Counting Sheep...Gonna Wanna Sleep...Bedroom by Moi Critters??

Yep that soap recipe is simple- that is how I generally make I the same way but with different oils. I don't like that it doesn't tell you how much extra oil is in the bar- so you don't know how harsh or gentle it will be. I don't usually use lard since lard make a very hard bar that doesn't lather great, plus I don't use much lard around the house. If you have other oils/fats you can use a soap calculator that will tell you how much lye and water you need for the amount of oils/fats.

Sheep don't shrink in the rain because wool needs heat and friction (or basic compound like soap) to felt and shrink....

I wonder how many fleeces it would take to make a mattress? I have a lot less sheep than you- I only have four at the moment- and the ewe lamb's fleece may be worth more to sell for spinning....
 
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Here's a few soap calculators...

http://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx

http://soapcalc.net/

http://howtomakesoap.org/soap-calculator/

No idea if these are good ones!
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I am just blown away there are so many...hee hee...wonders never cease!


I was kidding about sheep shrinking in the rain...but always fun to get a scientific type reply back.
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I hold dear to the equation; heat + moisture + movement = felting



How many pounds of fibre for a wool mattess...I suppose it depends on the size of the mattress you wanted.
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The wool comforter that CWM makes is like five pounds of fibre which is roughly what some breeds of sheep produce. That's the topper, not the bottomer and the mattress is suppose to support you...so I guess how firm do you want it would equal how much fibre you stuffed in it. I like firm...very firm...I am gonna be a hearty stuffer, eh!
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: Give sheep space. Sheep have a tendency to have a look around while they are chewing a mouthful of feed and all the while dropping little bits of hay which more often than not end up on their neighbour’s back. Provide feed at ground level when ever possible. Setting out whole round bales with or without bale feeders is probably the worst method of feeding in terms of wool contamination. The contamination is due to the close proximity of the sheep while they are pulling down mouthfuls of feed from the bale with some of it again ending up on the backs of those next to them. Instead, consider rolling the bales out to give sheep more room with their feed at ground level. When possible, feed just what can be consumed by the sheep in a day to avoid feed contamination and waste.

Lock sheep out of the feed area while feeding. When feeding with a pitch fork and it isn’t possible to lock sheep out while feeding avoid throwing feed on their backs. A bale processor always creates a cloud of fine hay particles which creates dusty fleeces if the sheep are near when processing hay.

Provide a clean, dry area for sheep to bed down to avoid wool contamination from the manure buildup during the winter and mud in the spring.


What I do know, I have hundreds of pounds of raw fibre...and I expect a king size mattress with a five or so inch depth to take hundreds of pounds to produce.

The one lady that allowed me to contribute her experiences says the child's mattress was heavy...two inches thick and heavy for its size.


I would ponder the value of a lamb's fleece for spinning compared to wool needed for your mattress...I bin keeping tabs and the most expensive one I've seen is ten thousand dollars over in Jolly Ol' England...the lamb's fleece would have to fetch a pretty penny for me to part with any of my own wool at the moment (once the mattresses I want is completed, I am going to want to keep wool on hand for future RE-stuffing, eh. I use to get about $100 a fleece...no comparison to what stuffing my own mattress is going to save me by using my own fibre.


More rah rah about wool!
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http://www.customwoolenmills.com/wool_shop/cold_country_wool_bedding:
Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
 

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