Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

We are doing this experiment, trial one is complete. Our wool yarn balls got so tangled unfortunately we were not able to sort them out. We are starting over. We are planning to soil all the wool yarn balls together. Do we need to prepare a double or triple amount of 10% artificial sebum? How can we keep the wool yarn balls from getting tangled when we shake the jar during the 20 minutes soiling process? Also, how do we need to dispose of the acetone once we complete the project.





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Hello,

This sounds like a fun project!

You'll need enough artificial sebum to thoroughly coat all the wool yarn balls, a double batch might be enough but you'll have to judge. It's okay if the balls get tangled a bit, you'll just need to make sure you can still separate them and ensure they are thoroughly dry after evaporating the acetone and after washing. You might consider tying them in loose spools before beginning, soiling them separately, or stirring instead of shaking to avoid knots.

It's okay to rinse the small amounts of acetone used in this experiment down the drain.

Good luck,

Audrey