Wool?

Sally - posted on 10/23/2012

It's only itchy if you use crappy wool. Good wool is soft and doesn't have to be expensive if you know where to look. They only have to be washed when they get poop on them or when they start to smell bad (2-4 weeks depending on the quality of the wool, how heavily your child wets, and how quickly you change wet diapers). Sometimes if they've just been washed and the lanolin is still thick, you can just rinse off poop and let them dry.

To clean them, pick out a good wool wash (Euacalan and Soak are designed to get rid of dirt without stripping lanolin) and follow the instructions.

When they start leaking they need new lanolin. Dissolve a little lanolin (the kind the hospital gave you for your nipples works really well) in some hot water (a drip of wool wash in the mix and lots of shaking can help), in a squirt bottle. Spray it into warm water and soak your covers in it for about 15-20 minutes, squeeze out the water and air dry. When you wring them out they'll feel a little greasy and sticky, but it gets better when they dry.

Doreen - posted on 10/22/2012

LOVE LOVE LOVE Pure 100 % WOOL ! I'am a Gr'ma helping raise 2 of 4 Gr'kids, now 1 strictley in Cloth & wool Covers. I use a German Brand,,,,double knit,,,& I have gone Up a size or 2 to allow the X-tra bulk,,,,,NEVER N,E, LEAKS ! I use a good Indian type cloth, & also a booster-

- this can be hemp or bamboo,,,,also I have come to use a thin weave of raw silk ,,,this is for when baby has a pink bottom,,,,,in the mourning,,,,,All Cleared Up ! No Messy/Chemicle Creams on Babys Bottom ! I clean my Woolies I guess often,,,every 10 days -2 wks,,,using Eucalan, Wool Wash- Lavender scent & Lanshinoh Lanolin . NEVER is it Itchy ! VERY Soft !

My Best Suggestions ,,Use 100% Wool,,,or @ least as close to it,,,nothing under 80 %,,,,,Best to go W/ the Real Deal,,,No Compromise. Also Never Ever Rub Your Wool While Washing,,,,causes Felting,,,,the fibers sort of Pull in together causing a Tightning, & " I " have found that the Urine stays sort of Trapped in if Not Properley Cleaned, & Often. This is just how I have Delt W/ this. I have also come across a few Artisans who have made me some Beautiful Custome Woolie Wraps from ETSY.com~ These I use during the day,,,& the German Brand @ Night ! Good Luck ~

Gr'ma D

Janet - posted on 04/06/2010

I love wool. There are so many different kinds too. Hand knit or crochet, covers, shorties or longies, recycled sweaters or interlock fabric.

I use interlock longies, shorties, and covers. I love the sleek modern look of them compared to other styles. It's nice with longies to grab a diaper and longies and go. No need for the extra layer of clothing so it's nice and trim.

My favorite covers are muggabug, but that could be because they're mine. I fell in love with wool that I started my own business and now make covers, and many other baby items.

www.hyenacart.com/muggabug

Majaliwa - posted on 04/03/2010

Jennifer, to answer your questions:



1. No its not itchy. Wool covers are typically made from Merino sheep or Angora rabbits which means that they're not like some cheap wool sweaters you've probably felt - instead they're ultra soft, natural (a must for babies with sensitive skin), antibacterial, and the most efficient material for absorbing moisture and keeping baby’s skin and clothes dry.



2. You don't WASH them per se (like your other diapers), you lanolize them which is the process of cleaning them and readding lanolin to them. Lanolin is a product that makes the wool waterproof so it absorbs the moisture and keeps it in instead of leaking. This site gives simple instructions for how to lanolize wool. As some other posters have stated, you can also use wool wash to clean and relanolize your wool. Eucualan is the best brand for this. In my experience, I've needed to use both.



http://www.pootersdiapers.com/wool-and-l...



3. I've only used wool as a cover for nighttime and it works great. My only frustration with it is the wool lanolizing process. Because you can't wash it with your other diapers, it just adds another step to my cloth diaper routine and I prefer to keep things simple so I tend to use my fleece covers more (even though they're bulkier like you stated). I've also had the unfortunate incident of my husband being helpful and accidently throwing the wool into the wash with the other diapers and having it shrink.



4. In regards to your pocket diapers leaking, try checking out these tips.



BUY WELL FITTING DIAPERS & COVERS

A loose fitting diaper will leak on baby. The link below notes how to measure your baby to choose the right diaper.



http://www.pootersdiapers.com/right-size...



TURN THE ‘FIRE HYDRANT’ DOWN (Baby Boys Only)

If baby is a boy – make sure the ‘fire hydrant’ is pointing downwards before closing up the diaper – especially at nighttime.



AIR DRY:


The repellant properties of PUL will decline over time when dried on high heat. To extend the life of your diaper covers, All In Ones or Pocket diapers, air dry them whenever possible.



USE ONLY NATURAL LAUNDRY DETERGENT:

Diaper leaks can be caused by a build up of detergent in the diaper. The link below is a list of Recommended Detergents that have been tested to leave little to no residue on cloth diapers. If you're not using one of these you may consider stripping your diapers and then washing them with one of these detergents going forward. Below is a link to recommended detergents and a link with simple instructions for stripping diapers.



RECOMMENDED DETERGENTS

http://www.pootersdiapers.com/Recommende...



DIAPER STRIPPING INSTRUCTIONS

http://www.pootersdiapers.com/stink-out-...

Victoria - posted on 01/16/2010

there is a lot of helpful info here already... so I'll just encourage you to try it, you'll like it!! I was afraid of using wool, but got longies from a friend and LOVED them!! I have 4 longies now and use them over fitteds at night mostly. Good luck and happy cding!!

Rebecca - posted on 01/16/2010

I'm a big wool convert - super soft, breathable, easy to care for. For night time, I would HIGHLY recommend an Aristocrats Wool Soaker. I love mine. You would use it the same as a fleece cover. Normally, I just take mine off my boys (I have twins) in the morning and hang them up to dry during the day. Once a week, they get a Eucalan wash. I used to wash them with the lanolin mix suggested below, but I find the Eucalan is a little easier. During the day, I use a KiwiPie Peel or an ImseVimse cover. Both work well. I also make some wool covers out of my husband's old sweaters. My boys haven't had a single diaper rash since we switched to wool AND they started sleeping through the night in the wool covers. Before the switch, we were having major leak issues at night; not a problem with the wool covers. The big disadvantage of wool IMHO is if the kids are sitting in their carseats for an extended trip, the wool covers will wick moisture onto their clothes because of the compression from their seatbelts (my guys are heavy wetters as well). So I don't use the wool covers when traveling.

Jayna - posted on 01/11/2010

Wool is THe way to go, imo. I buy (for cheap!!) 100% wool sweaters from thrift stores to cut and make my own very cute pull-on covers (http://katrinassqs.blogspot.com/2007/10/...). Wool is naturally antibacterial so the beauty part is that you only have to wash your covers about every 2 weeks or when they get pooped on!!! Just soak in water with a lanolin rich wool wash (like Eucalan) for 10-15 min and hang to dry. You have to lanolinize with every 4th or 5th wash: dissolve about 1/4 inch of lanolin (like Lansinoh for nipple care) in a bit of hot water before you add your wool wash and cool water and wash like usual. Or, I like to use this lanolin spray I bought from punkinbutt.com. My babe is 17 months and never compIains of itchiness, some wool is softer and stretchier than others (merino is the best!), so you'll just have to experiment!

Amanda - posted on 01/11/2010

We use Little Beetle with Sustainablebabyish. Chisai Bums is my supplier (www.chisaibums.com)

Ana - posted on 01/11/2010

once you go wool, you'll never go back! we use indian prefolds and Baby Bee-Hinds ( www.bananapeelsdiapers.com ) felted wool covers for day and night and have never had a leak- not once! To wash, which we only do when they get pooped on, we use a wool soap bar (northernessence.com), otherwise we alternate between 3 covers and just air them out...so awesome.....

Jennifer - posted on 01/05/2010

Good suggestions. Thank you for the posts!

Naomi - posted on 01/04/2010

the good stuff is not itchy, in fact, they're very soft

I love wool for night. the only thing I don't like is if he poops in it... LOL
I have a lanolin bar soap for spot treatments and a wool wash with lanolin for regular washes (can go up to 4 - 6 weeks depending on use)

there are wool wraps, made of felted wool, my fav, very low maintenance.

a friend of mine is an expert knitter and has made my son a few longies/shorties, they're super cute and work well (of course she uses quality wool too)

Katie - posted on 01/04/2010

Not itchy at all! There are some amazing wool covers out there. I currently only use mine at night because they are a pull up style and I don't find that they fit as well on a mobile baby as a diaper that fastens with snaps or velcro does. I used to get leaks all the time at night but ever since we got the wool soakers, I can probably count on one hand how many times we've had leaks. I use a prefold and a PUL cover (Bummis Super Whisper Wrap) under the wool at night.
The prospect of wool can be intimidating but it's actually very easy to care for. The ones I have need to be hand washed and I use Eucalan wool wash (http://www.eucalan.com/) because it contains lanolin and it's very gentle. And then I use a lanolin balm after washing as well. One of the great things about wool though, is that it doesn't hold smell and it's antimicrobial. So as long as it doesn't get poop on it, it's OK to go a little while without a wash.
I have actually fallen so in love with my wool soakers that I have decided that I want to possibly replace all of my PUL covers with wool ones. Ever since my son has started solids and has truly stinky poos, I find that the PUL covers just hold onto that smell. Even after washing them they don't smell fresh no matter what I wash them with. It's that dang polyester. Have you ever bought a polyester shirt or jacket from a thrift store? And then you wash it and the first time you wear it, the moment you sweat even the tiniest bit, your sweat (which doesn't reek) brings out the stench of the previous owners pits?! Well, maybe that has never happened to you. But I can tell you it's nasty! Beware polester! haha
Just yesterday I order 2 new wool covers and I've been eyeing up another type that I've heard is nice. Here are some links for you...

Here's what I use at night:
http://woollybottoms.com/
just click on 'soakers'. There's pretty much nothing available right now but that's because they're made from recycled wool and so each colourway is limited. Just check back often because new ones get made and posted all of the time.

Here's where I just ordered 2 covers from...
http://www.loveybums.com/
Go to 'shop online', 'cloth diapering products', 'wool covers'
I purchased a wool jersey cover and a wool crepe cover. These diapers have gotten great reviews on diaperpin.com (http://diaperpin.com/home.asp)

Lastly, here's what I intend on buying next...
http://www.sugarpeas.com/
They're apparently very trim fitting and I've heard good things from a few people.

HTH:)

Elizabeth - posted on 01/04/2010

No, it's not itchy.



Most are hand wash only. I make mine with a wool blend so they are machine washable for those rare poo explosions though. You can find many websites with more info on how to wash wool including from our admin, Vilate.



There are some wool AI2 kind of diapers. I only have experience using as a cover.



The wool works just like your fleece cover.