How to Wash or Lanolize Wool Diaper Covers

Lanolin is the natural waterproofing on sheep's wool. This natural lanolin is what makes the wool "waterproof". Wool absorbs about 30% of it's weight without feeling wet, which means "overspill" gets absorbed by the wool and, ta da! No leaks. Just let the wool air dry between uses, and you can go for weeks between washings. Wool doesn't get smelly like synthetics do. The lanolin on the wool cover gets used up by the urine as the cover air dries, so after a while you will need to restore lanolin to the cover to maintain the cover's effectiveness. Getting lanolin back onto the wool is call Lanolizing. Some people do a short water-only soak or rinse prior to lanolizing to rinse out any residue first. Some like to lanolize their covers inside out, butI do not notice any difference in the results either way.

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To wash a wool cover without lanolizing, follow the same instructions but omit the lanolin.

If there is poop on the cover, use some olive oil bar soap (Kiss My Face makes some) and gently wash it out prior to lanolizing. If you don't have olive oil bar soap, Ivory bar soap will work fine. Do not use Woolite or other commericial wool detergents on diaper covers.

Melt 1/4 inch of Lansinoh Lanolin in hot water. Add 1/2 capful of Eucalan Woolwash to the hot water. Mix to break up and mix in the Lanolin. Fill sink. The water should be room temperature. Not ice cold, and not too hot. Place wool cover in sink and gently push cover under the water. Let it soak for about 15 minutes.

After soaking, gently squeeze excess water out, then roll it between two towels to get even more moisture out. Let it dry for about 24 hours.

If you can't see the video above, click here to view it.

This video is 2 minutes long. Thus you see, it only takes 2 minutes of doing something to lanolize a wool cover. It's easy!

How do I wash my wool covers?

Yes, wash wool, and everything new, before using on baby. All wool should be washed and then lanolized before using. Some will need 2 or 3 lanolizations before full wool performance is reached. Longies should be lanolized twice, once inside out. Disana twice or more. Rinse Disana items gently several times at first with a little wool bar soap or olive oil soap until they water is not dark brown anymore. Disana wool is very natural and brownness in the water at first is evidence of that. Then lanolize heavily twice, once inside out. See lanolization instructions below. After initial washing and lanolizing, wool does not need to be washed often. Just air the covers out between uses. Washing is only needed when they smell when dry or have been soiled. Olive oil soap is also safe to use. Be careful not to shrink your covers! 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 Lanolin Bar Soap, olive oil bar soap, Ivory bar soap, or gall soap. If covers are particularly dirty, soak in the sink for 15 minutes with a little wool bar soap and a teaspoon of vinegar. The vinegar will neutralize the urine (ammonia - high pH) that has built up on the cover over time. Then wash and lanolize normally, as in the video. Lanolizing the cover inside out can help prevent lanolin glops on the outside of the cover. Sometimes the lanolin glops not matter how carefully we lanolize (keep water warm enough to help prevent glopping, and a few drops of vinegar may help, also) but glops happen and are no big deal. Ignore them. The Disana Wool Pull-Ons are designed to shrink a bit in the width and get softer after washing. If you are in a hurry, you may even want to put them in the dryer on low with several clean dry towels for a few minutes initially. But don’t over-do this! This will bring the knit closer together. After the initial width shrinkage, please do NOT put them in the dryer again, just roll in a towel and lay flat to dry. To maintain the stretchiness of the organic wool, do not put them in the dryer at all, but simply make sure you put lots of cotton inside at first. The performance of the Disana knit wools will be enhanced by an initial heavy lanolization or sometimes two lanolizations. Their performance improves with use. Be patient with them. It takes some time to break them in, but after a while they perform fabulously. Aristocrats and LANA and other wools should never be put in the dryer. Gently handwashing with room temperature water in a Eucalan or Woolwash bar minimizes shrinkage, and is recommended. Some people gently machine wash their 7th Heaven, RumpWraps, Imse Vimse or Sckoon wool covers. Expect some to a lot of shrinkage if you decide to do that. You can get away with machine washing the felted Imse Vimse or Sckoon wraps especially if you have a front loading machine. I’ll still handwash my wool, to keep them nice and it’s really quite easy. Rubbing the wool hard will felt the wool and shrink it. Be gentle with your wool. If you have just a small spot of poop on the wool cover but it really doesn’t need washing yet, just spot clean only that spot with a little Hug a Dub Dub Woolwash bar soap, Ivory bar soap, gall soap or other woolwash bar and blot it on a towel, and it will be ready to use again quickly. You don’t always need to wash the entire cover. Don’t use Woolite or other commercial woolwashes because it will wash the lanolin right off and your covers will leak, and there is a potential for rashes with those more harsh products. Use the Eucalan Woolwash. Alternatively, olive oil bar soap can be used to wash wool if baby or mom has a sensitivity to eucalyptus or lavender in the Eucalan Woolwash.

How do I lanolize my wool covers?
Periodically, wool covers must be re-lanolized to maintain the water resistance. Use only 1/4 to 3/4” of the Lansinoh Lanolin or PureLan. Solid lanolin such as Lansinoh is more effective than liquid lanolins or lanolin sprays. Start with 1/4” and see if you need more. If you overdo the lanolin, the cover will feel greasy. That is actually ok if you don’t mind how that feels, and you wool will perform very well with the extra lanolin. In a cup or the bottom of the sink if you have very hot water ready at the tap, melt the lanolin in hot water, and add some Eucalan. By adding the Eucalan to the lanolin mixture to prevent the lanolin from glopping. The lanolin must stay a bit warm or it will congeal and get gloppy. Fill a small sink or container with room temperature water and add the lanolin-Eucalan mixture, then gently press the cover under the water. Swish a tiny bit, or very gently massage it to distribute the lanolin into the entire cover. You can turn the cover inside out and gently lift the cover through the water so the cover catches the lanolin, but be gentle. Let it soak for at least 15 minutes, longer is fine. Add warm water if needed. Don’t get the water too hot so you don’t shrink the cover. Water that is too cold will shock the wool and can shrink it. Caring for wool sounds more diffcult than it really is. The breathability and natural antibacterial quality of wool cannot be matched by any synthetic. Wool doesn’t retain odors like all synthetics do. Wool is well worth the effort. Caring for wool may actually be easier than synthetic covers because the washing is so infrequent.

Drying wool
Roll firmly between two towels to get most of the moisture out but do not wring. Let them air dry in a warm, dry place but not in direct hot sunlight. It is normal to take 24 hours to dry. If you are in a humid place, a very gentle indirect fan can help. Also, turning the wool inside out halfway through is a good idea. Laying flat on a sweater drying rack is great so they don’t stretch out yet air can circulate. How often is “periodically”??? How often should I wash the wool covers or lanolize them? It varies a lot! I’ve heard some say they almost never wash their Aristocrat, others wash them every other week. It seems that washing once every 3-4 weeks or so is common. Some relanolize once a month, others relanolize at every washing. It’s very personal. When the cover has a foul odor when it’s dry, it’s time to wash it. Or when the dampness comes right through the cover, it’s time to lanolize (or possibly it’s time to add more cotton inside, such as double diapering or adding a doubler or two).
Wool is not waterproof.
Just air out the wool. Do not expect wool to be waterproof like synthetics. But it is very breathable, which is cool and wonderful. It’is the lanonlin on the wool that is water resistant, and the wool is actually absorbent. The wool is supposed to get damp when the cotton inside is sopping. That’s ok! Just air it out and use it again. Defining when washing or lanolizing is needed varies tremendously. Try putting some water on the cover from the sink. If the water soaks right in, then it’s time to lanolize the cover. If the water beads up a bit, it doesn’t need more lanolin, but you might need to use more cotton to get more absorbency. Do what works for you.

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