Get the Most from your Fleece Harvest!

Fiber Sorting

Pricing:	Live or "Rolled/Noodled" Fleeces: $7.50 per fleece In-the-Bag Fleeces: $10.00 per fleece
Call for Details:	603-831-0315

---

Service Description

I have published an article on fiber sorting, available on my website. Briefly put, fiber sorting is the process by which we make certain that your fiber is classed by color, fiber type, staple length and, most importantly, average fiber diameter. We have five grades of fiber, with each grade comprised of fibers that are within three microns of one another. Some sorting methods involve assessing several samples and then making a grade determination for the entire fleece. My method goes further, as I sort through entire neck and blanket fleeces, hank by hank, to make certain that these fibers are properly graded within each fleece and that staple lengths are appropriate.

There are grade-appropriate end uses for each fiber grade, and mixing or combining grades will be counterproductive. When properly graded, the fleece and end-product will have a fabulous handle. Think about how your fiber testing results work. You can have an alpaca with an AFD of 26 but if the standard deviation is 3.0 and the coefficient of variation is in the teens, that animal's fleece will feel like velvet! This is what occurs when we sort fleece! And if a two-inch fiber test is a compass point, think of a sorted fleece as the entire map of that fleece.

You will be spared hours of skirting fleeces, and you will have a record on each animal, with scores on quantitative/qualitative aspects of each fleece, an overall sort record and suggestions as to what you might do with each grade. All you have to do is box it and decide where you want to send it!