| Alpaca is a fine wool and does get static. You can lightly mist it with spray-on hair conditioner as you card or flick it. The cheapest brands work fine. I use a flick comb, hand cards, and I own a Louet Jr. roving carder. Of all of the prep methids, I find that I like the flick comb (or you can use a cheapmetal dog brush) the best. Alpaca doesn't have to be carded if you are spinning it before washing it. It doesn't contain lanolin like sheeps' wool. It IS very dusty and usually contain vegetable matter so I prefer to give it a quick rinse. It doesn't felt as readily as sheep wool, so I stuff lingerie bags full of the alpaca fleece and throw them into my front-loader washing machine on the hand-wash cycle and have had GREAT success doing that. I then either lay them out to dry or I put the rack in my dryer and set the cycle to 60 minutes on highest heat. Hope this helps. I also spin my alpace by hand on my wheel or a drop spindle. It behaves best for me on the wheel and is beautiful once plyed up into yarn! | 
