the fantastic world of fibers tumblr

After days of foraging, soaking, and lots of patience, I finally managed to create my own nettle fiber! It's so soft—But it has a weird smell it's not bad but just different from what I had expected?

I'm trying to different processes for extracting lanolin

Cold prewash: I've washed it 4 times while it has soaked for a few hours about 5.

"The wool grease is continuously removed during this washing process by centrifugal separators, which concentrate it into a wax-like substance melting at approximately 38°C" - Sengupta, Amit; Behera (2014). "Comprehensive view on chemistry, manufacturing & applications of lanolin extracted from wool pretreatment,also used in vitamins" (PDF). American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER).

That means the cold wash may still have the lanolin oil

I possibly have to investigate how to do some centrifugal separation?

Boiled: I would prefer not to use this method as i understand from my research that the wool will not be useable after having it boiled. "Wool felt melts between 105 and 110F" - p. 50. the Big Book of Handspinning by Alden Amos

The water needs to boil for a few hours.

I'm reading from different sources especially this thread on permies.com

https://permies.com/t/65837/extract-lanolin-wool#2624426

And watched different videos on YouTube:

Extracting Lanolin from Sheep's Wool, Edwardian Farm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2pEIsyWD-Y

Lanolin extraction from Sheep's wool DIY : My learning Process, homemade from scratch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoH3Cv5AS4A&t=635s

After a scolding from my mother because of the smell in the kitchen (i didn't mind the smell, but my mother hates it apparently) i tried to move the outside to steam the water from the cold wash wool.

I washed to wool but this time with hot water to extract the lanolin and the water is also much more yellow than brow, i am feeling positive.

learning how to crochet was what finally made me grasp the abject horror of the fast fashion industry and realize just how laborious and time consuming it is. i have to take a few days off a week so my back/wrists don’t get sore — and i get to do this as a leisure activity in the comfort of my own home, rather than in a sweatshop. it takes dozens of hours to produce a single item. there is just something about trying it yourself that makes you realize just how little the people making our clothes are being paid for retailers to be able to sell clothes at such obscenely low prices.

i understood in the abstract that people were earning literal slave wages to make my clothes, but that concept wasn’t real to me in a way i could understand until i spent 14 hours making something that i myself wouldn’t have even been willing to pay more than $10-20 for if i saw it in a store.

i have not bought any new clothes since learning how to crochet. every time i see clothes at a store (especially obviously handmade items like crochet), and i look at the price tag i feel genuinely sick to my stomach.

i’m not saying everyone needs to make their own clothes in order to be against fast fashion, but what i am saying is if hearing about the conditions and wages secondhand has not been enough to make you stop buying it, if you find yourself becoming desensitized to the suffering of the people who make your things, you should try making something yourself.