How to Ship Wool Fleeces Using the Ron Parker Method:

(if you haven't yet skirted the fleece, please see this page on how to skirt fleeces, prior to shipping)

I use a small "Shop-Vac" as the means to remove the air from the bag of fleece be sure to use a suitable plastic bag with NO holes. If there is the smallest hole, this will not work place an index card or other piece of card stock, about a 4" X 5" piece on the top of the fleece. You will place the nozzle of the vacuum on this when you are sucking the air out of the bag ... this way, you will not be sucking directly on the wool and be removing part of the fleece gather the plastic bag and make as tight a seal as possible around the nozzle turn on the vacuum. Continue to gather the plastic bag as the size of the fleece decreases

You may need to turn off the vacuum and reorient the nozzle and regather the plastic bag to get the maximum amount of air removed from the bag of fleece. By doing this, you will have compressed the fleece and made it into 1/4 its original size. Use a twisty tie to close the bag tightly. This doesn't harm the fleece, so long as it isn't left this way for months.

By using this method of removing the air in the bag of fleece, you can easily ship four large fleeces in one box. The weight of this box is about 36 pounds. The box is also a sturdy box (but still within the shipping size limits), well taped on both top and bottom.

I always advise those who will open the box to open it carefully so as not to cut into the bags with a cutting knife, remove the bag of wool FIRST, then remove the twisty tie. The bag of wool will draw in air and return almost to its previous puffy volume.