I am THRILLED to have Stacy of Humorous Homemaking, one of my BEST blogging buddies, guest posting on wool diaper covers today! Please give her site a visit! And if you’re a cloth diaper fan like we are, check out my complete cloth diapering handbook!
Guest Post by Stacy of Stacy Makes Cents
I was introduced to the wonderfulness of wool diaper covers by my genius friend, Brandy. See, I was having this problem – my daughter was leaking during her night time sleep.
No matter how many inserts that I added to her pocket diapers, she would still leak – I was washing bedding every day…until I met wool and fell in love! Baaaaaa!!
Wool is breathable – so it’s warm in the wintertime and cool in the hot months…and it virtually never leaks. Think about it – imagine all those sheep out in the wet and cold and yet they stay warm. It’s their wool rain jacket…and now it’s transferred to your baby’s bottom.
The breathability of wool also helps you avoid diaper rash – it’s some kind of baby bottom miracle!
While it will not leak, it might wick moisture if you put tight clothing over the cover. The properties of wool are amazing! It will repel moisture, keeping your baby from leaking (it keeps the moisture inside the fitted diaper). Wool can absorb up to 30% of its weight in moisture – no other fabric has that same ability.
It’s also important to note that wool is antibacterial. The lanolin in the wool has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. What does this mean? It means you don’t wash them as often…another baby bottom miracle!
The wool absorbs and evaporates moisture, so the cover doesn’t retain odors. Use a wool cover and when it gets moist, just hang it up to dry. When it’s dry, it is ready for another use! You might only have to wash your covers once a month unless they become soiled – but usually every 2-3 weeks should be plenty.
You will wash your wool covers by hand and lanolize them every 2-3 washes.
Some of you are scratching your head and wondering why on earth you don’t have to wash them with each use. Well, I looked it up for you because I’m excellent at Google searches. 🙂 Lanolin reacts with the ammonia in urine to form a type of “soap.” This is what makes them self-cleaning.
Reasons why you would want to choose wool diaper covers:
- You hate doing laundry (ha!!)
- Your baby has sensitive skin
- Your baby leaks often at night
- You’re a crunchy mama 😉
Now, because you can’t reuse them after each change like another type of diaper cover, you will need 3-4 wool covers. They’ll need to dry between each use.
They are a bit more expensive than other “plastic” diaper covers but the benefits are HUGE! If you don’t want to make the investment for 3-4, then you might just consider buying one for nighttime wear. That was where I first started.
Types of wool covers:
Crocheted/Knitted soaker (see third picture above)
Upcycled soaker from a wool sweater (see second picture above)
Longies…aka wool pants (see fourth picture above)
I purchased a wool diaper cover from Etsy that had been upcycled from a sweater. I LOVE IT!!! If you’re crafty, you can make your own.
Don’t be afraid to try wool! Embrace your inner shepherd! 🙂 If you have any questions, just holler at me in the comments.
*NOTE: I am not an affiliate with any of the companies linked above. I just like sheep. Baa.*
About Stacy Myers
Stacy is the author of Crock On: A Semi-Whole Foods Slow Cooker Cookbook and a stay-at-home mom to her two children, Annie (3) and Andy (newborn). After an “awakening” in March 2011, her family switched to a more natural, whole foods diet. She likes to blog about how to live on less than you make and how to eat good food while doing it. Her passion is teaching others how to save money and she tag teams with her husband in this endeavor. At Humorous Homemaking you’ll find information on how to save money in the kitchen, how to have fun with your kids, and how to be thrifty in all areas of life. Her passion is empowering women with simple home management methods that work.
My eBook, Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert, is a 200+-page handbook that will tell you all you need to know to have a successful cloth diapering journey!
Sonda
What precious– precious beautiful child!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stacy @Stacy Makes Cents
Thank you! 🙂
Kristy
My 14 month old is leaking like crazy! I have now been putting 4 inserts into her Thirsties, which has helped, just not always prevented, not to mention how bulky her diapers are at night. O.O I’m the only one who can put them on her now. lol I have no clue about wool. I’m almost 7 1/2 months pregnant and can only sew square things. lol Where can I buy wool diaper covers and how pricey are they? Also, This may be a silly sounding question, but what do you put under them? I would love to solve this leaking issue!! 🙂
Stacy @Stacy Makes Cents
Kristy, you just use fitted diapers underneath. 🙂 The wool cover acts just like a PUL cover, but it absorbs the moisture and lets it evaporate.
You can find lots of options on Etsy, but like I said above, my favorite is the Disana brand and you can find those on Amazon for around $26.
Since you’re just having night issues, you could probably get away with one cover. If you have any more wool questions, I’d be tickled pink to help! 🙂
Lindsy Vojdanoski
Tonight is my first time using wool. How do I dry it for the next night? Just hang it up ? Do I put it in the sun?
Rebecca
Thanks for the post! I was thinking about making a couple of wool covers this next baby (I am an avid knitter). Now that I hear how useful they are and how efficiently they work, I’ll definitely have to try. We started having nighttime leaking and rash issues a while ago and have switched to using disposables at night with our 2 year old (he’s nearly potty trained during daytime). Not the best choice. I’d love to stay in cloth all the way through with our second son!
Stacy @Stacy Makes Cents
That’s so great that you can knit!!!! I wish I could knit.
Brandy
I use wool exclusively now. Just love the soft fluffy behind. Thanks for the compliment! 🙂
Stacy @Stacy Makes Cents
You are most welcome. 🙂
Janette
Thanks for the info on wool. I had no idea it was so great. I like using cloth diapers but have not used any wool covers as I wasn’t so sure they wouldn’t leak but since your post I am curious to give it a try. I am always sad when my cloth diapers turn into rags and I have to get new ones but the savings are still worth it especially when you have more than one kid. Also I love it when the baby goes poo right after a diaper change because with cloth you just change the diaper and relax but with disposables you cringe and get depressed and feel like what a waste it was the baby only wore the diaper a few minutes and then you have to change it and throw the diaper away (money down the drain for sure).
Stacy @Stacy Makes Cents
LOL I know exactly that depressed feeling you’re talking about. 🙂 It’s like they always want to poo in a CLEAN diaper. 😉
Melissa
I have used wool in the past and it was awesome for keeping dry. But, I just used prefolds underneath – I never wanted to spend the money to buy fitted diapers. So, every morning, there would be poop on the wool cover, which meant I had to wash it (and no, it didn’t just rub off – no spot washing possible). Then the thing would take 3 – 5 days to dry, which meant I could only use it every three to five nights. I had two of them – different brands, and both just kept shrinking and shrinking. I did follow the directions exactly for washing and lanolizing. So I wish I knew the secret all you wool lovers have for keeping these things working so well for you! I really loved the fleece covers – just throw them in the wash in the morning with anything, then in the dryer and they kept my babies dry overnight, too!
Brandy
You can help wool dry faster by rolling it in a towel and placing your weight on it to squeeze out the extra moisture. Mine usually dry in less than 24 hours. Perhaps a different fold for your prefolds would result in fewer blowouts. 🙂 It’s important to dry wool out of the sun and to soak/wash in lukewarm water only.
Stacy @Stacy Makes Cents
Thanks for answering that!!
hammermama
Would alpaca yarn work the same? It’s lanolin free (which makes it great for people who are sensitive to lanolin.) But I’m just wondering because i have a whole bunch of alpaca yarn from my alpacas that i need a good project for!
Brandy
I’ve used alpaca to make soakers (and they are very soft!), but it doesn’t have the same level of absorbency as wool does. I have to change the diapers right away when the baby uses those covers and not use them while wearing or in the car. You could try making the soakers using two strands held together so that it would be bulkier.
Grace
I just started to try out wool with our six week old. I put a prefold on her (jelly roll) and within a few hours the wool was damp all over. Is it supposed to be that way? It wasn’t dripping but it definitely was so damp that it got me wet when I went to nurse her and had left a wet spot on her crib sheet. So, I changed her out of it and now don’t know what to do. Help?!!!
Kathleen
Yes! We just started using wool, and I’m LOVING it! I have a Disana pull on and one of their wool wraps, both of which I love, especially for overnight use. A few WAHM versions are on their way from etsy–can’t wait to try those, too. Love your Reasons to Choose Wool Diaper Covers. 🙂 Totally agree.
Jessica Shepherd
Hi, I just received my disana pull on cover. I started the prepping process. But after it dried I pulled it right side out and noticed and slight hole or pull of the wool just above one leg opening. I’m freaking out! Because I’m afraid it’s ruined. I sure hope it’s okay to use or can be easily repaired.
Thanks, Jessica
Karthi
Hi, I just want to understand how to use prefolds+wool pull on pants combination for overnight diapering… Just one predilection cannot last longer for like 8 hrs and I am not sure how to add extra layers inside a pull on pant style woollen cover… I can’t convince myself to use any other tpu/pul diaper covers with plastic buttons etc as they are env friendly… kindly help.. thanks in advance