Wool Washing
Fortunately diaper covers, because of the natural antibacterial qualities of wool, don't need to be washed after every use. Just let your wool diaper covers air-dry between uses and usually wash them about every 3-4 weeks. You will know when they need washing as they will start to retain a faint odour, not that which you can smell when they are taken off baby but one that lingers after they have been aired. If your diaper covers become soiled, gently remove by sponging with a damp cloth. Some wool items may be machine washed, but all should be re-lanolized from time to time. Please refer to manufacturer's recommendations for specific instructions.
A Few Wool Wash Facts
* Wool covers do not need to be washed after every use. They can be reused over and over again until they are dirty. If they a wool cover gets wet just air dry it and reuse at the next diaper change.
* When you buy new wool covers, make sure you know wether it has already been lanolized or not. If the wool cover has been lanolized it will not need to be re-lanolized again for another month or when it gets dirty.
* Some wool wash already contains lanolin. That means, when you wash your wool you are lanolizing it at the same time and do not need to lanolize it after washing.
* Wool covers do not need to be lanolized at every washing. If you need to lanolize your wool covers, but don't need to wash it, you can use a lanolin spray. They are very easy to use and your wool dries faster than if it has been washed.
* Never use bleach on your wool. It will break down the fibers.
* Never wash wool with cold water as it will "shock" the fibers
* Do not put wool covers in the dryer unless you want to shrink or felt them.
* If your diaper covers become soiled, gently remove by sponging with a damp cloth. You have to remove dirt (poop, food) immediately otherwise you will have stains in your wool that will be very hard to get out. Poop or mud or juice or anything that stains needs to be removed before it sets in.
* In some cases you may find that you have stains that do not come out with basic washing methods. In this case you may need to strip your wool. Stripping your wool allows you to remove lanolin that may be holding stains in. Once you get the lanolin out of the wool, you will be able to remove stains much easier.
Choosing a detergent
* Olive Oil Soap
* Wool Wash without Lanolin
* Wool Wash with Lanolin
* Wool Cure / Solid Lanolin
Please check what type of detergent you are using. For lanolizing you need lanolin not a wool wash/shampoo with a small amount of lanolin content - these are good for washing your wraps with but do not give a full lanolin treatment.
Optional
A 10 minute soak in vinegar water before washing can be good for your covers but is not essential. Alternatively you can put put a tablespoon of vinegar in the final rinse. This is because wool likes acidic conditions and water is alkaline.
Hand Wash
* Fill the sink or bucket with warm water (babys' bath temperature).
* Add in 1 - 2 Tsp liquid wool wash, depending on how many covers you are washing.
* Put your wool items in.
* Swish wool items around to mix
* Let soak for 30 minutes - max 1 hour making sure to watch wool for color bleeding
* Remove wool from water
You can also use olive oil soap, gently rub them on the inside with a bar of olive oil soap. Olive oil soap is even better, rubbing them on the inside with the soap helps the fibres of the wool felt a little, aiding its' natural water resistance. Don't rub too hard as this could cause the wool to go hard.
Rinse then Dry Rinse, in water at approximately the same temperature as the wash water. Gently squeeze out the excess water, we don't recommend rubbing in a towel as this can remove some of the lanolin and damage the wool fibres.
If wool does not require re-lanolizing at this time, you're all done! Re-shape and lay flat to dry.
Washing Wool In The Washing Machine
If you any other type of wool other than knit or crochet, you can use your washing machine to wash your wool. This makes washing wool a lot faster, but you have to be very careful not to shrink it. When using the washing machine to wash wool, only run it through one cycle and never use cold water.
Unless specified otherwise wool soakers, wool wraps and wool longies are machine washable on a gentle 30ºC wool wash. It is best to turn them inside out before washing and place inside a net bag or pillowcase.
* Set machine to delicate or hand wash cycle.
* Fill washer with warm water.
* Add 1 - 2 Tsp of liquid wool wash with lanolin.
* Put wool items in.
* Let wool soak for 30 minutes - 1 hour.
* Let cycle continue to run.
* Run an extra spin cycle to help remove excess water if you like.
* Lay wool out flat to air dry.
Drying
Dry away from direct heat. Do not put them in a tumble dryer, on radiators or in sunlight as they may shrink. Good places to dry are over a shower rail or towel rail or similar where air is circulating around the cover but they are away from direct heat. Allow approx. 24hrs to dry but this can vary depending on the level of humidity in the room.
Basic Wool Wash & Stain Removal
* Fill sink or bucket with warm water.
* Take NON LANOLIZED wool wash bar and gently rub over stains until worked into a lather.
* Put down wool wash bar and gently rub stain with fingers until stain is removed.
* Rinse wool wash off of stain.
* Add 1 - 2 Tsp of liquid wool wash with lanolin to water.
* Submerge wool into water.
* Leave wool to soak for 30 minutes - to 1 hour.
* Remove wool from water.
* Gently squeeze excess water from wool.
* Lay wool flat on towel or other flat surface and allow to air dry.
Stripping Wool Covers
If you find that you have stains on your wool covers that are not coming off, or you have lanolin stains/spots on your wool covers, you will need to strip them. Stripping wool covers removes the lanolin from the wool which is locking the stain in. Once the lanolin is stripped from the wool you can try to remove stains. I don't recommend stripping wool covers if you can avoid it. It's not good for the wool. Always wash wool covers immediately after getting soiled with anything that will stain to avoid any staining.
* Fill sink or bucket with warm water.
* Add small squirt of dishwasher detergent.
* Put wool items into water.
* Agitate wool to mix with detergent.
* Let soak for 30 minutes - 1 hour, occasionally agitating water
* Drain water from sink or bucket .
* Turn on warm water and gently rinse the detergent from the wool until all bubbles are gone.
* Once all detergent has been removed, re-fill sink or bucket with warm water.
* Take wool wash bar and gently scrub until worked into lather.
* Set down wool wash bar and use fingers to gently scrub wool wash until stains come out.
* Rinse wool wash from wool.
* Relanolize your wool covers.
