Sheeps Wool Insulation

[skier-hughes]

Has anyone any experience of using freshly cut sheeps wool for insulation?

What sort of process(es) it may have to undergo?

I have 14 to sheer and as with everything I'm going to have a go myself first. I don't expect I'll get any off in one go to make a sheepskin rug, but thought I may be able to use the pieces to insulate some of the loft?

Am I barking......

Off to do some research on the matter.

Graham

 

[biffvernon]

I don't expect I'll get any off in one go to make a sheepskin rug

To make a sheepskin rug the sheep really has to be dead since you leave the wool attached to the skin. In my experience it it much easier to sheer the sheep when it is dead.
I happen to have been fixing some Thermafleece to a ceiling today. It comes in nice manageable bats but costs a very great deal for than a fleece. I'd be very interested to know how you get on with using loose fleece wool. I did stuff a heap of old wool into a portion of cavity wall once. It was then bricked up so there's no telling what has happened to it. Not much, I guess. I think the main problem with a raw fleece is that it it is possible to get it eaten by moths. With Thermafleece

The product is treated with a non-volatile larvacide, therefore, the risk of moth or beetle infestation is negligible.

 

[skier-hughes]

I don't expect I'll get any off in one go to make a sheepskin rug

To make a sheepskin rug the sheep really has to be dead since you leave the wool attached to the skin.

I told you I needed to do some more research....

Graham

 

[biffvernon]

If you want the sheep to end up alive leave the skin on the sheep. The wool will tend to fall apart though. That's why folk invented spinning, weaving and knitting. It kind of ties all the loose bits together so you can sit on it or wear it without it falling apart. I know about this stuff.

What I don't know is what is the "natural-source inorganic fire-retardant insecticide" that the good people at Second Nature put on their wool to turn it into wonderfully durable but expensive Thermafleece.

 

[worms]

We had a long debate on this before on the "old site". I still reckon you would want to scour the wool (washing it to get rid of the lanolin grease) and card it (to fluff it up and make it into manageable pieces) before using it for insulation.

Borax is the usual fire and insect treatment.

Actually, I have always found trying to shear dead sheep a real pain - never tried to skin a live one but reckon that would be equally tricky! I am sure there are plenty of web sites that will talk you through the Bowen Technique which is akin to dancing with a sheep and presents the skin in the right way and nicely tightened to get the wool off. Sharp shears help!

Ok, having had a quick google, I find that the "Bowen Technique" name has now been hijacked by some new-age therapy! The original Bowen technique was the way devised by champion sheep shearer Godfrey Bowen to efficiently shear huge numbers of sheep in a day. No time for a repeat Google just now, but try adding sheep or wool to the search criteria!

 

[biffvernon]

Thanks Worms. Borax is cheap and easy. Make up a solution and spray it on. Just need to find out how much to use.

This e-leaflet from the Centre of Alternative Technology seems to be an excellent starter for anyone interested in embedding their sheep into their homes.

Thermafleece is really lovely stuff to use, a joy to handle, but it's more than double the price of glass fibre insulation. The CAT information sounds as though one could use fleece wool with a minimum of dagging and carding and the price of a fleece is next to nothing.

 

[skier-hughes]

Thanks all, I have plenty of reading to do.....

Graham

 

[Paul Hopper]

Graham

If you haven't sheared sheep, for heavens sake get hold of some local shepherd chap and ask him to either shear them for you or show you how.

I was taught years ago by an Aussie guy, who was brilliant, but I could never do it again, No confidence! and the bu**ers won't keep still.

good luck

Paul

 

[worms]

I agree with Paul, much simpler to get someone in to do it, saves you having to maintain any special equipment.

However if you insist, there is a video that the wool board do which might help: http://www.britishwool.org.uk/trainres.asp?pageid=62

It really is like dancing, since the experts have the foot movements perfectly in tune with the position changes of the sheep and the free hand applying light pressure in the right places to keep the sheep in position and wriggle-free. For the rest of humanity it is more akin to all-in wrestling, since the dance partner is not in the least compliant! However, you must never lose your temper - if the sheep is really thrashing, chances are you have it in a really uncomfortable or painful position.

Remember hand shearing is a completely different art from machine shearing and in the old days in many places it involved a stool and absolutely razor sharp shears. I've also seen hand shearing as a two-man job - or rather a man-and-a-boy! And of course with some breeds of sheep you can simply pluck them after the wool rise has caused a break between the old growth and the new season's wool.

 

[Ushy M]

I'm sure I read somewhere about a Welsh bloke who reckoned you had to put their back feet in your wellies. Maybe that was for something else.......... :?

Agree with Biff that Thermafleece is lovely to use - we've insulated our thatched house with it - the fire-retardant aspect being another advantage to us.

It's also very comfortable to sleep on in an emergency - like when you've given up your bed over Christmas to the inlaws and your air bed goes down in the middle of the night and you've had too much port to keep getting up to blow the wretched thing up again..

 

[matchmade]

Is sheep's wool insulation so expensive compared to artificial fibre? A quick price comparison shows the following:

17.28 m2 (six sheets) of Celotex insulation board with K-value 0.023 W/m.K costs £160 incl VAT and delivery at Travis Perkins, with the boards sized 50 x 1200 x 2400. You could probably do better with a trade account.

20 m2 of Sheep’s wool insulation with quoted K-value 0.039 W/m.K at OldHouseStore.co.uk costs £117 incl (not sure about delivery) with the slabs sized 50 x 400 x 1200.

That's £9.25 per m2 for the Celotex, which is 50% more thermally efficient than the Sheep's wool at £5.85 per m2 (+ delivery). Of course you have to factor in the fitting cost - perhaps sheep's wool slabs are harder to work with than Celotex, though both are non-irritant which is a bonus.

 

[biffvernon]

Ah, but celotex is pricey stuff to. I was thinking in comparison with glass fibre.

At B&Q rolls that are 170mm thick and 9170mm long x 1160mm wide, area 10.64m2 cost £8.38. By my calculation that makes Thermafleece humungously more expensive.

On the other hand, Thermafleece is just such lovely stuff to use I would pay the difference just for the sensuous pleasure of working with it.

By the way, Womersleys charge £106 for 20m2 of 50mm thick bats. I bought some last week.

 

[skier-hughes]

Too much work for too little gain I think on this one, having done some reading.

I did sheer one of the sheep though and it's not looking too disimilar to those that have been done by a pro up the road. Mind you, he took about 5 mins per sheep and I took an hour and a bit, his fleece was in one piece, mine was in one million.............

With only 14 sheep to do the amount of wool will be minimal and so it's off to thinking of other good ideas now...


Anybody want to buy some worn once wool?

Graham

 

[NT]

With only 14 sheep to do the amount of wool will be minimal and so it's off to thinking of other good ideas now...

your house will get better and better insulated each year. And from the practice you'll get faster each year.


NT

 

[Gervase]

Having just spent the best part of a day shearing our sheep, I'm utterly knackered, my back's crook and never want to see another sheep again, and the fleeces are going straight off to the WMB depot in Brecon (where the panjandrums will probably work out that we owe them money because of the dags, kemp and whatever in the wool).
Believe me, buying Thermafleece might be expensive, but it's a heck of a lot easier than getting the raw fleeces off yourself!

 

[skier-hughes]

How many do you have Gervaise?

I looked at sending it away, but for the list of do's and don'ts etc I thought it may be easier to keep it, then it's illegal to dispose of on the premises........ :roll:

 

[worms]

I'm sure there are a 101 other uses that you could put your wool to if you want to stay out of the clutches of the WMB...and if there aren't, I'm sure there will be 101 people on here each with a different suggestion!

 

[Gervase]

We've got 31 to be shorn this year. I'm probably the world's worst shearer and have chronic back problems, so shearing is an absolute bloomin' nightmare (and not helped yesterday by trying to do it in a tin shed in a heatwave with a severe hangover!).
if you want to keep the fleece, it would seem to be pretty simple - just don't register with the WMB. As they don't seem to talk to DEFRA to compare stockings and holdings, there's no way of them knowing if you've got sheep, and you're free to do what you like with the fleeces.
With more and more people spinning and weaving, you may find a good market for fleeces that way (particularly if you've got black or brown wool - the WMB hates it, but spinners and weavers love it).

 

[Schoolmarm]

We've got 31 to be shorn this year. I'm probably the world's worst shearer and have chronic back problems, so shearing is an absolute bloomin' nightmare (and not helped yesterday by trying to do it in a tin shed in a heatwave with a severe hangover!).
- .

Why on earth do you bother? Our shearer charges us £50.00 to do about 40 and I get hot and tired just folding fleeces and moving sheep about. Plus it is far less stressful for the sheep in this heat to be handled quickly and competently.

 

[skier-hughes]

Why on earth do you bother? Our shearer charges us £50.00 to do about 40 and I get hot and tired just folding fleeces and moving sheep about. Plus it is far less stressful for the sheep in this heat to be handled quickly and competently.

I suppose it is the same reason as to why we try to lime plaster, turn our hand to plumbing etc, it's a challenge we want to try to master