Mill Services

( From 1 fleece, up to 25kg)

Please read below; this will ensure you have the best results we can deliver for you!

• Our geographical remit is currently Highlands & Islands. These areas have priority booking. If you live outside this area in Scotland only, we may still be able to book you into any scheduling gaps. Please contact us directly if you live outwith this area, and see below for delivery requirements.
• We will accept as little as a single fleece for processing. However, we will charge for a minimum of 2kg.
• Prices are charged on incoming (unprocessed) fibre weight in kilos.  A deposit of 20% will be required before work can commence on your order.
• A changeover fee of £15 will be charged for orders consisting of different breeds/colours. This covers staff costs for cleaning pertinent machinery, and can be waived by prior agreement, but in that case, client takes responsibility for cross contamination of fibres or colours within their order. All machinery is well cleaned between clients.
• Clients are responsible for delivering fleece for processing, and for arranging return of the finished product. We ask that ALL clients personally deliver their fleeces the first time they work with us, as your fleece will be assessed in your presence. Client is responsible for arranging return shipping – we will report weights and sizes of packed product with your final invoice, so you can arrange this. Alternatively, you are welcome to make an appointment to visit Highland Wool at The Hirsel in Ardgay to pick up your finished product.
• Upon receipt, we will weigh and assess your fleece, and will discuss any issues with you. We reserve the right to refuse any fleece we deem to be unsuited to our processing. For this reason, we ask that first-time clients bring their fleece to us in person, so weighing and assessing can be done in your presence. If you’ve worked with us before, and are familiar with our process, you are welcome to ship prepped fleece to us, per prior agreement.
• We have limited storage, therefore reception dates are carefully scheduled. We may refuse any unscheduled deliveries. Please contact us to reserve a slot in our processing calendar.
• Wool will lose weight during processing. Prepping your fleece well, skirting it and minimising vegetation matter (VM) or areas of poor, damaged and marked fibre before bringing it to us will reduce your processing costs and fibre/weight loss during processing. If you don’t have the space to do this work yourself, contact us about our supervised DIY skirting/picking options. We will charge just £15 per hour (min 1 hour) for you to use our facilities to do this  under supervision. Alternatively, you can volunteer to work on someone else’s fleece, and receive your training in return. Important note: our processing is largely ‘hands on’, we have very little heavy equipment, in contrast to large mills you may have used before. If you send us a VM heavy fleece, you are likely to receive VM heavy batts in return. Please contact us if you have any questions about this – the mill is a community effort, and we need to work together to deliver the best possible outcome and value for your fleece. If you have any questions about prepping, please ask, or check out the information on our Prep page.
• We wash, we don’t scour. We use very hot water and environmentally friendly detergent, plus human energy. Therefore, though the fleece will be clean of dirt and manure, and as clean of VM as we can manage (depending on how well it’s been prepped before reception), there is likely to be (depending on breed) lanolin present in the finished product. For this reason, we do not add conditioning agents to our finished products.
• We cannot card long staple fleeces yet. We may be able to wash and fluff them for you, at the above prices. Please contact us to discuss your needs.
• We do not process prewashed fibre.
• We only process sheep fibre. We do not blend or dye.
• No fleece will be processed if it has been treated with chemicals in the past 3 months.
• Labelling: Product will be returned flat, unwrapped, without labels, for you to roll and package at home. If you’d like them rolled before shipping, please let us know. We can also wrap them for an additional fee.
• Completion dates are approximate, we will contact you near the agreed date to confirm actual completion date.

This year, we’re buying more fleece. We’re looking for clean fleeces (skirted and large VM removed, no cotted fleeces please) from the 2026 shear, particularly from farms fairly local to the mill (IV24 3DJ) and from breeds listed on the RBST’s Watchlist. Note, we are not seeking white Cheviot or Hebridean at this time. Our general rate of pay is £1 per kg, we can pay as much as £2 per kg for exceptional fleeces. We pay a deposit, and the remainder within 12 months, sometimes sooner. We are also able to trade on a case by case basis: your fleeces in return for an agreed number of carded batts. Email info@highlandwool.com if you think we might be interested in your fleeces.