Green Mountain Spinnery Maintains Historic Wool Processing Machinery With Bio-Based Lubricants
The Vermont-based wool mill processes around 10,000 pounds of wool annually, combining century-old machinery with alternative lubricants and in-house parts fabrication to reduce its environmental impact.
Green Mountain Spinnery, a wool mill in Putney, Vermont, continues to transform raw wool into finished yarn using traditional processing methods and historic machinery. At the centre of its operations is a five-foot Davis & Furber-Whitin carding machine built in New England between 1908 and 1918.
The carding machine operates alongside other equipment dating from the mid-1940s and early-1950s. The mill processes approximately 10,000 pounds of wool annually, while the century-old carding machine is estimated to have processed nearly 1.1 million pounds over its lifetime.
Maintaining More Than a Century of Machinery
Scott Matthews, the mill’s carding operator and a nine-year veteran, is responsible for maintaining and fine-tuning the equipment. Lubrication is an important part of his regular maintenance routine.
Around a decade ago, Green Mountain Spinnery moved away from conventional petroleum-based lubricants in search of alternatives with a lower environmental impact. After testing several products, the mill selected lubricants from Renewable Lubricants.
The mill now uses one-gallon containers of Bio-Slide Way™ Lubricant, an ISO 68 lubricant, for transfer cases, sliding components and other moving surfaces. It also uses 11-ounce aerosol cans of Bio-Penetrating Lubricant™, an NSF H1 food-grade penetrant and light lubricant, for bearing shafts and hard-to-reach areas.
Bio-High Temp™ 180 E.P. Grease, a biodegradable lithium complex grease designed for high temperatures, extreme pressures and heavy-duty applications, is used on bearings and components with Zerk fittings. The products are purchased directly through the Renewable Lubricants website.
“We use the lubricating oils on almost everything in our shop. We’re an old mill,” Matthews says. “We only have to oil the card every couple of days, and it lasts long enough. So, we’re not using this any more than we did with the petroleum-based oil, which is good.”
According to the source, the selected lubricants do not require the daily reapplication associated with some other alternatives. Matthews prioritises equipment reliability throughout his eight-hour, single-shift workflow.
In-House Fabrication Extends Equipment Life
Sourcing replacement components for machinery that has been operating for decades can be difficult. To address this, the mill uses a combination mill drill press and lathe to manufacture custom parts and maintain its equipment.
The team produces spare components in advance and keeps them available when needed, reducing the need to outsource repairs, Matthews says. This approach also reduces shipping requirements for heavy and difficult-to-handle parts.
From Raw Wool to Finished Yarn
The mill’s yarn-making process relies primarily on mechanical equipment and natural materials. Customers deliver raw wool by shipment or in person, after which it is sorted and scoured in a custom-built water bath operating at 180 degrees. Organic soap is used to remove natural lanolin from the fibres.
The wool then passes through a four-stage steel roller squeezing system and a cast-iron washing machine dating to 1896. It is dried in a commercial dryer for 10 minutes to help prevent mildew.
Once dry, the wool passes through a picker fitted with large bear claws on a hollow drum. During the final pass, a measured mixture of water, oil and soap is added to control static electricity and loose fibres.
The wool then enters the historic carding machine before passing through a burr-crushing Peralta system. It is divided into 96 strands of roving and transferred to the spinning frame. The resulting yarn is steam-set, plied when required and wound into skeins according to customer specifications.
Reflecting on the importance of routine machine maintenance, Matthews jokes: “If you keep them lubricated, the machines don’t squeak!”
Green Mountain Spinnery’s operations combine traditional wool processing, the continued use of historic machinery, in-house component fabrication and alternative lubrication products.