How To Prepare Fiber With a Flicker Carder

The flicker carder is used for preparing long staple fibers for handspinning.

The flicker carder looks similar to a dog brush, with wire bristles that separate and lift the fibers.

flicker carder Hold one end of a staple of fiber firmly in one hand. Brush the ends of the staple very carefully, in order to keep the fibers straight, and gradually work up the length of the staple. Turn the staple around to expose the end that you were holding previously, and brush as before.

The flicker carder will remove the shorter fibers from the staple, and leave the longer ones. This preparation keeps the fibers parallel, and is ideal for spinning worsted yarns.