| Working With LAMA (llama & alpaca) Fiber: Skirting the Fleece by Karen Rose, Rosebud Fiber Studio After shearing and before processing or storing your fiber, it must be skirted and picked. What does skirting mean? Skirting is a term from the preparation of sheep wool. It means taking off the dirty edges. With lama fiber, there are not many dirty (or poopy) edges to remove, but there can be undesirable parts of the fleece. Most of these undesirable areas are environmental, rather than innate to the fiber. The most obvious parts of the fleece to remove are the matted areas. This can be done by just pulling out the mats and felted fibers and throwing them away. Vegetation such as burrs and stickers also must be removed. You can pull out stickers by hand, especially if the surrounding area of fiber is worth keeping. Gloves help, and a product called Cowboy Magic also helps the stickers slide out. There are other products, but I’ve not used them yet. What about guard hair? Most guard hair is visible and apparent. It sticks out and has a different texture—sort of wiry. It can be easily removed by laying the fleece on a flat surface, cut side down, laying one hand on the fleece to keep it in place while pulling out the guard hairs with the other hand. You can get handfuls of guard hair at a time. If you take the time to do this, the resulting fiber will be MUCH nicer. Guard hair can poke out of the yarn and cause itching. Not every fleece has apparent guard hair. It is easier to pick out the guard hairs while the fleece is still as intact as possible, even before pulling out the mats. Some fleeces hold together better than others Picking the fleece clean of debris will insure that the fleece will process nicely. If there are stickers left in, they will damage the carding equipment, and most mills will not want to bother and will send it back at your expense. There are some mills that use chemicals to dissolve the vegetation, but this damages and weakens the fiber. Picking opens up the fibers, and you may even be able to pull apart some mats. Vegetation, dust, and even some stickers will also fall away during picking. The most efficient way to pick is to hold sections of the fleece in one hand and pull apart a handful at a time. Keep a towel on your lap to catch the debris. Once the fleece is sufficiently picked, it is ready for washing or sending to the mill. Most mills will wash the fleece, but make sure to contact them before sending off your fiber. Now that I’ve explained the sometimes tedious ways you must prepare your fleece, I’ll tell you the easiest way: keep your pastures free of stickers! I know that sounds obvious, but grooming your pastures means less grooming of your animals. To prepare your animals for shearing, take the extra time to groom them. Blowing out the dust and vegetation, brushing out the mats and stickers will save you a lot of time later. When shearing, the blanket area has the most consistent fiber, so keep this separate from any other areas such as neck and legs. The prime, or blanket, area is what is sent to the mill. To avoid second cuts, bag up the prime fiber before going back to smooth out the shorn area. Regular (yearly) shearing, while keeping your animals comfortable, also provides the best fiber. Fiber that is left on the animal for a long time will have more opportunity to mat, break off, dry out, or just grow too long. Longer isn’t necessarily better. Fiber that is more than 6 inches does not go through the processing machines. Working with your fiber is one of the best ways to enjoy your animals. |
| We have a cleaning company in Indianapolis, and we recently had a llama rug that a client needed cleaned, we did some research and talked to some people from some farms like this one. The concensus is to use natural dry cleaner, using a light steam clean and avoiding liquids. we did just that and it worked great oh ya and a light brush. |