How to care for the cover

I recommend washing the cover by hand after several weeks of wearing unless it gets soiled. Wool will not develop a smell, because of its resistance to odor and rash causing bacteria so the cover doesn’t need to be washed every time it gets wet. You may want to give it an occasional lanolin treatment. This will help increase the performance and lifespan of your cover. Don't wash your covers by machine or thumble dry since they will shrink.

To lanolize your cover

Soak the cover on your sink full of lukewarm water with a tsp. of baby shampoo (or Eucalan if you have it). In a half cup of boiling water dissolve ¼ tsp of lanolin (Lansino works well), make sure it melts. Get ½ tsp of shampoo and mix it in the cup of lanolin. The mixture becomes sort of white and you won’t see oil floating. Add this to the sink of water (Taking the cover out first) and mix it. Add the cover and let it soak for a few hours. Gently roll the cover on an absorbant towel and hang to dry.

FAQ about wool care

I find that the best thing is to treat it as fast as possible. Soak the cover in cold water for 10 minutes approximately to lift as much as possible of the stain. Use a delicate skin or baby soap bar to rub gently the rest of the stain and rinse in tepid water. This should be enough in most occasions.
Proceed to lanolize. If the stain still visible, I have had good luck using a bit of diluted lemon juice with 50% water expose it to the sun for a short time. Be careful with dyed wool, this might get some of the color faded.

I shrunk my cover! Help!!!

Wool shrinks when exposed to shocking changes of temperature and/or agitation If your cover was machine washed or dried by accident (I don't recommend you doing this on purpose) and looks minuscule, there is something you can do to fix it most of the time.
You will need a big bottle of hair conditioner (the cheap kind is just fine). Fill your sink with lukewarm water and dilute half bottle of conditioner, soak the cover on it!... You can almost hear the cover squeal in delight :) Now gently stretch the cover until you get it back to its normal size using more conditioner if needed. Once you have it back to normal size, take good care to rinse it well and gently, using tepid water. Wash it with shampoo again to get every bit of conditioner out but been careful not to rub hard or using too hot or too cold water or you could felt it again . Finally rinse with clean tepid water and 1 TBS of vinegar. Why?... Because if left it in the cover the hair conditioner will cause the wool to hang on smells and be less water repellent/absorbent.

My cover feels very wet and tends to leak

Wool is not waterproof like plastic is. Wool is a natural fiber that absorbs 30% of the moisture that comes in contact with it and slowly let evaporate it out in the air. This is why wool is the best cover material you can get. The air circulates freely and prevents diaper rash keeping baby skin healthy. If your cover leaks, is possible that you are not using an absorbent enough diaper; For night time and heavy wetters you should use some extra layers or doublers. (Hemp is very absorbent and trimmer, so is organic cotton my favorite) Also do change your baby more often The other thing might be that it needs to be lanolized again. In principle I don't sell my covers already lanolized, all I do is washing the wool fabric in Eucalan (with 20% lanolin) to lock the fibers. Most of the time this is enough and the covers are ready to wear right out the package. But if you have a heavy wetter I recommend you to lanolize them first.

How do I lanolize?

Buy Lanolin by brand name Lansinoh or PureLan at the drugstore or online at cloth diapering stores. Since Lansinoh is also popular for healing sore nipples, it can be purchase at online along with your cloth diapers. reviews | more info

Take the clean cover (if dirty wash it first following the directions) and soak it on lukewarm water in the bathroom sink. Take a small glass jar with a lid (I like jam jars or baby food too) and fill it with some water and a pea size of lanolin. Heat the jar in the microwave until hot. Add a few drops of shampoo and shake the jar after covering it with the lid. The lanolin will melt and emulsify with the water sort of like salad dressing. Add this mixture to the sink taking the cover out first and mixing the water/lanolin well. Add the cover and let it soak for 10 minutes or so. The wool absorb the lanolin like candy Now gently squeeze the water out and roll it in a towel to get most of the water out. Hang to dry and you are all set. You don't have to lanolize often, 1 or 2 times at month is fine if used constantly.

I lanolize my cover but now it feels tacky is this normal?...

While it is possible to put too much lanolin, it won't harm the cover. Eventually it will feel normal.
Next time use less. A pea size is all what is needed. If you really hate the feeling of it, you can strip it by washing it with a little of dishwasher detergent and rinsing well. Don't forget to lanolize again an amount the size of a pea.
Lanolin is the soul of the wool, it is what keeps the cover antibacterial and performing well by changing the urine by contact in natural soap and keeping it odor free and water resisting.

I wash my cover and smells like wet sheep!

Yes, that can happen especially with virgin wool, organic and untreated wool jersey or interlock. The wool smells like wet sheep because is minimally treated to preserve its natural lanolin. The smell lasts only while wet and once dry you won't feel any smells. This will not happen with baby urine since the lanolin combines with it creating a satiating solution of natural soap. If you find that your cover start to smell like baby pee, this means that needs to be washed: shampoo first, rinse with a tiny bit of vinegar and lanolize.

How many wool covers do I need?...

Wool doesn't need to be washed every time it gets wet, that is the beauty of it. You will need 4 covers at least with an older baby and up to 6 for a newborn. I recommend you to air your covers between changes and wash the soiled ones immediately to avoid set stains. Wool will outlast your baby's diapering years, it can be hand out easily if you take good care of it.

What are the biggest NO- NOs?....

Rough rubbing ;Sudden temperature changes (Too hot or too cold water) and Machine wash or dry.