For Wool Week, we have gone to the source for the very best information you can get on wool diaper covers. Vilate Thacker, creator of Nifty Nappy, is not only sponsoring a giveaway this week, but she also agreed to share all you need to know about wool–why you should try it, how it works, and why wool is a good natural choice for your baby. If you have a specific question about wool after you’ve read this post, please leave it in a comment, and we will also do a Q&A in a couple days answering your questions. So, no more confusion about wool! And later this week, check back and see how you can win a Nifty Nappy Woolie Wrap for your stash!
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Vilate makes custom wool wrap-style diaper covers in boy, girl, or neutral colors.
Wool In a Diaper Cover?
“Wool covers? Really you put that itchy hot wool on your baby?”
I can’t tell you how many times I heard this. But oh how wrong they are.
I know that in a lot of the cloth diaper histories they say that will is just now being found to be a good cover for cloth diapers. This statement is NOT true. Wool covers have been around for probably as long as the cloth diapers. Man has been using wool for centuries, and I am sure there was some smart lady that thought it would be great for a diaper cover so her lap didn’t get wet.
Ok, maybe that is far-fetched, but really if you ask your grandma or great grandma what they used over their cloth diapers they would say wool. My hubby’s grandma thinks that my cloth diapers are so fun because they have bright colors and no pins! We have talked cloth diapers many times. Once the topic of covers came up… she says she used wool covers. Her boys would get terrible rashes and ammonia burns if she used the plastic pants. So she make up some wool covers. My hubby’s dad had wool covers on his bum… we are only 2 generations removed from that. So why do we say they are the lastest and greatest in cloth diapering? I have no idea. Other countries too, such as New Zealand, Australia and England use mostly wool covers.
So what is the difference? What makes the wool so great? How do you take care of them? Let’s talk about it…
If you want to try longies, Vilate also makes Nifty Knickers, custom wool longies.
Wool Covers vs. PUL Covers
First, what is PUL? It is a polyurethane that they laminate on to a fabric. Most often it is a polyester fabric, but I have seen PUL on cotton too. PUL is supposed to be more breathable than the plastic pants that have been used as diaper covers. I guess maybe it might be, but I have PUL fabric at my house… and I have tried to breath through it. Really, I did! And? Nope… I couldn’t breath though it. So in my mind, if I can’t breath through it then how much air is really being circulated? Well not as much as I would like. Wool is very breathable, though. Wool is the perfect fabric. It allows your body to be warm when the weather is cool, and cools the body through evaporative cooling when it is hot. So even if you live in Florida or Arizona you can use wool on your baby and they will feel cool and comfortable.
The PUL covers are pretty convenient for throwing in the wash when ever you need to, but I have an argument for that one too…. I will come back to this. Other than that I can’t think of anything that would make PUL a better choice as a cover. You can say… “ah ha, but the PUL covers snap.” You would be right, but so do wool covers. I make a pretty mean wrap style wool cover that snaps and is a OS. I also love the versatility of wool. There are pull up style covers such as soakers and longies. Even more fun though are the skirties and shorties that are simply adorable. I love that they can replace the blah jeans that everyone else puts on their babies that, let’s be honest, really aren’t that comfy. I loved putting handmade longies on my babies because no other little baby would have the same outfit.
PUL is as about as man-made as you can get. Wool is about as natural as you can get. Wool is naturally anti-bacterial and as an added benefit it is also naturally flame-retardant. Wool can also be extremely soft! I hand pick the wool I use for my covers, and if you could feel the wool I pick you would be sad I was cutting up the sweater. Really, you would want it for yourself.
And you can stock up on colorful fitted diapers to go under your diaper covers.
Wool Care
As I said before you can just throw a PUL cover in the wash when it is dirty, but wool is different! It is SPECIAL!
Really, the care of wool is not that hard. I know this is a big, BIG part of why most people are afraid to try wool coves. Recently a mama that did a review of my products said this about wool:
“I had no idea that wool was so low-maintenance. Unlike fleece or other materials that need to be washed after each use, wool only needs to be washed and lanolized once a month.” –Kristen
So, from the mouth of one mama, wool is easy to care for. I simply hand wash the woolies in lukewarm water with a little baby soap or wool wash. I then melt a pea-sized amount of lanolin in a cup of boiling water. Add the water to a big bowl of lukewarm water and then add the woolies. Let them soak there for 4-6 hrs or overnight. Then get the water out without ringing the woolie. I throw mine (not the delicate crocheted or knitted ones) in the spin cycle of my washing machine, but you could also roll them in a towel. Then hang them up to dry. I love to hang them outside, they dry super-fast.
In the end, you can see wool can be soft, absorbent, and breathable. Wool is a perfect cover for cloth diapers.
Vilate is a WAHM with 6 kiddos. She has had time to perfect her cloth diaper design over the 11 years she has been using cloth diapers. She now sells her diapers in an online shop. Vilate is also very excited to announce that she has branched out to retail. She has some very dedicated retailers you can find on her cloth diaper retailers page.
Great article. I was totally not in to wool when I first started CD< but now I use wool at night and even if I have my baby in an AIO diaper, I use wool pants and shorts over it during the day. So comfortable. Jeans look cute, but not comfy! I am now a wool convert.
I just got our 1st pair of wool board shorties about a month ago. I LOVE them! I was terrified of wool. Then a Mama on my CD forum offered to let me be a tester for her product. The 1st time I put them on Braydon I fell in love! Wool truly is bullet proof! The great thing about it, that I wanted to add, is it doesn’t feel damp. There is no changing sheets in the morning or in the middle of the night, lol. Whether I am using a PUL diaper or a fitted, I can put the wool over it and rest assured that in the morning, I will have a dry baby and bed! If you haven’t tried it in fear of it not working or afraid of the upkeep, forget all of that! Upkeep is EASY PEASY! I have had ours for right at a month and have only washed once. I hang them to air out during the day and they are ready for use at bedtime! WOOL is AWESOME!
I love wool!!! It’s such a great natural fabric for so many things. I love my wool covers…I haven’t used them in a while b/c my son has impetigo, so it would require me to wash between each use. I can’t wait for the impetigo to clear up so we can begin using them again!
I also love the wool puddle pad I made for his crib and felted wool dryer balls that I made…I really want to get more into felting wool…if I can only find the time!
Wool seems intimidating at first, but it really isn’t hard. And I LOVE how it “breathes”. And my favorite is of course, Nifty Nappy!!!
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