Raw Buffalo Bison Wool 1 oz, Exotic Luxury Fiber for Spinners

$12.00
I am so excited to be offering this amazing exotic raw fiber for hand-spinners, and naturally shed from bison raised right here in Tennessee! Buffalo or bison wool is incredibly soft - it’s a down fiber, rather than “wool”. This comes as a 1 ounce sheet that will need to be somewhat dismantled/processed before using.

We are partnering with friends who have a small herd of bison here in Tennessee. Buffalo have a thick, wooly coat of short but very soft fiber that they shed in the spring as temperatures climb.  It comes off almost in sheets that they scrape off onto fences and trees.  The owners are collecting the shed felt sheets and scraps, when they can get to them before the birds (it's apparently a prized nest-making material).  I am selling this exactly the way it came off the buffalo - I will pick most of the larger sticks and bits of grass off, pull off the majority of the loose coarse hair on the underside, and shake/clap out most of the dirt, but it isn't fully cleaned or washed or dehaired.  Bison have a two-part coat, with the soft wool underneath a longer, coarser coat of guard hair.  This needs to be carefully plucked out before processing for spinning.  If you'd like to truly process your fiber from start to finish, this is the wool for you!  I will not include pieces that are mostly hair, but the amount will vary - some felts are almost entirely soft wool, while some are covered with guard hair.  If you've never seen a buffalo felt before, they are quite unique - all of these pieces are seemingly tightly felted on the back side, but it does come apart when worked.  It is merely matted into a sheet, rather than truly felted, when the fibers are interwoven and contracted permanently.  It will card into soft, fluffy wool with a bit of effort.  

Texture wise, I consider this very similar to a fine alpaca wool, but shorter than most alpaca fiber. Like alpaca, it has no lanolin or grease of any kind, and only needs to be cleaned of dust and VM.
I am so excited to be offering this amazing exotic raw fiber for hand-spinners, and naturally shed from bison raised right here in Tennessee! Buffalo or bison wool is incredibly soft - it’s a down fiber, rather than “wool”. This comes as a 1 ounce sheet that will need to be somewhat dismantled/processed before using.

We are partnering with friends who have a small herd of bison here in Tennessee. Buffalo have a thick, wooly coat of short but very soft fiber that they shed in the spring as temperatures climb.  It comes off almost in sheets that they scrape off onto fences and trees.  The owners are collecting the shed felt sheets and scraps, when they can get to them before the birds (it's apparently a prized nest-making material).  I am selling this exactly the way it came off the buffalo - I will pick most of the larger sticks and bits of grass off, pull off the majority of the loose coarse hair on the underside, and shake/clap out most of the dirt, but it isn't fully cleaned or washed or dehaired.  Bison have a two-part coat, with the soft wool underneath a longer, coarser coat of guard hair.  This needs to be carefully plucked out before processing for spinning.  If you'd like to truly process your fiber from start to finish, this is the wool for you!  I will not include pieces that are mostly hair, but the amount will vary - some felts are almost entirely soft wool, while some are covered with guard hair.  If you've never seen a buffalo felt before, they are quite unique - all of these pieces are seemingly tightly felted on the back side, but it does come apart when worked.  It is merely matted into a sheet, rather than truly felted, when the fibers are interwoven and contracted permanently.  It will card into soft, fluffy wool with a bit of effort.  

Texture wise, I consider this very similar to a fine alpaca wool, but shorter than most alpaca fiber. Like alpaca, it has no lanolin or grease of any kind, and only needs to be cleaned of dust and VM.