Shearing and Washing

Shearing of the wool takes place once a year in spring or early summer, although in eastern Anatolia, around the shores of Lake Van, lambs are shorn in autumn, yielding a first fleece of short, weak wool. lf possible, the washing of the wool begins before shearing, when animals are driven through a river or stream to remove superficial grime and debris. The fleece is shorn from the sheep with hand scissors or clippers, then washed, dried and washed again in a repeated process until the wool is clean. Soft water is deal for cleansing the wool, and good streams and pools are jealously guarded by families over generations, their rights of use being an important part of the dowry exchange. The Qashqai of southern Persia scour their wool in a boiling solution of bicarbonate of soda or potash to remove excess natural fats and lanolin and in the Caucasus the fleece is pounded lightly with a thin board on stones to loosen the dirt. In the arid deserts of Balouchistan, eastern Persia and west Afghanistan the wool is left unwashed, merely shaken and exposed to the sun. In all cases, the cleaning and preparation of the fleece for spinning is complete after drying in the sun for a short time.