Several times a day we receive emails asking the same questions....How do I send my fiber, what is skirting, what is involved in processing...here is a page to hopefully make your life a bit easier when it comes to fiber processing!
First Things First....First, Seconds, Thirds...what are they and what can they be used for?
First is the prime blanket...base of neck to just before the hips is the easiest way...however, some animals seconds are as good as the blanket...read on
Seconds...neck and hips. Many times the seconds look nice, but the length isn't long enough. If you look closely some animals fiber looks the same on the neck and hip, especially our show animals.
Thirds...belly and legs. DO NOT SEND US THIRDS. We will dispose of them. Thirds are best used for fiber projects and bird feeders...there are a lot of uses for thirds, but sending them to our mill is not one of them.
Yarn is usually made from Firsts, and sometimes seconds. Batting and roving can be made from both if seconds are long enough. Some farms are using seconds to make dryer balls. Rug yarn is the most common use of seconds here in our mill.
Skirting..going thru your fleece for processing to remove as much vegetation, toenails, burdocks, hay heads large pieces of straw etc...this helps both you and us...You aren't paying for washing of non processing particles as washing is based on incoming weight. Also the fiber separators only get out about 80% of vegetation so the more you start with the more you are going to end up with. That being said, you do not have to spend hours upon hours skirting your fleece! We do charge if we have to skirt your fleece here and if we have to put it thru the fiber separator an additional time.
OK so now on to the order form...you MUST fill out an order form for each batch of fiber you send. Do not put one order form in the box with 4 different bags..we will have no clue as to what you want done. You can feel free to write notes to put with the order form, if you wonder if two or three batches can go together then just leave us a note...but please fill out the top part of the order form and what you are looking for. A valid phone number and email address are a must...and legible writing definitely helps me! If you aren't sure what you want then just ask for one of us to call you and we will be more then happy to figure out together what would best work for the fiber you have sent.
If you are processing fiber for your farm store or for resale, please fill out the tax form on our website so we do not have to charge you sales tax.. You also need to read and sign the form stating you understand our rules and regulations.You only have to fill our one of these forms.
You do not have to send a deposit at the time of sending the fiber, we usually email or call to let you know we are working on it, what the estimate is and what we would need for a deposit to continue.
To ship the fiber, put in clear garbage bags with an order form and push all the air out. Put the fiber in the smallest box it will fit in, we generally use USPS with the best luck but it is cheaper if sending from the west coast to try UPS.
FINER FIBER WILL ONLY MAKE FINER YARN AND COARSER FIBER WILL ONLY MAKE HEAVIER YARN. SHORT FIBER WILL NOT MAKE YARN! We cannot take a grade one cria fleece and make it a bulky weight...the fiber will not process. You will have a much higher quality product if you follow this guideline and let the fiber process into the size yarn it is best used for. This is where we designed the make it pretty size-it lets the fiber decide what size it should be.