Sunday, November 4, 2007

My DD's Wool Soaker

These are the wool soaker that I used on my dd only for night diapering at the moment. The violet soaker is a customised wool soaker from USA, and the blue soaker is a handknitted version. Both of them works beautifully with fitted nappy and they are so soft and breathable.

Wool is hot?
Wool cover won't be hot in tropical country as wool will be cold in warm country and warm in cold country. But to be frank, I never use it during daytime and my gal is heat sensitive. I might try one day and will update again in this blog.

Wool, stink?
Wool also doesn't stink after a few usage (provided it is lanolized) and I only wash it after 1 month and that's because I used it alternate day before I got enough fitted nappy for my gal night diapering. Once I started to use every night after almost 1 month of alternate witl fleece poacket diaper, the wool soaker need to be washed every 3 weeks. By 3 weeks, yes you will start to smell urine on the cover.
To determine whether the cover need to be washed: Always air dry the cover after use and it's amazing that it doesn't smell anything after 1 week of use. This works because the lanolin neutralized the ammonia (urine) . You still can use it over many nights before it's time to be wash.

Wool is itchy?
This question brought up by MIL but she was surprised that the wool used for wool cover has no such issue. Just make sure it's 100% pure wool and since I hand knitted one I only go for 100% pure wool with hand wash only. Even the soaker I bought from US is meant for hand washing too. So, I don't have experience in machine washable wool cover.

Wool needs lanolizing
Yes and at the moment I use Lansinoh lanolin which is a nipple cream for nursing mothers. Lanolin is the reason why wool cover is water-resistant (please note: it's not waterproof!) and that is the oil from sheep that prevent the body of the sheep to get wet in rainy days. That's why when you feel the wool soaker is not performing well, encounter leaks then it's the time for lanolizing. I'll have a post later on how I lanolized my soaker.

Wool is expensive
This is true and it is the most expensive diaper cover but it's also an ultimate solution for heavywetter. I don't mind using wool cover or soaker from recycle wool (meaning they cut from wool sweater, wool jacket, and so on) and these are more cheaper alternative and they function exactly the same as brand new wool diaper cover from manufacturer. Or really frugal method, knit your own if you are a knitter as there are so many free patterns from the web.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

THis is a great post Sharine wll done :)

Some 100% wool can still be scratchy and itchy. If you stick with merino wool or other similar wool, it is not itchy.

I guess you'd need to feel the wool before using for baby because their skin is more delicate.

Peridot&Sapphire said...

oh really? only merino wool? I got peruvian wool waiting to be knitted into wool soaker too. Do you think this is alright?

Thanks for your suggestions and advise!

pumpkin said...

i'm just wondering does your dd wear anything on top of the wool soaker at night? if a bodysuit or long pants is worn over the soaker, does it still 'repell wetness'?

Peridot&Sapphire said...

hi pumpkin, I still put on cotton long pants for her at night. The pants never get wet so far but abit damp. Wool is breathable and therefore it will evaporate the wetness of the fitted diaper out. Then the wetness meet cotton (cotton is also breathable) and that's why you will feel a bit damp as that's how the evaporation process take place.
Even with the fleece cover, it works the same way.
That's my interpretion, I welcome other experiene mommies to share their views here too.

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