Persistent Knitter

Given all the fleece I have acquired lately, I really need to spend time washing it.  So today I did three batches of fleece on the stove top. I’ve got my method down fairly well. Here’s the stuff I washed today drying:

I’ve refined my technique a bit from my last posting.

Tools needed:
* 21 quart canning pots (2)
* Kitchen Gloves
* Spaghetti Strainer that is sturdy enough to survive ~ 150 degree water and the weight of 1/2 lb of wet fleece.
* Dawn dish soap
* Lots of hot water

Fill first pot with hot water to 3-4" from top. Set on stove, placing temp at High.  Wait until you can see bubbles rising from the bottom of the pot, but it is NOT boiling.  Squirt about 1/4 cup of dish soap into the pot of water.  Gently place ~approx 1/2 lb of fleece into pot, layer by layer.  Make sure each layer is thoroughly wet before putting the next layer in.  I’ve found I can put about 3 - 3.5 layers in one wash bath.  Turn heat down to medium.

* Fill the next pot with hot water, and place on stove on High.  When the bubbles start to rise, put on the gloves and use the spaghetti strainer to scoop the fleece out of the first pot.  Let water drain back into first pot, and gently press out as much water as you can. Careful - the fleece will be super hot!  As soon as you reasonably have as much water out as you can, carefully open up the fleece to place in the second pot.  The soap really makes it kind of stick together at this point, and you don’t want to agitate it too much. I just try and pull it apart some so it doesn’t go into the 2nd pot as a big clump.  The 2nd and third rinses it opens up even more and this is easier.

Repeat from * until you’ve put the fleece through 3 plain water baths. (The first pot is your soap bath) Depending how dirty your fleece is, your water should be clear and not soapy at this point.  If you find your fleece is too dirty, you might want to do a 2nd soap bath right after the first.  Some people also like the final rinse to contain vinegar. 

Press out as much water from the fleece while in the spaghetti strainer.  Place into a towel, and wrap like a burrito, pressing down to get as much water out as you can. When that towel is soaked through - repeat with a dry towel. Spread out in a thin layer on a sweater dryer in a warm, dry area.

If you want to do multiple batches of fleece - don’t toss out the very final rinse water from the first batch.  Save it and put soap in it to wash the second batch of fleece.  It’s already hot - it’s fairly clean and you’ll save a couple of gallons of water, plus the time of heating the first pot of water.

This technique is super slow. It takes me about 1.5 hours to do 1/2 lb of fleece.  It works really well though!  There is little to no lanolin or dirt left in the fleece.  Veggie Matter will still be present, although some of it might have floated out in the water baths.