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Fibre Processing | Preparing Your Fibre Proper Sorting and Skirting | Skirting the Sheep Fleece In larger operations where sheep shearers are accompanied by handlers and sorters, sorting and skirting of wool is most frequently done at the shearing stage. On shearing day, the belly, leg, face, and head wool are usually separated and discarded as they’re shorn. In smaller operations, however, this may not always be the case. If you wish to prevent contamination (the spread of stains, urine, etc. to quality portions) of your fleece, completing the skirting on shearing day is a really good idea. If this hasn’t happened, you might have your fleeces rolled and bagged, now ready for skirting. Skirting is the process of removing sections of the fleece which are dirty, coarse, or contaminated.  NOTE: If you would rather we skirt the fleeces for you, please be sure that they are rolled and bagged appropriately. If you plan to skirt a great deal of sheep's wool, it would be advisable to build a skirting table. There are many types, but, in its simplest form, a skirting table is a frame with a large screen or mesh stretched over it, supported on a stand. This enables debris and second cuts (staple lengths 2" or shorter) to fall through the screen or mesh. The mesh should have approximately 1-inch holes. Snowfencing material may be an option, for example, or dowells running from side to side of the table with one- to two-inch spaces between, similar to a conveyor belt.
If you come across a portion of fibre that is so full of vegetable matter that removing the matter would take a month of Sundays, discard the entire portion. It's typical to find these sections at the base of the neck and sometimes along the spine. Generally, you’ll want to spread the fleece over your flat skirting area and carefully remove and discard any:
Britch or breech wool: coarse hair fibre from the tail end and lower thigh. Belly wool: any wool from the belly area that is dirty, short, and matted. Head wool: coarse fibre which may contain chaff and vegetable matter. Stained wool: wool that is yellowed or permanently stained. Sweat locks: greasy locks found around and under the legs and tail. Weathered wool: wool that is dry and coarse due to sun damage, water staining, or harsh weather conditions, is usually found along the backbone of the sheep. Second cuts: created when shearing, staples or locks which are usually two inches or less in length. Vegetable matter: hay, straw, seeds, leaves, etc. Foreign matter: insect bodies, gravel, twine, anything that isn't fleece. Please see What to Avoid in a Fleece. Each fleece is different and, given good husbandry and overall animal health, most fleeces will only need manure tags, coarse and sweaty britch wool, stained wool and the outside edges removed and discarded. Small pieces of skin made by cuts on the sheep when shearing might also need to be removed. The back ridge and back neck areas will only need to be removed if stained or tender due to overweathering. If you’re sorting a coloured fleece and wish to separate the colours (and you may not wish to, too), remove the colours one at a time, darkest first (i.e. black, then white). What would then remain of the fleece would be areas less well-defined between the dark and light areas, a mixture of the colours. If you’re sorting a Jacob Sheep, for example, you might have five sorted piles when completed: one black, one white, one variegated colour mixture, a second cut or second-grade fibre pile (for use in felt, for example), and a waste pile. If you're sending your fibre to us to be washed, label your bags according to their contents (i.e. colours, grades, lot numbers, etc.). It's important to include your name and phone number on your label, as well, for easy identification (see Important Checklist Before Ordering). If you plan to wash your fibre yourself, please see washing instructions. |
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Preparing Your Fibre
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