How to take care of hand carders

Alan spun a FINE 'yarn':

+I just bought a pair of Ashford hand carders. The instruction sheet + says to card some+greasy wool first to condition the teeth. Has anyone done this? I+mentioned this on Ravelry and someone said they would NEVER card+anything but clean wool on their hand carders.++Thanks, + +Alan

Alan. . . It's more a matter of preference/taste. I wouldn't use greasy wool either. HTH, Noreen

If you do some of the grease will be transferred to the next fleece you card - and it will be very difficult to clean off the carders. What's more, if the teeth are set in rubber it could degrade with the action of grease.

I've never heard such tosh, our hand carders are ancient and in very good condition.

My husband used to work in a place which madeindustrial textile machinery, including huge drums to which carding 'cloth' was attached, the card had to be kept scrupulously clean.

Mary

Thanks. That all makes sense. I thought about the "oil degrades rubber" issue, too, which really made me wonder about Ashford's advice. Also, I figure that any lanolin on the teeth will quickly rub off, but the rubber will stay dirty forever. Doesn't seem worth it.

No greasy wool for me!

Alan

I talked to Spouse about this over lunch. He said it was b*ll*cks. Since he's the one who does carding and spinning here and has a lot of experience I'll take his word for it :-)

Mary