As seen on TV: Fleece-washing kit!

So I was walking through the local Big Lots store, which contains a grab-bag of close-outs, when I caught sight of this, which somebody thought was an easy-to-clean cat litter box, apparently "as seen on TV."

I wouldn't know about the TV part, because we are in an area where cable is almost obligatory and we don't have it, and I don't know (or care) about the catbox part of it (even though I have a cat, who is happy with her current arrangements).

I looked at it and thought: FLEECE-WASHING KIT!

What the manufacturer sees as a "sifting tray" is, in truth, a perfect draining tray.

There are even two solid trays in the set. Having that second one could be useful for rinses, or successive wash baths, depending on how you were working your sequence.

Here's some mighty dirty fleece soaking in detergent water. The wool is contained by the draining tray, which is sitting in one of the solid trays.

Here I've lifted the draining tray and set it next to the soaking tray. Time to dump that grubby wash water on the right. Extra water is draining out of the wool in the tray on the left as it sits there without its lower tray.

Soak and drain, repeat with clear water:

The locks aren't disarranged and the fleece is almost done.

FIVE STARS to this set-up when used for wool washing. As a close-out, it was only $13. After confirming that it worked as well as I thought it might, I went back and got another one. I can put two of these set-ups in my bathtub simultaneously.

Some people like to wash their wool in mesh or net bags. I use wool-confinement systems sometimes, too, but I like it best when I can see the wool while I'm washing it, at the same time that I like to preserve the lock structure as long as possible . . . or at least until I decide to disturb that structure. Lock structure keeps all of the preparation options open: flicking, combing, carding, straight from the lock. (I've thought of a way to keep fine locks in even neater order than the process kept the coarse wool shown in these photos, although I haven't tested that idea yet. Fine wools are challenging, so I did my first system test with a less-persnickety type of fiber.)

If I watched TV, I'd be happy to see a commercial for a great fleece-washing kit. I suspect, however, that there aren't enough people in the TV-viewing demographic who need such a device and so those of us who need tools like this will have to discover them on our own.

They got one thing close to right: It's (very nearly) as easy as 1-2-3!

1. Lift Arrange fleece
2. Insert Soak
3. Reload Drain

__

P.S. There's apparently a new version of this device that has a snap-on litter guard. I can't think of what use that would be for fleece-washing. UPCO, where we have gotten pet supplies for a number of years, has the simple version like I got, at a decent price (although not quite close-out level).