Once the fiber is thoroughly cleaned, it gets put on a drying rack in our basement. I would prefer to dry it outside, but living in Virginia means contending with humidity for many months of the year, so it's just easier to be able to put the fiber out on the drying rack with a fan and a dehumidifier in the controlled environment. Two days is what I have found works best.
The fiber than gets "plucked" for quality control to decide whether it's going to be used in our Paca Pet Poufs or our balls. This also lets me see whether there were any bits that didn't get pulled apart sufficiently during the process of putting the fiber out on the rack and to see if there are any dirty bits remaining.
The fiber smells lovely by this time and goes into large plastic bags for storage until it's ready for use. I try to keep a supply on hand for when I am running low on inventory of our products, but the customer who ordered the two large poufs earlier this summer "broke the bank" and it was back to washing just to make those Poufs. I try not to let this happen since it delays the delivery of the order, but as anyone in retail will tell you, it's hard to predict retail!
