Posted by robin on Tuesday, 26 July 2005, at 12:44 p.m.:
In Reply to: Re: woolen mills posted by phyllis on Thursday, 21 July 2005, at 2:11 p.m.:
Greetings! Here is another thing to consider about Zeilenger's. I don't mind the job they do, I have spun a couple of things that I bought at the fiber fest and then I had them custom wash and card a big batch of doghair/wool combo, and they did a beautiful beautiful job of it. But I learned the hard way that you have got to spin up the fiber that they process within a year or so. They apply a spinning oil to the finished roving and this stuff gets gummy over time. It turns a perfectly wonderful, easy-to-draw roving into a big huge pain bordering on nightmare. Luckily I had set to work spinning up all but about a pound of my doghair right after I got it back. It was a year later when I went to spin that remaining little bit that I discovered the transformation. Later that year, while at the fiber fest, I got to talking about Zeilinger's with a very experienced spinner who has a big flock of sheep and angora goats. She clued me in to the cause of my roving's decline, and said that she doesn't use Zeilinger's for that reason. She uses Frankenmeuth woollen mill. It's in the same town as Zeilinger's and the owners of both mills are I think related. I've spun stuff from their mill too, and it is a good job too but without the spinning oil.