Does anyone here spin?

Hi there,
I was wondering if any of you out there spin your own fleece?:confused:
I've just started spinning (about 3 months now and picked it up rather quickly) and really enjoy it and would like to ask someone questions when I get stuck or to tell me if I'm doing things right.(sick of looking on google and can't watch the videos as have dailup and would literally take days to download,or is that upload?:rolleyes:) We have a spinning group here twice a month that I go to but I feel that some of these ladies forget that I'm new and talk in another language (if you know what I mean?).
At the moment I'm trialing "how to successfully wash Alpaca fleece" and am doing good and learning 'not to touch' tooooo much when in the water as my first attemp sort of meshed together.
I have all the right gear...electric and hand drum carders, upright and horizontal wheels etc....

So can anyone please help me out??????

my husband is a spinner, and makes wheels. he maybe able to help if you have a specific question. or, i think there is information here: www.majacraft.co.nz/resource.php

Hi smurfette, I spun for many years till I did my shoulder in, & am happy to help. When washing fleece if you use eucalyptus you only need to pat the fleece to get the grease out. Feel free to pm me

Tonic, thank you for that, what strange looking wheels, I've never seen any like that before. Have bookmarked the site and will have a good look around it, thanks again.

Granny Mary, thanks as well. I've washed my alpaca fleece in wool wash and that had eucalyptus in it but the fleece was still dirty after 2 washes so I thought that once I've spun it I'll wash it again, will that work or am I best to wash it again before I card it?

Did you use hot water to wash it? Do not agitate it or it will felt. You also have to use hot water to rinse.

I have just washed several angora fleece. I started in warm water so I did no damage but the fleece did not come out as clean as I would have liked. Then I use my assistant Google, to research, I found I had to use hot water, far better results.
You just move the fleece gently and squeeze the dirt out, I then put the rinsed fleece into a pillow case and spun in the washing machine. Laid it on towels to dry naturally.
Now I am in the (slow) process of teasing it all free of any remaining debris, short little bits of pine needles seem to be the main culprits. Some of the fleece is so soft, it is like dandylion down.

Next step is getting some carded and spun.

I would now do as spoook suggests & put it in a pillow case & soak gently in warm water with eucalyptus, that stuff is expensive but its magic & getting that hard grease out & the dirt & leaves it lovely & soft. I always washed mine again after Id spun it before I knitted it up, it seems to set the twist, sometimes only in warm water

Spoook....that's what I do, but I was told 'as hot as your hands could stand' and whatever temp you wash it in then the same for rinse. I've made up some washing bags from curtain netting with a pull cord so as I can do small amounts at a time and dry them on racks I make up from the upturned freezer baskets and even turn the fire guard up on it's end and use that. I'm looking for the OLD wirewove beds to use and have even used the tramp at one stage to dry a sheep fleece as it was soooo big,(now I know better) now I do in small batches.
I use my Google 'assistant' here too.

Granny Mary... I was supose to say 'after' I card it not 'before' , helps to proof read 'before' sending not 'after'
I got told last spinning day that it's better to wash any fleece before carding because if you dont get all the grease/lanolin out it will be trapped when you've spun it and won't come out next wash and you will have a 'waterproof garment'.
Just got some eucalyptus from the supermarket yesterday so will do with the next batch I do.

Many thanks

I used one of those cheap netting hammocks to dry my fleece, does'nt take up much room when not in use & plenty of air thru it too

Ooo Ooo [:0], a netting hammock! Somewhere I have one of those ones meant for kids toys in the corner of the room. Better that being spread out on towels all over the bedroom floor []

Yes Smurfette, as hot as you can handle is right. A bit hard on the hands but makes for a clean fleece.

I wash alpaca in hot water with dishwashing liquid. Remember, alpaca doesn't have lanolin like sheep, so needs less harsh detergent. Don't agitate it and rinse at the same temp as washing to avoid felting. I dry it on top of the aviary - nice and airy - as long as the birds aren't making nests;-) Funny, I just put a load of dark fleece in my twin-tub to soak and read this while I waited. Winter projects, eh?

Thanks OldMcDonald for contributing. We have the fire going so my Alpaca dries inside but I can't do it with the sheep fleece cos the kids complain about the 'stink' . Mind you, I don't blame them.

Thanks everyone, I'll be back when I get another query for you all to help with.

Washing wool and felting are direct opposites, so for wool washing, keep water temp constant, be gentle or soak for a bit longer, use a little detergent and a tad of eucalyptus. I soak my handspun socks overnight in a bucket, they need very little squeezing next morning. There are many ways to skin a rabbit!

hi, Iniuk is absolutely right. Wash on warm water and use hot soaping water + agitation to felt. Alpaca felts very very quickly, the finer the fleece the faster it felts. I have a black fleece here that has only been carded and returned to me in a plastic bag it's already started to felt and no water etc has been added yet. Alpaca has only 3% or less Lanolin so don't use any harsh detergents as has been mentioned. I find my trampoline is a great place to dry my fleeces.
Alpaca is beautiful to spin but it does need more twist than wool. There is a fantastic new book out call spinning Camelid Fibre by Doe Arnot, you'll be able to get it through yoúr local spinners and weavers (creative Fibre) group. They are $15.00 each and jam packed full a brilliant info. If you can't get one give me a yell and I'll send you one from out area delegate.

Thanks snokmz, and yes I've seen that book when the reps came to our spinning group to give us info on joining and I had a good nosey through it. Got all the info that I was needing to ask them about, already there in it. I will be joining them (creative fibre) in December as we all want to join indervidually (sp?) some joining in Aug, as times are a bit tight (understatement, lol)in my house at present.
Just got given a old wirewove bed so can't wait till it's warmer so I can wash some more fleece. Haven't started to card/spin the Alpaca yet, was told to spray it lightly with water beforehand so it won't float off everywhere? any other tips please?