Welcome to the Mill!

1.  Processing fees are based on submitted weight, $20/pound for staples 5" and under.  Staples over 5" generally require substantially more time to process, and are accepted at $22.50/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 heavy grunge!

Processing includes two sets of scouring with 3 rinses.  

(1 wash + 3 rinses × 2)

If submitted wool is dirty enough to require more than this, there will be a fee of $5/lb per additional wash/rinse cycle.  Wool can lose 30-50% of submitted weight in washing and processing depending upon how dirty it is.

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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.

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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 or store it.

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4.  Please skirt your wool!  Don't send wet wool, or unskirted wool with extensive VM, moths, lice, wool beetles, etc.  Remove burrs, thistle heads, seed heads if you can.  Beyond light, I offer skirting as a service, but it's not free.  If wool at submission is obviously in need of time-consuming/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 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.

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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 brittle it may not tolerate processing.  Make sure it passes the ping test.  Unless matting is minor, even many runs through the picker may not separate dense matts enough to run them through the carder.

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7.  Your submission fee includes two runs through the picker, and two runs through the cottage drum carder.  If these are insufficient to process an excellent roving or batt, additional runs through the picker are generally $2.50/lb, and up to $10 per extra run through the carder, based on density and staple length.  Long staples require extremely slow speeds and multiple carder cleanings throughout the process.

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8. Blending.  Some coarse longwools such as Gotland, Teeswater, Lincoln - often perform better when combined with a crimpy wool for strength 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.  There is generally a charge for blending if multiple additional picking and carding runs are necessary.​

 

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Thoughts:  A basic hot rinse or cold soak and dry can remove a surprising amount of weight, substantially increasing your ROI when having your wool processed.  20 pounds of very well skirted raw wool came back to me as 10 pounds of roving.  Grunge is heavy, and not always obvious!  

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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 all great.  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!