infryq

I bought two fleeces this year, both medium-fine, one a gray Shetland and the other a larger but unmarked black fleece. I've washed almost all of the Shetland and about a quarter of the black.

Supplies:

large mesh bags from Cleaner Supply

sturdy rubber gloves, also Cleaner Supply

sturdy cotton string

Unicorn Scour

4 plastic tubs with lids, small enough that I can still lift them when they're full of water

large dishpan

4 old towels

Method:

turn up the water heater to 140-150 (this is "B and three quarters" on the silly dial on our heater)

put a layer of fleece in a bag & zip it up

fold & roll, then tie like a roast

do up four rolls, 1 per tub

soak in cold water 20 minutes & dump out, twice -- this gets the sweat out and loosens the dirt

if it hasn't been 3 hours yet since setting the water heater, wait

cart everything down to the basement

fleece rolls go into the dishpan, gloves go on.

fill a tub, 2 squirts of Scour, add fleece, lid on, stack on the washer x4

cover with towels, gloves off, set timer 15 minutes

gloves on, towels off

lid off, fleece into dishpan, dump water, fill tub, 1 squirt of Scour, add fleece, lid on, stack on the washer, dump dishpan x4

cover stacks with towels, gloves off, set timer 15 minutes

repeat with 2 rinses

hang rolls on a hook over the sink to drip

squeeze out water, untie roll, dump damp fleece on a towel, roll up towel, walk on towel, transfer fleece to drying rack x4

A year ago I did a bunch of experimenting, trying to reuse partially-clean water, or avoid fussing with the water heater and just supplement with the kettle, I tried using a strainer instead of bags, I tried tulle, & I tried Dawn and Kookabura. I settled on the above late last spring. Least effort, least felting, least grease left in the fleece. Our washer is front-loading, and while it does have a separate spin cycle that I've used successfully on handwashed woolens I haven't cultivated sufficient ennui to try spinning out fleece in it yet. (which is to say, the pile of sopping-wet towels I end up with after washing fleece is kindof a drag)