each year the worldsheet produced
between 2 to 3 million tons of wool and
it takes a lot longer than you may think
to go from this to this the Pendleton
Mills receive about 8,000 pounds of
freshly shorn wool from around the world
each day Marshall welcome to pedal to
woollen Mills at Washougal Washington
the first thing they do with a fresh
batch of wool is diet into one of
thousands of colors they use in their
fabrics
workers load 500 pounds of fleece into a
5-foot steel basket
where this hydraulic press uses water
and pressure to compact it
compacting the wall allows them to die
more at one time and preserve resources
once it’s compressed it’s ready for the
dying process a crane lifts the basket
and slowly lowers it into a giant
pressurized vat called a dyke here a
computer triggers the release of dye
from tanks above into the keyer they add
the dye chemicals and 1,200 gallons of
hot water the nice thing about wool is
that it’s hydrophilic it loves water and
what that means for us is that wool will
hold on to its color for a really long
time after three to four hours fresh
water pumps in to rinse out excess dye
then the wall moves into the centrifuge
here a quick spin cycle removes most of
the water but the newly colored wool is
still pretty damp so it’s on to
Pendleton stock dryer though this is
nothing like your dryer at home this is
a gigantic microwave oven that they use
to remove the remaining moisture from
the wall the reason why they use
microwaves instead of heat is the same
reason you wouldn’t put your fine
woolens into the dryer heat can damage
the wool fibers and also shrink them by
using microwaves they preserve the
quality of the wool
between 2 to 3 million tons of wool and
it takes a lot longer than you may think
to go from this to this the Pendleton
Mills receive about 8,000 pounds of
freshly shorn wool from around the world
each day Marshall welcome to pedal to
woollen Mills at Washougal Washington
the first thing they do with a fresh
batch of wool is diet into one of
thousands of colors they use in their
fabrics
workers load 500 pounds of fleece into a
5-foot steel basket
where this hydraulic press uses water
and pressure to compact it
compacting the wall allows them to die
more at one time and preserve resources
once it’s compressed it’s ready for the
dying process a crane lifts the basket
and slowly lowers it into a giant
pressurized vat called a dyke here a
computer triggers the release of dye
from tanks above into the keyer they add
the dye chemicals and 1,200 gallons of
hot water the nice thing about wool is
that it’s hydrophilic it loves water and
what that means for us is that wool will
hold on to its color for a really long
time after three to four hours fresh
water pumps in to rinse out excess dye
then the wall moves into the centrifuge
here a quick spin cycle removes most of
the water but the newly colored wool is
still pretty damp so it’s on to
Pendleton stock dryer though this is
nothing like your dryer at home this is
a gigantic microwave oven that they use
to remove the remaining moisture from
the wall the reason why they use
microwaves instead of heat is the same
reason you wouldn’t put your fine
woolens into the dryer heat can damage
the wool fibers and also shrink them by
using microwaves they preserve the
quality of the wool
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