FAQ’s

We will scour all the fiber we process to avoid processing fiber that has gone through incomplete washes, washes with soaps that leave residues that will affect the resulting roving or may not be environmentally safe.

What form of Fiber can I receive?

Depending on the fiber we receive, we can process your fiber to a cloud, to roving (loose roving, or bumps if possible), or card to batts.
All waste fiber will be returned with your finished order.

Fleeces that come to us not skirted will be assessed an additional $25 per fleece.
Far better for you to choose what to discard and what to keep!
Debris (hoof trimings, etc.) = $30/fleece
Extra-Handling Fee (semi-matted, color separation, etc. = $5/lb.)
Severely matted or felted fleeces cannot be processed.

We are able to process a variety of fibers, however we are not able to process fiber from a multi-coated animal, any fiber that contains guard hairs. Suri alpaca may be used as a blending fiber.
Infested fiber is disposed of or returned immediately at the owner’s expense.
If you cannot pull apart the fiber with light to moderate effort, it will be too matted to process.
We will reject fiber with too many burrs or wood shavings. Vegetable matter will remain in the fiber throughout processing.

We are happy to process fiber between 3″ to 7″ in length. Shorter fibers can be picked to a cloud or be carded to a batt. Batts from short fibers will contain neps and second cuts.

What is the loss ratio in fiber?

Every time your fiber is run through the carder once or twice, fiber is ‘kicked out’. That is fiber the machine kicks out as undesirable for roving and spinning which includes neps and short cuts. It’s fine for stuffing, making into dryer balls (as a core), mulching or gifting to wildlife for nesting material.

While we prefer to meet with you in person to assess the fiber and discus the expected outcomes, you may also ship your fiber to us. Please contact us prior so we can schedule appropriately.

Due to limited storage, we will let you know approximately one month in advance when we are able to receive your order.

We are generally able to do Huacaya into roving if the fiber is at least 3″ in length. Shorter fibers can be carded to a cloud or a batt. Suri is too slick to hold together through the roving process, however you can use Suri as an add-in to wool.

Alpaca may not produce a web that is cohesive enough to be pulled through the roving deck. If it falls apart during the roving process, we will continue to card the fleece to a cloud and return it to you as a cloud or a batt.
The safest way to produce alpaca roving is to blend in at least 25% sheep wool (no long wools, please). We are not able to supply the type of wool or colors you might prefer for blending so we ask that you provide pre-processed fibers to blend with your alpaca.