I had a small fiber farm in the early early 2000s, I think it was started in 2000 but I had to move on in 2003. It was the home of colored angora goats and angora rabbits.
The angora fiber was sold on Ebay, and I never listed any of the mohair fleeces so they were never sold. My rabbits were German Angora and soooooo sweet. I adore that breed of hair rabbit. My angora goats were white, grey, black and red, with one male being a registered white angora and the second being a registered natural-red. He was bottle raised and super sweet as well, though the rest of the goats were more typical livestock.
So why am I grumbling?
YouTube you shit! Why weren’t you around when I needed you??!
There. That’s the grumble. I’m watching how to clean mohair and nearly crying over here. I ruined so many fleeces because I couldn’t find good information. I did what they recommended of running it through the washing machine, even if the agitation was turned off. After about 5 felt donut rings, I just gave up.
What I’m learning now, way too late, is that they are HAIR goats. Wash it like it’s hair. I’ve seen things from Dawn to Unicorn Power Scour to shampoo. Just don’t overheat the fiber – it’s not wool with lanolin. Just like I wouldn’t attempt to wash my hair in boiling water, it’s not needed with mohair either. My guys were fairly dirty, living in their burr pastures, but now I know how to do it.
I think I might actually still have 1 part of a fleece that I rescued from the pile of trash before getting rid of everything. … Where is it? *thinks*
My second smaller grumble?
Etsy you turd! Why weren’t you around when I needed you??!
Now I’ve actually had an Etsy account since 2012, for some of my craft stuff. But I just today found folks listing their small fiber farm fleeces there. *sigh*
I miss my goats and bunnies. I really, really want those again. 😦
Path of the Individual 