Extract Lanolin from Sheep's Wool
Sheep's wool contains lanolin as a form of protection against nature and insects. Human use of lanolin is as old as the use of wool. Extracting it is easy to do at home and is a great way to get lanolin that is pure, free of industrial chemicals and ready for use in homemade products.
Steps
- Obtain raw wool pieces or fleece that has not been washed. Raw wool or fleece can be purchased direct from a sheep farm, or, if you have your own sheep, use your own fleece.
- Fill a pot with water until full. The pot should be large enough to contain all the wool. It might be easier to do this outdoors over an open fire if you have a large amount of fleece.
- Put the raw wool into the pan or pot. Push the wool into the water gently. Pieces of wool can be placed in mesh laundry bags to prevent them from breaking apart.
- Add 1 - 3 tablespoons of salt to the water.
- Bring the water to boil. Keep the wool boiling over a period of several hours. During this time, keep an eye on the boiling water and add more water as it evaporates off. Do not leave unattended as the water could boil off and burn the wool.
- Clean and waterproof an area to place the wool.
- Remove the wool from the boiling water. Do this using a pair of tongs or large slotted spoons.
- Keep the water boiling until all the water evaporates off. The remaining substance is lanolin.
- Pour the lanolin through a cheesecloth. This will remove any impurities. Pour it into a bowl and leave to cool. Once cooled, scrape off the lanolin and place into sterilized jars. The lanolin is ready to use.
Tips
- Do not wash the wool in warm (hot) water before the process or the lanolin will be washed away!
Things You'll Need
- Large pan/pot
- Laundry mesh bags
- Water
- 1 - 3 tablespoons of salt
- Stove or open fire.
- Raw wool
- Tongs/slotted spoons
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