I have two more alpaca fleeces to process and have begun to sort them.  Neme has tan and white and the locks are fairly consistent and long. Isabeta is a lighter shade of tan with shorter locks.  I was originally going to blend all the tan together but the Isabeta fleece is not as fine as Neme so I would likely end up with problems carding them together.  I will do a small trial to see if it is possible.

The first step is to remove the dust and dirt that builds up in the fleece.  As there is no grease a large amount of this can be blown out.  I found I can load up a laundry bag with a reasonable amount of locks. Attach it to the clothes line with pegs at the top and a bungy cord at the bottom (looped through a weight.  This keeps the bag fairly steady.

I then take the leaf blower and blast the bag for a few minutes each side.

After that I give the bags a gentle wash in hot water with a tiny amount of Dawn dishwashing liquid, followed by two rinses.  I squeeze the water out by rolling the bags in a couple of large towels. The locks are then laid out to dry on a large drying frame made with insect screen.  I do this indoors under a ceiling fan on medium and find that it generally takes about a day to dry completely.