Sunday, March 30, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Wool Care-Easier than you think!
One of the main downsides to wool is all of the care, right? The constant handwashing...what a pain!
I actually find my wool easier to care for than my PUL or vinyl covers as I only have to wash them once every 2 weeks. I wash my wool in rotations so that I never have all of it being washed at once. This would lead to all of it drying at once and then I would be out of covers! Not good.
I have used wool wash and have also made my own solution from lanolin and baby wash. Both work well, but of course I prefer the wool wash because it is easier. Lately I have been using Northern Essence wool wash in Pink Sugar scent, which is really yummy. I have also used Eucalan for the last couple of days and it is nice too.
For the wool wash, all you have to do is fill your kitchen sink with tepid water and then add a tablespoon or two of wool wash. Swish it around until the water looks cloudy. Then add your wool. Gently squeeze the wool to help it absorb the wash and then lay it out flat in the sink (not balled up). I usually wash 2-3 pieces at a time and I stick to washing the same shades together to avoid any dyes transferring or fluffy wool pieces getting stuck on another item that will really show and become a pain for me. Once the wool is in place, leave it for 30 minutes. Just walk away and do something else that you need to get done. Come back in about half an hour (don't worry if it's longer...I've forgot about wool overnight before!) with a thick towel. Lay the towel on the floor. Gently squeeze out your wool items and lay them on the towel. Roll the towel up, enclosing the wool in the roll. Gently squeeze the towel as you are rolling it. Unroll the towel and lay your wool out flat to dry. You can box, or shape, it at this point and smooth out any wrinkles. Leave to dry. Drying times depend on the wool. Thinner items like cashmere could dry in 24 hours. Heavier wools could take 48-72 hours. This is why I rotate my washing!
So, yes the drying process takes a while...but you really don't have to do much to launder your wool.
Edited June 16th....the past few times that I have washed wool I have actually skipped the towel step. I just take all of the soaking wet wool (in a bucket or large bowl) down to the washing machine. Then I put on the spin cycle until the water is out. This is so much more effective. I have been drying the wool outside on the deck and with summer heat, it has been drying in about 3 hours. (Longer for the aristocrats, but they are insanely thick!)
Making your own wool wash
You will need lanolin (lansinoh brand works just fine...yes the stuff for breastfeeding and nipple pain) and a mild cleanser like baby shampoo.
Put a small amount of lanolin in a baby food jar or small mason jar. (Small amount=about the size of 2 peas.) Add water into the jar. Stick in the microwave until hot. Be careful taking the jar out of the microwave as it will be very hot. Stir the water around to dissolve the lanolin fully. Add about a half teaspoon of baby shampoo and stir. Your water should look cloudy. Add to a sink of tepid water and swirl water around. You want the water to look cloudy and you don't want to see big clumps of lanolin or big oil patches in the water. If the water looks really oily you may need a little more shampoo to help break it up.
Now wash just as if you were using woolwash.
Eeek! The diaper leaked nasties onto the wool!
If your little one leaks out of the diaper and gets a mess on the wool, make sure to treat it as soon as the diaper change is over. Rinse the mess off with cool water as best you can. Then use a mild soap or wool wash bar (I've used liquid baby shampoo in a pinch) and wash that stain. Use enough pressure to get the soiled bits out, but remember that you do need to be gentle with wool. Wash as usual.
If you end up with a stain, don't fret too much...you can always sun it out later.
I actually find my wool easier to care for than my PUL or vinyl covers as I only have to wash them once every 2 weeks. I wash my wool in rotations so that I never have all of it being washed at once. This would lead to all of it drying at once and then I would be out of covers! Not good.
I have used wool wash and have also made my own solution from lanolin and baby wash. Both work well, but of course I prefer the wool wash because it is easier. Lately I have been using Northern Essence wool wash in Pink Sugar scent, which is really yummy. I have also used Eucalan for the last couple of days and it is nice too.
For the wool wash, all you have to do is fill your kitchen sink with tepid water and then add a tablespoon or two of wool wash. Swish it around until the water looks cloudy. Then add your wool. Gently squeeze the wool to help it absorb the wash and then lay it out flat in the sink (not balled up). I usually wash 2-3 pieces at a time and I stick to washing the same shades together to avoid any dyes transferring or fluffy wool pieces getting stuck on another item that will really show and become a pain for me. Once the wool is in place, leave it for 30 minutes. Just walk away and do something else that you need to get done. Come back in about half an hour (don't worry if it's longer...I've forgot about wool overnight before!) with a thick towel. Lay the towel on the floor. Gently squeeze out your wool items and lay them on the towel. Roll the towel up, enclosing the wool in the roll. Gently squeeze the towel as you are rolling it. Unroll the towel and lay your wool out flat to dry. You can box, or shape, it at this point and smooth out any wrinkles. Leave to dry. Drying times depend on the wool. Thinner items like cashmere could dry in 24 hours. Heavier wools could take 48-72 hours. This is why I rotate my washing!
So, yes the drying process takes a while...but you really don't have to do much to launder your wool.
Edited June 16th....the past few times that I have washed wool I have actually skipped the towel step. I just take all of the soaking wet wool (in a bucket or large bowl) down to the washing machine. Then I put on the spin cycle until the water is out. This is so much more effective. I have been drying the wool outside on the deck and with summer heat, it has been drying in about 3 hours. (Longer for the aristocrats, but they are insanely thick!)
Making your own wool wash
You will need lanolin (lansinoh brand works just fine...yes the stuff for breastfeeding and nipple pain) and a mild cleanser like baby shampoo.
Put a small amount of lanolin in a baby food jar or small mason jar. (Small amount=about the size of 2 peas.) Add water into the jar. Stick in the microwave until hot. Be careful taking the jar out of the microwave as it will be very hot. Stir the water around to dissolve the lanolin fully. Add about a half teaspoon of baby shampoo and stir. Your water should look cloudy. Add to a sink of tepid water and swirl water around. You want the water to look cloudy and you don't want to see big clumps of lanolin or big oil patches in the water. If the water looks really oily you may need a little more shampoo to help break it up.
Now wash just as if you were using woolwash.
Eeek! The diaper leaked nasties onto the wool!
If your little one leaks out of the diaper and gets a mess on the wool, make sure to treat it as soon as the diaper change is over. Rinse the mess off with cool water as best you can. Then use a mild soap or wool wash bar (I've used liquid baby shampoo in a pinch) and wash that stain. Use enough pressure to get the soiled bits out, but remember that you do need to be gentle with wool. Wash as usual.
If you end up with a stain, don't fret too much...you can always sun it out later.
Types of Wool Covers
There is a lot of specific terminology in the cloth diapering world and it can be very overwhelming if you have no idea what anything means. It makes it hard to know what you are looking for.
Here are some of the common types of wool covers and their names. These are all covers that I have made from wool sweaters.
Soakers
These are a pull on type cover that generally just have a small leg cuff. They fit fairly snug over the diaper and have extra layers in the wet-zone...where your baby needs extra absorbancy. Usually used under clothing or under pajamas at night.
Longies
These are wool pants that serve double duty as diaper cover and clothing! They can be fitted like leggings, wide leg like yoga pants or flared...and anything in between. These are generally cut from the sleeves of the sweater, but can be cut from the body too.
Capris
The same thing as Longies, just a shorter inseam.
Shorties
Cute little wool shorts that are also a diaper cover.
Skirties
These are usually a soaker with a skirt built in over top. Functions as a diaper cover and clothing in one.
This one is actually fleece, not wool but it gives an idea of the design.
Wraps
This is a cover that would fasten over top of the diaper using either velcro, snaps, pins or a snappi (pin replacement device). Very trim fitting.
Here are some of the common types of wool covers and their names. These are all covers that I have made from wool sweaters.
Soakers
These are a pull on type cover that generally just have a small leg cuff. They fit fairly snug over the diaper and have extra layers in the wet-zone...where your baby needs extra absorbancy. Usually used under clothing or under pajamas at night.
Longies
These are wool pants that serve double duty as diaper cover and clothing! They can be fitted like leggings, wide leg like yoga pants or flared...and anything in between. These are generally cut from the sleeves of the sweater, but can be cut from the body too.
Capris
The same thing as Longies, just a shorter inseam.
Shorties
Cute little wool shorts that are also a diaper cover.
Skirties
These are usually a soaker with a skirt built in over top. Functions as a diaper cover and clothing in one.
This one is actually fleece, not wool but it gives an idea of the design.
Wraps
This is a cover that would fasten over top of the diaper using either velcro, snaps, pins or a snappi (pin replacement device). Very trim fitting.
Welcome to NickNaks!
Why Wool? and What I Am Doing!
I started using cloth diapers on our son Nicholas when he was two months old. I tried a variety of diaper types and found that my favourites tended to be fitted diapers. Unfortunately, these need a cover and I did not like the idea of putting plastic like pants or wraps over these nice breathable cotton diapers. It seemed to defeat the purpose.
So, I started looking at wool covers. I did not know at first that wool was a very good option for a diaper cover. Who would have thought? I learned that wool can absorb up to 30% of its weight in moisture before feeling damp! I also learned that it has natural cleansing and antibacterial properties which means that you only need to wash it every two weeks or so, unless it is actually soiled. I also learned that it is soft, not scratchy like wool work socks! I started looking around for wool covers and then learned that they can be very expensive! As a lot of these covers are hand knit by WAHMs (Work At Home Moms) they take a lot of time and care to create. But I can still not afford $70 for one pair of wool pants, no matter who it is supporting!
Then I heard about recycled. or repurposed wool covers. Basically, this is the process of taking an old wool sweater and turning it into pants, shorts, and soakers. I can sew, so I thought this was a great option for us. I fumbled through my first couple of pairs of longies (pants) for Nicholas before I really got the hang of it.
Recently I have started to make covers for the purpose of selling them to other Moms and Dads that can't afford hand-knit wool either and don't have the skill or the time to make their own. I am keeping my prices low so that I can really help in making cloth diapering easy and attainable to a larger number of people.
I started using cloth diapers on our son Nicholas when he was two months old. I tried a variety of diaper types and found that my favourites tended to be fitted diapers. Unfortunately, these need a cover and I did not like the idea of putting plastic like pants or wraps over these nice breathable cotton diapers. It seemed to defeat the purpose.
So, I started looking at wool covers. I did not know at first that wool was a very good option for a diaper cover. Who would have thought? I learned that wool can absorb up to 30% of its weight in moisture before feeling damp! I also learned that it has natural cleansing and antibacterial properties which means that you only need to wash it every two weeks or so, unless it is actually soiled. I also learned that it is soft, not scratchy like wool work socks! I started looking around for wool covers and then learned that they can be very expensive! As a lot of these covers are hand knit by WAHMs (Work At Home Moms) they take a lot of time and care to create. But I can still not afford $70 for one pair of wool pants, no matter who it is supporting!
Then I heard about recycled. or repurposed wool covers. Basically, this is the process of taking an old wool sweater and turning it into pants, shorts, and soakers. I can sew, so I thought this was a great option for us. I fumbled through my first couple of pairs of longies (pants) for Nicholas before I really got the hang of it.
Recently I have started to make covers for the purpose of selling them to other Moms and Dads that can't afford hand-knit wool either and don't have the skill or the time to make their own. I am keeping my prices low so that I can really help in making cloth diapering easy and attainable to a larger number of people.
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