Welcome to the Mill!

1.  Processing fees are based on submitted weight, $20/pound.  

20lb is 20lb of whatever you submit.  If you've scoured your own raw wool, you know that even "clean" raw wool can hold a heavy grunge!

Processing includes two sets of scouring with 3 rinses.  

(wash + 3 rinses × 2)

If submitted wool is dirty enough to require more than this, there will be a fee of $10/lb per wash/rinse process.  Wool can lose 30-50% of submitted weight in washing and processing.

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2.  Payment is due in full at time of submission, and orders will be processed in order of wool received along with payment.  A box of wool at the door gets in line when the payment is received.  A non-refundable deposit of $25 will hold your place in line of orders placed as long as wool is received within one week of ordering and will be put toward the submission fee.

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3.  Please do not expect me to store wool prior to submission unless we've made arrangements.​  I don't have a lot of space, and I don't know what's in your wool!  If you've stored your wool for awhile, it's a good idea to shake it out before sending it.  A wool moth invasion is heart-sinking, but if they flurry out, I won't process it, and I won't store it in the mill or the barn.

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4.  Please skirt your wool!  Don't send wet wool, or heavily unskirted wool with extensive VM, moths, lice, wool beetles, etc.  Remove burrs, thistle heads, seed heads if you can, lots of yuck - and I'm not talking about mud.  I offer skirting as a service, but it's not free.  If wool at submission is obviously in need of heavy skirting, and I have to bring in help to get it equipment-ready, there will be an extra skirting fee of $10/lb. 

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5.  If wool is scurfy, or saturated with very fine particulate VM clumps, my equipment will not get it out, not even if it journeys through the picker multiple times.  Scurf gums up my equipment, especially the carder.  Unfortunately, scurf and clumps of tiny particulate VM often don't show until the first or second rinse after scouring.  Some stains just don't come out, e.g. common "canary yellow," but it generally processes without issues.

 

If scurf is just at the base of long staples, I will cut it off, and dense clumps of tiny particulates will be pulled out.  If I believe I can't process your wool without substantial skirting to remove scurfy wool or particulate clusters, we'll talk about #4 above, and I will let you know asap.  

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6.  Please be realistic about the quality and condition of your wool.  If it's heavily matted or felted, please don't send it.  If it's old and dry, I can't fix it.  If it's dry and brittle, it may not tolerate processing.  Make sure it passes the ping test.  Unless matting is minor, no number of runs through the picker will separate dense matts enough to run them through the carder.

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7.  Your service fee includes two runs through the picker, and will also be carded two times.  If these are insufficient to process an excellent roving or batt, depending on the volume and type of wool being processed, additional runs through the picker will be up to $5, based on volume, and up to $10 per extra run through the carder, based on volume.

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8. Blending.  Some coarse longwools such as Gotland, Teeswater, Lincoln - basically anything silky and lustrous often performs better when combined with a crimpy wool, depending on the tension you'll be spinning with.  With tension these sleek rovings easily pull apart.  I keep Targhee and Merino on hand, and can access others as well.  The is a charge for blending if multiple additional picking and carding runs are necessary.​

 

Thoughts:  A basic hot rinse or cold soak can remove a surprising amount of weight, substantially increasing your ROI.  20 pounds of very well skirted raw wool came back to me as 10 pounds of roving.  Grunge is heavy, and not always obvious.  If you rinse it, make sure its completely dry before submitting unless you're on the docket immediately.  A slight amount of moisture can substantially and permanently discolor wool if it sits for awhile.

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Note:  Your submitted orders are stored on stainless steel shelves with ample ventilation as well as moth and rodent protection, and once processed, moved to my clean studio for review and packaging.

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Please get in contact with me if you have questions.  Text, email via website and Messenger are usually best right now.  I'd love to speak with you live, but if I'm with the sheep or running mill equipment I may not hear the phone!