest erring on the side of adding less wool. You can always start adding more as you continue to wash.

This mildly greasy Corriedale/Romney cross fleece is loosely placed in a mesh laundry bag.

Cold Soak

I usually prepare and wash three bags at a time because I have three plastic tubs. Once the bags are filled, I may do a cold soak. This is especially useful if the fleece is dusty or muddy or has tips that are stuck together with lanolin. A cold soak is exactly that: soaking the wool in cold water. I often soak overnight, but always for a minimum of an hour or so. You will be amazed at how filthy the water will be after a cold soak. The wool I am washing for this article is from sheep that were coated, so I can skip the cold soak.

Once you are ready to wash, pull the bags out of the cold water and press them against a surface to squeeze out excess water. You can also hang the bags and just let the water drip out. In this case, I am washing just one bag, but when I am washing a great deal I just do the exact same thing, repeating for each tub.

Hot Wash

Fill the tub(s) with hot water and add soap. By hot water, I mean I just use the hottest the tap goes; I find this works well for me. My hot-water heater is set to 135 degrees F (57 degrees C). I usually add the soap first and let it suds up a little, but opinions on this vary. I use Unicorn Fibre’s Power Scour detergent, as I find that one pump in the tub will suffice for most fleeces I am washing.* For almost 20 years I used dish soap, which also works well as long as you use a kind without enzymes that can damage the wool. The only difference is that with dish soap, you will have to use more and may need to use hotter water to get a full scour.

Once the tub is full, I use a spoon to press down the mesh bag of wool to make sure all the wool is submerged and soaked; then I let it sit. After 10 minutes, I pick up each end of the bag, let them meet in the middle, and drain some of the water out before pressing against the side of a sink. If washing a very greasy fleece or breed like CVM or Merino, I will repeat this washing step.

Get a closer look! Click any image in the gallery below to open it in full-screen mode.

Hot Rinse

I refill the tub with hot water and place the mesh bag into the tub again. I always switch sides: face up one time, face down the next. I let the bag soak for another 10 minutes and then remove the bag and press out the water as before. I repeat the rinse step until the water is mostly clear. I prefer to slightly underwash my wool and would rather rewash it at a later date if necessary than to overwash and end up with dry and brittle-feeling wool.

Get a closer look! Click any image in the gallery below to open it in full-screen mode.

Spin It Out

Once I am satisfied that the wool is clean, I put the mesh bag(s) in my top-load washing machine and turn on the spin cycle to remove as much water as possible. If your spin cycle adds water, skip this step as you could end up felting some of the wool. Felting is a danger when wool is exposed to hot water, especially when soap is involved. The goal in washing is to not add the third ingredient needed for felting: agitation. This is why I use the mesh bags—to make sure I don’t have to handle the wool itself.

If your washing machine does not have a spin cycle, you can either press as much water out as you can using towels or “wuzz” the water out by going outside and swinging the mesh bag around and around in a big circle, causing the water to stream out.

Carefully spread the washed fleece out to dry.

Ready to Dry

Once as much water has been removed as possible, I lay the wool out to dry on sweater racks, but a towel will work as well. The amount of time it takes for the wool to dry can vary, depending on the humidity level and how wet the wool is. My rule of thumb is to leave it alone until it feels dry, and then leave it to dry a few more hours. A good test is to put it in a plastic bag and close the bag. If there is condensation on the inside of the bag after an hour or so, the wool needs to dry more. Once it is dry, you have clean wool ready to use, store, or dye.

*The Power Scour label instructions suggest 1 Tbsp Power Scour mixed into 2 gallons of hot tap water for 1 pound of raw fleece, which aligns with Devin’s intuitive approach here. The company’s website has additional information regarding fleeces needing additional washes and more. Visit unicornfibre.com.

Devin Helmen has been immersed in fiber since learning to spin at age eight. They spin, knit, and weave in beautiful Minnesota. Devin enjoys writing and teaching about fiber arts and has a passion for spindles and everyday textiles. They blog, intermittently, at afewgreenfigs.blogspot.com.