Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tell Me About Wool!

My friend, Mandi, is my first guest blogger!  She loves a baby in wool.......
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I hate to admit it so publicly, but I am addicted to wool diaper covers.

Soakers, Shorties & Longies
Knit, Jersey, Upcycled & Interlock
I can not help myself.
I.Love.Wool.

Like any type of cloth diaper, there are many types of wool covers to choose from to suit your own needs, taste and budget.

Wool covers come in a wide variety of styles.
There are typical covers like pull-on soakers as well as snap-on or tie-on wraps.
My personal favorite is using wool as not only a diaper cover, but also as clothing.
Nothing is cuter than a pair of wool shorties, longies or skirties. 
 Cute AND functional.

As many style options as there are available, there are just as many choices for the type of wool used.
There's super stretchy and durable wool interlock.
Soakers made out of wool interlock are my fave for under clothes as it seems less bulky to me.

Sustainablebabyish (Sloomb) Soaker, Embellished Wild Child Woolies soaker and Rainbow Water interlock longies

Many snapping covers are made of thin, yet absorbent jersey or crepe wool.
If you're looking for an alternative to the typical PUL covers, here's your solution.

My personal favorite and biggest cloth diaper budget buster is knit wool.
This is where the heart of my addiction lies.
There's a whole world out there of wahm dyers and knitters tempting me with their beautiful creations.
 My favorite yarns come from Mosaic Moon
Now, if only I could learn how to knit...

You can even recycle those old wool sweaters collecting dust and turn it into your own upcycled diaper cover.
Or if you are sewing-challenged like myself, you can very cheaply buy them on etsy or hyena cart.
 My personal favorite...Woolybottoms

So, yeah, these are cute.
But, why wool?!?!
Wool is naturally water resistant and breathable while at the same time it can absorb up to 30% of its own weight in moisture.
Really it is the perfect material for a diaper cover.

Many people may be intimidated by caring for wool covers.
But, fear not!
It's quite simple.
Wool covers do not need to be washed with every use. Only if they get soiled should they be washed immediately after using.
Wool with typical use should be washed once every few weeks. I wash about once a month. More frequently with heavier use or if my little one is wetting heavily.
While wool interlock can be machine washed, I choose to hand wash all my wool
Here is a good, in-depth tutorial on washing wool.
My method is to first rinse all my covers in semi-warm water.
Then, using my favorite wool wash, I fill the sink with tepid water and the correct amount of the wool wash.
Wash, let it soak for about 30 minutes, drain and then, roll up in a towel to gently squeeze out excess water.
Lie flat to dry and Voila!
Even though using my favorite wool wash requires no extra lanolizing step, I  like to keep lanolin spray on hand for touch-ups between washings and spraying in the areas that need just a little extra moisture barrier.

So, there you have it!
Everything you need to know to fall in love with wool!

Mandi Sanders is a breastfeeding, cloth diapering, babywearing mama to 2 precious boys both born at home in Mississippi. While her love of wool diaper covers give her extra points in the granola department, she allows for equal opportunity enjoyment for all things crunchy. Mandi loves blogging about natural family living and her adventures therein.


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Do you use wool?
What type of wool covers do you prefer?

7 comments:

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

We have a few wool covers and I really like them. The washing process was intimidating at first but I bought some MamaBear Babywear wool wash and it was really really easy and no big deal at all. I made my own lanolizing spray but squeezing an inch of Lansinoh lanolin into a cup of water and microwaving it until the lanolin melted and then putting the mix into a spray bottle.

Wool is expensive and I am cheap. That's my only issue. All the wool we have I bought second hand so I was more comfortable with the prices. An interlock wool cover was the only thing that kept Liza from waking up with soaked jammies for several months. It really is amazing stuff!

Christine said...

I want to love wool, but the problem I am having so far is with absorbency. I have tried lanolizing with Lansinoh, and the wool still gets pretty wet. I'm going to try using more lanolin (was using a pea-size) and see if that helps. If not, I'm totally going to get some of that lanolizing wool wash and spray. Thanks for the recommendations!!!

Mandi @ Living the Good Life said...

With kiddo number 1, I did the pea-sized lanolin dissolved in water thing, and I just didnt ever get it quite right. It also was prone to leaving spots on the wool. I decided to try the lanolin wool wash when a ENI co-op was running about 1 year into my wool journey and haven't turned back. It's SO easy and I never worry about the spots or it not being done well enough. It's really good stuff!

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

Christine, the lanolin wash is much better. I used the pea sized amount the first few times and ended up with ugly spots on a pretty cream wool diaper cover.

This post got me thinking once Henry refused to wear a diaper for his nap. He is wearing him Minnie Mouse panties with a pair of wool shorties I bought used for Liza. He looked pretty cute and I am hoping that it will help him stay asleep if he tinkles a little in his sleep. I'm probably screwed if he flat outs pees though :(

Imogen (alternative-mama.com) said...

Oh, you are a bad influence... I am itching to get into wool and now it's settled, i simply must. I'm going to need to take a second job to fund this cloth habit i am developing.....

Mollyandollie said...

I love wool and have made tons of longies and some shorties from recycled sweaters. Let me know if ya'll want some custom made. I had a hard time finding the right ones for Oliver's long torso and short legs!

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

Imogen, you need wool. Let me enable you.

Molly, I have some wool sweaters stashed away for upcycling into woolies. We need to chat.