Fleece presentation - best practice

Well-presented fleeces are much quicker and easier to grade in our depots and help minimise our operating costs. Poorly presented fleeces and unrolled fleeces may be graded at a much lower value. To maximise your clip value please follow the approved method of fleece presentation as illustrated below.

Step 1

After shearing throw out the fleece onto a clean surface flesh side down. (Fleeces from the Blackface, Herdwick and Rough Fell breeds should be laid flesh side up.)

Step 2

Pick off any extraneous matter, e.g. straw, and remove any daggings. 

Include only clean, dry belly wool with the fleece before folding the flanks towards the centre.

Turn in the britch end and roll the fleece firmly and neatly towards the neck.

Step 3

After rolling, part the fleece.

Step 4

Without twisting, tuck the neck wool firmly into the body of the fleece.

Step 5

The finished fleece is firm and secure. Place the tucked fleece firmly into the wool sheet.

Where possible pack fleeces from different breeds and types separately to avoid cross contamination and a reduced wool value. • Do not mix hill wool with lowland wool. Kemp from hill wools can cause cross contamination and spoil lowland fleeces.

• Do not mix coloured wool with white wool. Coloured fibres will contaminate white wool.

• Do not mix wool from hoggs with wool from ewes and wethers.

• Keep Bluefaced Leicester and Teeswater / Wensleydale fleeces separate from mule fleeces. Fleeces can be placed in a bag within the same wool sheet.

• Do not mix oddments with fleece wool.