Caring for Wool Diaper Covers, Nursing Pads and More

Caring for your wool diapering items is very easy. And fortunately, because of the natural antibacterial qualities of wool, most items need only be washed when made dirty by poop, food, etc. We let our wool diaper covers air-dry between uses and usually wash them about every 3-4 weeks.

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.

Wash

• Be sure to remove all solids before washing.
• Fill a basin, plugged sink or other bowl with enough lukewarm water to cover your woolens.
• Add some wool wash to the water, according to instructions.
• Place your wool items in the bowl/sink and gently agitate.
• Use a wool wash bar for tougher stains.
• Allow woolens to soak for 20 minutes or so.
• Rinse with lukewarm water and squeeze to remove excess water.
• If wool does not require re-lanolizing at this time, you're all done!
• Re-shape and lay flat to dry.

Lanolize

• Fill a basin, plugged sink or other bowl with lukewarm water.
• Dissolve a pea-sized amount of Lansinoh or other lanolin product in a few ounces of VERY hot water. We use an empty baby food jar because with the lid closed tight, I can shake the mixture and speed up the melting process.
• Add lanolin to the water and mix.
• Submerge your woolens and let soak for 20 minutes or even overnight.
• Remove from water - do not rinse.
• Squeeze to remove excess water.
• Re-shape and lay flat to dry.

Dry

Some wool items dry very quickly, but try placing your covers over a warm/dry heat source (on top of a running dryer, for example) or a sweater rack to speed up the drying process. We place our wool items in our dryer with the tennis shoe rack on low heat. This way, it does not agitate (which could result in felting and/or shrinkage) but the blown warm air helps items to dry within hours rather than overnight, or over a few days (in humid North Georgia).