Washing and Carding Service

At Dakota Carding & Wool Co. we have processed your fibers for hand spinning and felting for 17 years!  Using our 3 ton, 40" industrial carder we card fibers into a web or cloud (no roving) using no carding oil. Our web/cloud preparation is fully carded and easy to spin (or felt) requiring no pre-drafting.  Many hand spinnners enjoy our carded wool preparation for woolen spinning, long draw spinning and even semi-worsted spinning of yarns.

We are looking for a buyer for our carding mill and while this process takes place we will continue some custom carding as we wind down the business.

Thank you for your support of our carding mill services over the past 17 years!

If you are interested and serious about starting your own carding mill business please reach out for details and information here

Washing and Carding Services

What You Need to Know

• We have no minimum size for an order but there is a $25.00 minimum charge.
• You are guaranteed to receive your own wool back.
• We wash your fleece using environmentally safe products.
• We clean the machine between individual runs.
• We will blend fine fibers or blend coarse fibers, natural & dyed color mixes.
• We will card your leftovers together.
• We will card each order individually.
• We will card exotics – we will not card 100% mohair, 100% angora rabbit or 100% Suri, these must be blended with at least 50% wool or other fiber. At this time we are not carding fine bombex silk or suri alpaca over 5" no matter what the blend.
• We will card color blends, very long or very short fibers and thrums.

Processing Sheep Wool, Llama, and Alpaca

• Some facts and helpful hints based on years of experience in processing animal fibers.
• Please skirt your fleece and make sure that it is not contaminated with plastic baling twine, hoof trimmings, sticks, stones, burdocks, wire, etc.
• The cleaner you get your fiber before you send it, the cleaner you'll get it back.
• We will only card <5" Suri Alpaca as a blend with sheepswool.
• All fibers must be washed before carding. Either you can do it or we will.
• Do not send tightly matted or felted fleece.
• Shorter fleece, 4" or less, cleans up better (Icelandic wool at 6-7" being the exception here)
• The longer time the fiber spends on the animal the harder it is to card.
• If an animal has been stressed or ill, it will show in the fleece. Check for break points and scurf. 
• Scurf does not wash or card out and we will not card fleeces with scurf.
• Guard hair does not card out entirely.
• White, black or dark fleece shows remaining debris the most.
• We do not use hot water or detergent on llama or alpaca.
•  Return shipping charges will be added to the final bill