How to Lanolize Wool Cloth Diaper Covers in 5 Easy Steps
I avoided lanolizing wool cloth diapers for way too long. If I knew how easy it is to lanolize wool cloth diapers, I would have done it much much sooner! Perhaps it’s the word lanolizing. It seems like something they would teach in school at NASA, or a task that requires showing your butter churning license and ability to start a fire with two sticks and a blade of grass. Alas, there is no complicated process, no rocket science needed and definitely no rubbing of sticks involved. It’s so easy that I would encourage everyone to give this a try. Had someone said “can you hand wash anything at all?” Yes, why yes I can! Then you can lanolize. It’s really that simple. Here are 5 easy steps for lanolizing wool cloth diaper covers.
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I received the most well packed review kit with nearly everything needed to lanolize the wool. The package included products from Botanical Baby; Emulsifying spheres and lanolin. In addition to the spheres and lanolin, the instructions also said to use a little baby soap, and I knew our Dr. Bronner’s unscented baby castile would be perfect with these products. However, there are many brands of lanolin available, washes and emulsifiers.
Why emulsifying spheres with lanolin?
The emulsifying spheres work with the lanolin, or wool oil, to help the mixture become one with the water. ” Lanolin alone will not emulsify with water. It will melt. But it will just separate from the water just as a regular oil would. So it needs an “emulsifying agent” to assist. The Emulsifying Spheres are made from a mild detergent-free glycerin soap. They act as that agent to assist the lanolin in emulsifying (or blending) with water without separation.” (The Soap Hut, 2016). The spheres contain:
- Place wool cover in an appropriate container for soaking. I used this enameled basin I found at TJ Maxx years ago, but a big pot, basin or a sink that holds water well would work too.
- Pour in enough luke warm water to cover the wool item.
- Mix together the emulsifying sphere, 1 tbsp lanolin, and 1-2 tsp baby wash (some people skip the cube, I like to use it) and 1 cup of HOT water. I used hot tap water and ended up needing to microwave the mixture to get it to melt. Mixture will appear whitish when emulsified.
- Pour mixture over soaking diaper and leave to soak. Some recommendations I read are for 30m, some for a ‘few hours’ and some for overnight. I used 1-2 hours and it worked well.
- Remove excess water from diaper by squeezing it out, rolling into a towel and laying flat to dry. I dried ours overnight on a cookie drying rack and it was completely dry in the morning.
Lanolizing does not need to be done often
Lanolizing wool allows it to be used multiple times before requiring a wash or re-lanolization. Often times the wool is completely untouched by pee from my son’s overnight and day fitted diapers and does not need to be relanolized often. The process is as easy as hand-washing and after completing it once, I remember the steps and can re-do the process even faster and easier then before. It’s really simple and I hope seeing it’s simplicity has inspired you!
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