How do I wash my wool?
Wash wool products in lukewarm water using a wool-safe wash.
Make sure the water is not too hot or cold, this may shock the wool.
Roll in a towel and lay flat to dry. Prewash and lanolize your wool
before using on baby. You will only need to wash your wool from now on
every few weeks or when soiled. Urine reacts with the lanolin to form a
natural soap, this makes your wool self-cleaning between washes! Be
careful not to shrink your covers! Just air dry between uses. Don't wash
your covers by machine or put them in the dryer. Strong agitation will
shrink them, and shocking the wool with either hot or very cold water
will shrink them. Use warmer than room temperature water. Spot clean
with a Wool Wash Bar, olive oil bar soap, Ivory bar soap. If covers are particularly dirty, soak in the sink for 15 minutes with a little wool wash and a teaspoon of vinegar. The vinegar will neutralize the urine (ammonia - high pH) that has built up on the cover over time. To lanolize your cover Add a pea size amount of solid lanolin or liquid lanolin to
the bottom of your sink. Add a bit of very hot water and 1/2 tsp. of
baby shampoo (this helps emulsify the lanolin) Swish until well mixed.
The mixture will become sort of white and you won’t see oil floating.
You can also do this in a separate jar, if desired. Full the sink the
rest of the way with lukewarm water. Add the cover and let it soak for a
few hours. Gently roll the cover in a towel and lay flat to dry. I
usually lay my cover to dry on top of the dryer. Do not put your wool in
direct sunlight. How often you need to lanolize depends on how often
the cover is used. You may notice the the cover does not seem to
neutralize urine like it used to. For light lanolizing or touch ups, you
can use a spray lanolin just make sure you really massage it into the wool. I have found the sink method is the most effective for night time covers. I shrunk my cover! Help!!! Wool
shrinks when exposed to shocking changes of temperature and/or
agitation If your cover was machine washed or dried by accident (I don't
recommend you doing this on purpose) and looks minuscule, there is
something you can do to fix it most of the time.
You will need a big
bottle of hair conditioner (the cheap kind is just fine). Fill your sink
with lukewarm water and dilute half bottle of conditioner, soak the
cover in it!... You can almost hear the cover squeal in delight :) Now
gently stretch the cover until you get it back to its normal size using
more conditioner if needed. Once you have it back to normal size, take
good care to rinse it well and gently, using tepid water. Wash it with
shampoo again to get every bit of conditioner out but been careful not
to rub hard or using too hot or too cold water or you could felt it
again . Finally rinse with clean tepid water and 1 TBS of vinegar.
Why?... Because if left it in the cover the hair conditioner will cause
the wool to hang on smells and be less water repellent/absorbent. My cover feels very wet and tends to leak Wool
is not waterproof like plastic is. Wool is a natural fiber that absorbs
30% of the moisture that comes in contact with it and slowly let
evaporate it out in the air. This is why wool is the best cover material
you can get. The air circulates freely and prevents diaper rash keeping
baby skin healthy. If your cover leaks, is possible that you are not
using an absorbent enough diaper; For night time and heavy wetters you
should use some extra layers or doublers. (Hemp is very absorbent and
trimmer, so is organic cotton my favorite) Also do change your baby more
often The other thing might be that it needs to be lanolized again. You
will need to lanolize your covers prior to their first use. I lanolized my cover but now it feels tacky is this normal?... While
it is possible to put too much lanolin, it won't harm the cover.
Eventually it will feel normal. Next time use less. A pea size is all
what is needed. If you really hate the feeling of it, you can strip it
by washing it with a little of dishwasher detergent and rinsing well.
Don't forget to lanolize again an amount the size of a pea. Lanolin is
the soul of the wool, it is what keeps the cover antibacterial and
performing well by changing the urine by contact in natural soap and
keeping it odor free and water resisting. I wash my cover and smells like wet sheep! Yes,
that can happen especially with virgin wool, organic and untreated wool
jersey or interlock. The wool smells like wet sheep because is
minimally treated to preserve its natural lanolin. The smell lasts only
while wet and once dry you won't feel any smells. This will not happen
with baby urine since the lanolin combines with it creating a satiating
solution of natural soap. If you find that your cover start to smell
like baby pee, this means that needs to be washed: shampoo first, rinse
with a tiny bit of vinegar and lanolize. How many wool covers do I need?... Wool
doesn't need to be washed every time it gets wet, that is the beauty of
it. You will need 4 covers at least with an older baby and up to 6 for a
newborn. I recommend you to air your covers between changes and wash
the soiled ones immediately to avoid set stains. Wool will outlast your
baby's diapering years, it can be hand out easily if you What are the
biggest NO- NOs?.... Rough rubbing, sudden temperature changes (Too hot or too cold water) and Machine wash or dry.
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