How do you wash fleece?  I hear this question a lot!  First, you must turn up your water heater and have very hot (140 degrees F) water.  This is a must.  If you don’t have hot water, the lanolin will not melt off. Use a thermometer to check how hot your water is.  I have used every type of soap and detergent out there, even the stinky stuff used by taxidermists.  Unicorn Power Scour is the only wool wash that gives me perfect results every time on every type of fleece.  It gets the fleece clean without stripping the wool and making it dry/brittle.  I have hard water so I do use more Power Scour than is recommended by the company.  I wash wool in a laundry tub/utility sink in my dye room.

Washing fleece in my dye room laundry sink.

Here are my directions for washing raw fleece:

The Soak

  1. Place fleece in mesh laundry bags. 1 pound of fleece total.  (I divide this between 2 laundry bags.  Depending you your sink size, you may divide differently.
  2. Fill laundry tub with HOT water. (2 gallons)
  3. Add Power Scour.  (See note below on amount)
  4. Gently press laundry bag of fleece into water.
  5. Let wool soak for 15 minutes.
  6. After 15 minutes, take fleece bag out of the soak water.  Place fleece bag in a spin dryer or top load washer (water lever must be turned off) and spin dirty water out of fleece.

Repeat THE SOAK one more time (also for 15 minutes).  This means filling up the tub with new, clean, HOT water and adding Power Scour again. But this time use about 1/2 the amount of Power Scour.

The Clear Water Soak

  1. Fill laundry tub with hot water.  Do not add Power Scour.
  2. Gently press fleece bag into water.
  3. Let soak for 15-20 minutes.
  4. Remove fleece bag and spin water out.
  5. Remove fleece from bag and lay out on drying rack.

I fill the laundry tub with 2 gallons (or so) of hot water for The Soak.  I actually measured out 2 gallons and made a mark on my sink years ago.  Now, I sort of guesstimate the amount. This is a low water washing method.  Do not fill the sink full of water.  Use 2 gallons.

I fill the laundry tub 1/3 full or so (maybe 10 gallons or more?) for the clear water soak, so that the wool has more room to move around.

Power Scour dosage:  I use 9 tablespoons of Power Scour for very greasy fleece (Cormo, Merino, and waxy Mohair) for the first soak.  The second soak I use 6 tablespoons for greasy fleece.  For low grease fleece, I use 6 tablespoons of Power Scour for the first soak and 4 for the second soak.  As I said, I have very hard water.  You may be able to use less Power Scour depending on how it works with your water.