Getting the muck out ?

[Phildude]

When preparing fleece for spinnign of course you need to get all the tiny bits of plant and straw etc out of it does that happen when you card it or is it something you hhave to do by a seperate process befor carding?

[nicolassa]

Carding doesn't really help too much; veggie matter generally gets carded into the batt or rolag.

What equipment do you have?  do you have a drum carder or handcards?  What about wool combs?  If you have handcards, you can sort of rake locks over the card, using it as a comb.  This helps pull the veggie matter out of the lock.  The best way to remove veggie matter in my opinion is with wool combs, since they separate the longer-stapled wool (the "top") from the short bits, second cuts, and plant/straw bits (the "noil").

If you don't have any of this wool-processing equipment, maybe you could try setting up a DIY hackle?  Craftster's own Lufah posted a tute on making one:  http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=109776.0
That might help cut down on the veggie matter. 

[mullerslanefarm]

I am a firm believer that the more time and energy spent preparing your fleece before you even scour it, the less time you have to spend spinning it (and it's more enjoyable!)

When starting from raw fleece, I separate the fleece into separate piles .... Sometimes it is by color or by length of the lock or the fineness of the lock .... it just depends.

While separating the fleece, I go through every inch - shaking out as much VM as I can, skirting out anything that was missed (dung tags or burrs or weak locks), removing 2nd cuts, and even opening up the lock tips if they are stuck together.

Yes it takes a lot of time BUT!  I can usually get a clean fleece, ready to card, comb or spin with just one scour and one rinse.

I once heard there are 6 times you will be picking out VM when working with a raw fleece.

1. before you scour it
2. after you scour it
3. after you card/comb it
4. while you're spinning it
5. while you're knitting/crocheting/weaving it
6. while you're wearing it!!

The more VM you get out in step 1, the less you'll have in step 6!!

[WMA]

I recommend combs too. I also agree with mullerslanefarm about taking the time to really go through the fleece. If cost is an issue (combs are fairly expensive...from what I've seen around $70 or more) you could do what I do. Being new to spinning I don't yet want to drop the big bucks on equipment for a craft I may or may not love (I'm addicted and will soon be investing in a drum carder lol) so I went to the dollar store and got a few plastic wide tooth combs (2 for $1 yay!) I got the kind with a handle and they actually worked out quite well. I broke the handle off of one after a few weeks but they were cheap so I got some more. They definitely did the job of getting any VM out.

I remember reading somewhere what goes in the carder comes out of the carder...so if you put wool full of VM in your carder you get wool full of VM out of your carder. From my limited experience that seems to be true so that's why I recommend combs.

[Phildude]

thanx guys thats a big help but what is this scouring  that you speak of?

[mullerslanefarm]

so if you put wool full of VM in your carder you get wool full of VM out of your carder.

You'll also mess up the teeth of your carder

thanx guys thats a big help but what is this scouring  that you speak of?

Soaking the raw fleece in hot, soapy water to remove lanolin and dirt.

There are a few links about it on my spinning page (still under construction after 2 years!)   

[Belladune]

thanks Phildude, for asking this question.  All these answers help me too!  So thank you to the respondents!
I'm getting excited to start this process on the truck load of dorset wool thats on its way to my house!!

[mullerslanefarm]

Dorset spins into a wonderful sock yarn!!