I have had people at shows ask how we wash our fleeces here. So I'm just going to give the basic overview of what we do.
Items needed:
-A fleece
-A large container to wash in.(We use our bathtub, but other people use trash cans, rubbermaid tubs, or even wash basins.) Make sure its big enough to hold the amount of fleece you want to wash.
-Soap. ( We use laundry soap)
The very first thing I do is lay the fleece out and reskirt it. Yes I skirt the fleeces as we are shearing, but I always reskirt as I go to wash. I do this with every fleece even if I buy it. You just never know if something was missed and I usually have more time to look through the fleece and pick out the little things.
Next I put the fleece into the tub. I lay it out as much as possible. This opens it up so that the water can cover more area. Now start covering it with water. The articles I've read say that the water should be over 135*F. Make sure the fleece is covered completely. Add the soap. Make sure you add enough to make the water slightly slippery. Do not agitate the water to create suds.
I let the fleece soak for about an hour if not longer. Then drain the water. Give the fleece time to drain out. Most times I will put it into strainers to remove as much of the water as possible. Now back into tub for the rinse. Once again make sure you cover the fleece completely. This time it doesn't have to soak as long. Normally about 20-30mins. Once again do a drain to get the most out of water out. I rinse again afterwards just to make sure the fleece is as clean as possible.
After the second rinse it's time to dry the fleece. Lay it out as open as possible. Be sure to turn the fleece as often as you can. A whole fleece will normally take a couple days to dry.
