Okay, I admit that at first I was scared to use wool diaper covers; using something on my child’s bum that could not go in the washing machine simply made no sense to me! That is until a friend of mine started knitting and made me THE CUTEST orange wool diaper cover with a matching orange pumpkin hat. The knitted set arrived in the mail when I was around 30ish weeks pregnant with baby #2. I still remember opening the package and feeling so excited to have this beautiful handmade gift for my baby…one that I now had to figure out how to use, lol! Thankfully, as it turns out, wool is actually rather simple to care for. There are 3 main things you need to do in order to properly care for wool:

1. Lanolize– Lanolin is a waxy substance found on sheep’s wool that protects the skin and wool of the animal. We lanolize wool items to help make them waterproof and protect against dirt. In general you will want to lanolize your wool before using for the first time and from then on whenever you notice your wool is becoming less water resistant.  Check here for a super easy description on how to lanolize your wool using either pure lanolin, wool wash bar, or liqiud lanolin.

2. Washing – I honestly think washing my wool covers is easier than washing any of my other covers. All you need is a wool wash, a basin of lukewarm water, and your soiled cover…that’s it! First RINSE your wool cover with warm water. Next SPOT TREAT with a gentle soap or wool wash. Then SOAK your diaper cover in a basin (or right in your sink) of warm water with a small amount of wool wash for about 10-15 minutes. Lastly RINSE one final time until the water runs clear.

3. Drying – Drying your wool is a piece of cake. All you need to do is gently squeeze out any access water and lay flat on a towel to air dry. That’s all! Do NOT put wool in the dryer…it will become felted and shrink up into an itty bitty wool cover.

You do not necessarily need to wash your wool cover every time you use it. Often I can use the same wool cover all day, sometimes even multiple days, before washing it. As long as it does not get soiled and is properly lanolized so urine does not soak into the fibers, you can often re-use a wool cover several times before it needs to be washed. How cool is that! 🙂

Okay so now that you know how easy wool is to use, are you ready to give it a try? Go for it!! However if you are still on the fence about introducing wool into your diaper stash, be sure to check back here tomorrow to learn more about wool and why it’s a top choice diaper cover for many cloth diapering families!

-Sarah