Techniques- Fleece washing take 2

With the first fleece washed I decided to experiment a bit more with washing the second one. I tried out three different methods this time.

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Since carding means pulling out the locks to load onto the carder I figured doing this before washing means less fibre to wash and store as the rubbishy bits are removed.

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Locks pulled out from the fleece:
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Put into a washing bag flat in thin layers
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The bags of locks were washed in the same way as the bags of fleece- a cold soak followed by a hot soapy wash, a hot rinse and a final hot rinse with vinegar and hair conditioner. Excess water was squeezed out and the bags laid out to dry.
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The fibre was cleaner than that washed without sorting, and also dried faster. It takes much longer though as the locks have to be sorted before washing. This means keeping stinky fleece around the place longer which is a bit of a drawback.
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In the search for speed I risked a few bags of fleece in the washing machine. The first was on a cold wash with regular clothes washing liquid. Some felting occured, not too badly and locks could still be pulled out. The cold wash had not cleaned out the lanolin so the fibre was still greasy and smelled sheepy. These bags went through the hot handwash process to finish them so not much time saved.
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The second machine wash was a 40 degree one. A lot of feltiness in places with this one but still possible to pull locks out and they should be fine for carding or combing. The lanolin seems to have been mostly washed out of this one so no handwashing required.
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Next week I will do a washing method round up so I can remember what to do!