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Written by Starr Cash
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First - I want to be clear that I am describing "no commercial value". That means we haven't figured out a commercial application for this stuff yet. Maybe someday -- when we have mastered making textile products from everything else. But, I digress
What I really want to say is that many fiber artists out there will rapidly assure all of us that just because it's "no commercial value" that doesn't mean it's "trash". There may be many creative and lucrative ideas for what to do with this NCV (no commercial value) fiber, but it's not productive to ship it to the Co-op at this time.
Unusable "no commercial value" for AFCNA is:
Too short (less than 1.5")
Too long (more than 7.5")
Too tender (locks break when snapped)
Too stained
Too much Vegetable Matter or other contamination
Too matted
Too molded
Too buggy - infested with moths or other insects
Too Hairy - Topknots, tails, and lower leg hair, excess guard hair
To elaborate -
Too short (less than 1.5")
Too long (more than 7.5")
o You don't need specialized training for these 2. Just a ruler. I've
made some marks on my skirting table so that I can quickly measure
anything I'm not positive about.
o IDEALLY - commercial high-speed, high volume equipment likes fibers that are between 2.5 - 6 " long.
o We think we have a specialty market for fibers that are between 1.5"
and 2.5" so we actually accept fiber that is at least 1.5" long.
o We used to reject anything greater than 6" but after the mill had
been working with alpaca fiber for a few runs we twisted a few arms and
they agreed to process up to 7.5".
o Those of you who shear your crias might want to think about letting them grow out at least 2.5" before you shear.
o Those of you who DON'T shear your crias might want to just Keep those
cria fleeces that are more than 7.5" long. Too Long is the second most
common reason why fleeces are not given credit for contribution by
AFCNA.
Too tender (locks break when snapped)
o take a few strands and tug on it. This may not be the best
explaination but here's how I do it. If you have to tug pretty hard and
each hair kind of snaps in different places and pulls apart looking
"frayed" then it's OK. If it pulls about too easily with minimum
tugging, it's too tender. If all the strands seem to break off at about
the same point - its a stress "weak point" in the fiber. Unfortunately,
you'll often see this in cria fleeces.
Too stained
o Mostly a problem with white. I happen to live in red clay country. My
whites are peach or strawberry or just about any dang shade except
white. As long as it's just a "tinge" of stain, no problem. Heavy stain
can't be graded as white.
Too much Vegetable Matter or other contamination
o Mostly it's excess VM - here's what I learned. If you grab a handful
of the fiber and it feels "crunchy" in your hand - it's too much VM.
o Other contamination runs the gamut of amazing things you would never
expect to find in a lovely animal's fiber. Cigarette butts, pieces of
wire, and worse from there.
Too matted
o Lots of cria fleeces are ruined by this problem. Can't do anything
(commercial) with them. Mini-mills with de-hairers might salvage them
but that's not a commerically (economically) viable solution.
Too molded
o The bad thing about those plastic bags we all use is that if the
fleece is damp when you bag it... rot happens. Make sure the fleece is
good and dry before you twist & seal up those bags.
Too buggy - infested with moths or other insects
o But don't leave your open bags sitting in the barn or attic too long
either. If moths get in, it will run the whole bag for sure and
possibly the entire box if they spread.
Too Hairy - Topknots, tails, and lower leg hair, excess guard hair
o This is the #1 most common reason why AFCNA does not give credit for member fleeces.
o Yeah, some folks appear to sweep up the floor and bag every little
hair like treasure. I did the first couple of years, too. I didn't know
what was or wasn't good so I just shipped everything that came off the
animal off to AFCNA and "let them sort it out". Which they did and I
didn't get credit for most of it!
o It's easy to see "guard hair". Pick up a lock (staple). If it looks
"spikey" or has lots of thick straight hairs sticking out of it - it's
too hairy.
o It's easy to see good fiber with minimal guard hair - all the little
staples are just the same length, no "fuzz" of guard hair extending out
longer than the staple.
o If you're not sure, you can take a lock from and outer area like the
lower chest, upper leg or chest and lay it in the "prime blanket" area.
I've got some alpacas with great big huge "blankets that stretch neck
to tail and side to side. I've also got a few old gals with blankets
about the size of a dinner plate and the rest of them is hairy as can
be.
o It's the farms job to skirt the fleeces and separate the good fleecy
blanket from the hairy parts - the hand graders do zone grade (which is
effectively skirting the fleece) but if the farm hasn't done it
themselves it's slow (thus expensive) to have the graders doing that
work which should have already been done.
So, TOO MUCH HAIR then is the only area where I feel it's probably
needed to focus some education and hands/eyeballs on training. There
are commercial "standards" for hairiness - been that way for years -
applies to wool, cashmere, mohair etc. This is NOT something where we
can say "but alpaca's have the finest fiber in the world". Bales of
fiber are cored - just like you core your hay bales to have them tested
and the core samples are submitted to a lab for testing - just like you
have tests run on your individual animals. The Micron Report of those
core sample tests determine what the grade of that bale is.
That is, by the way, what those "micron ranges" that we all use to
define Royal baby vs Baby vs superfine etc are all about - the test
score of bales. And there are standards for HOW MUCH % of micron over
30 is "allowed" in a bale of those defined grades. For Superfine and
finer, the bales ought to be less than 20% over 30 micron. Thems the
rules. It's a Quality factor. "hairy" fiber means ends that stick out
of the yarn means garments that prickle.
WARNING - I may be about to step on a landmine here so all of you in
the front row might want to stand back a mite so you don't end up with
me all over your shirt.
SOME of the TOO HAIRY we get is tails, topknots and legs from newbies,
MORE is hairy old momma's and males who are past their prime fiber
bearing years, BUT A SCAREY HUGE AMOUNT is otherwise very nice cria and
youngster fleeces which just simply have too many guard hairs!!
Well, that's it for me for now
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 06 May 2007 )
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