The full journey from raw fleece to finished product
You have skirted your fleece, packed it in a breathable bag, and shipped it off to a fiber mill. Now what? If you have never sent fiber to a mill before, the weeks of silence between shipping and getting your yarn back can feel unsettling. Here is exactly what happens to your fiber at each stage, so you know what to expect.
Step 1: Intake and assessment
When your fiber arrives, the mill logs it in with your name and contact info. Most mills do a quick assessment at this point: they check the fiber type, look for excessive vegetable matter (hay, burrs, seeds), check for second cuts from shearing, and estimate the weight.
If there is a problem – too much VM, felted sections, or fiber that is not what you described – a good mill will call you before processing. They might suggest a different end product (batts instead of yarn, for example) or warn you that the yield will be lower than expected.
This is also when your fiber gets queued. Mills process in order, and during peak season (spring and early summer, right after shearing), the queue can be long.
Step 2: Washing and scouring
Raw fleece contains lanolin (the natural grease in sheep wool), dirt, and debris. Washing removes all of this. The fiber is soaked in hot water with a mild detergent, typically in multiple baths. Temperature control matters – too hot and the fiber felts, too cool and the lanolin does not release.
After washing, the fiber is dried. Some mills use centrifugal dryers (like a spin cycle), others air-dry on racks. Expect to lose 30 to 50 percent of the weight during washing – that is all lanolin and dirt coming out. A 10-pound raw fleece might yield 5 to 7 pounds of clean fiber.
Cost: Typically $5 to $12 per pound of raw (incoming) weight.
Step 3: Picking
Picking opens up the washed fiber and removes remaining debris. The fiber is fed through a machine with metal teeth that pulls the locks apart into a fluffy cloud. This step is especially important for fiber with a lot of vegetable matter – the picker shakes loose what washing could not remove.
Not all mills include picking as a separate step. Some combine it with carding.
Step 4: Carding
This is where fiber transforms from a cloud of fluff into something usable. A drum carder pulls the fiber through a series of wire-covered rollers that align the fibers and create a thin, even sheet called a web.
From here, the fiber goes one of two directions:
- Roving: The web is condensed into a continuous rope of fiber, roughly 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Roving is ready for spinning – either by hand or on the mill’s spinning equipment. It produces smoother, more uniform yarn.
- Batts: The web is peeled off the carder in sheets. Batts are used for felting, quilting, or woolen-style hand spinning. They produce loftier, more textured yarn than roving.
If you asked for roving or batts as your end product, the process stops here. Your fiber is weighed, packaged, and shipped back to you.
Cost: $11 to $27 per pound, depending on whether washing is included in the price.
Step 5: Spinning (if you ordered yarn)
For yarn, the roving goes to a spinning frame. Industrial mini-mill spinners draw the roving out and twist it into a single strand (called a “single”). The amount of twist and the thickness of the draw determine the yarn weight – bulky, worsted, sport, or fingering.
Most yarn is plied – two or more singles twisted together in the opposite direction. This makes the yarn stronger, more balanced, and less likely to bias when knitted. Two-ply is the most common, but mills can do 3-ply, 4-ply, or even cable constructions.
After spinning and plying, the yarn is wound onto cones or skeined (wound into loops), then steamed or washed to set the twist. Without this finishing step, the yarn would twist back on itself when you try to use it.
Cost: $23 to $45 per pound of finished yarn. Finer weights (fingering, sport) cost more because they require more twist and take longer to spin.
Step 6: Optional services
Some mills offer additional processing:
- Custom blending: Mixing two or more fiber types before carding. For example, blending alpaca with merino for softness and strength, or adding silk for sheen. Mills that offer blending typically charge an extra fee per pound.
- Dyeing: Color applied to fiber (before spinning) or yarn (after spinning). Mills that offer dyeing usually price it per pound plus a setup fee for each color. Expect around $10 per pound plus $25 for color setup.
- Private labeling: Custom labels on your skeins, for yarn brand owners. Not all mills offer this.
What you get back
Depending on what you ordered, you will receive roving (in braids or coiled in bags), batts (stacked sheets), or yarn (in skeins or on cones). The mill should include a summary of what was processed: starting weight, finished weight, and any notes about the fiber.
Finished weight will always be less than what you sent. Between washing loss (30 to 50 percent), picking waste, and processing loss, a 20-pound raw fleece might produce 8 to 12 pounds of finished yarn. This is normal.
Timeline expectations
The full process – intake through shipping your finished product back – typically takes 6 to 16 weeks. Some variables:
- Time of year: Spring and early summer (post-shearing season) is the busiest time. Mills that quote 8 weeks in November might quote 16 weeks in May.
- Complexity: Simple wash-and-card orders go faster than custom-blended, dyed yarn.
- Mill size: Larger mills process faster but may have longer queues. Smaller mills have shorter queues but process fewer pounds per day.
If your mill quoted 8 to 12 weeks and you have not heard anything at week 10, it is reasonable to check in with a polite email or phone call. Most delays are simply queue-related, not problems with your fiber.
Ready to find a mill?
Browse our mill directory to find processors near you. Each listing shows the services offered, fiber types accepted, and turnaround times when available. If you have never sent fiber to a mill before, start with our guide on getting started with fiber processing.