Why VM (Vegetable Matter) Can Ruin a Stunning Fleece – and How to Avoid It
As someone who works closely with raw sheep fleece, I know just how magical a well-cared-for fleece can be. I buy directly from small flocks and pet sheep owners, especially those with rare or heritage breeds. Supporting these keepers is a joy—but only when the fleece is actually usable.
During a recent stock take of my raw fleece store, I had a frustrating and disappointing discovery. Two fleeces that I hadn’t had time to open when they arrived turned out to be completely full of straw and vegetable matter (VM). I mean full—beyond salvageable.
It was gutting. These fleeces were stunning—rich with lanolin, beautifully soft, with a lovely long, crimped staple. They had everything I look for in a fleece, and they could have become a pair of thick, characterful peg loomed cushions, seat pads, or even a rug. Instead, they’re basically unusable. When it takes me 8 to 10 hours to create a finished item from a fleece, I simply can’t afford to spend several extra hours just trying to pick out straw.
Why VM is such a problem
Fleece full of VM doesn’t just take longer to work with—it’s almost impossible to clean thoroughly. Tiny bits of straw or burrs can stay lodged even after washing, carding, and felting. They ruin the texture and feel of the final product, and in some cases, the whole fleece has to be written off, which is also a financial loss to me as I had paid for the fleece!
This is such a waste—not just of my time, but of the effort and care that goes into raising and shearing these beautiful sheep.
Simple tips to keep your fleece clean and sellable
If you’re a sheep owner hoping to sell your fleece to hand crafters like me, a few small changes can make a huge difference:
- Avoid feeding from haynets hung above head height. This leads to fleeces getting rained on by falling hay and seed heads.
- Keep straw out of the picture just before shearing. Don’t bed them down on straw the night before—it clings like Velcro.
- Shear on a clean surface. A large mat, board, or tarpaulin is ideal. Sweep or shake it off between each sheep.
- Keep freshly shorn fleece off the ground. Lay it out on a clean sheet or board—not on straw, hay, or dusty concrete.
These steps might sound fiddly, but they make a massive difference to the usability of your fleece. A clean fleece saves hours of work, and more importantly, it means your beautiful wool gets turned into something special—felted rugs, cushions, art pieces, or handspun yarn—instead of ending up in the compost pile.
I love supporting small flocks and rare breed keepers. It’s part of what makes this work so rewarding. So please, help us both out by keeping your fleeces clean and free from VM!
