Wool comes in many different ways - you can get things knit, crocheted, made with interlock, or upcycled from old sweaters. Knitting and crocheting are done by hand using wool yarn. Wool interlock is purchased by the yard, like any other fabric, and either serged or sewn into the item, upcycled items are cut out and sewn from sweaters into the item.
Left is handknit - right pair is sewn together from wool interlock
Here are a few of the different items you can use as diaper covers. Left are "longies" or pants, middle are "shorties" or shorts, and the right is a soaker.
Here is Claire in a pair of watermelon interlock longies.
Here she is in a pair of Monster capris.
And again in a pair of shorties (they are longies for now, will still fit hopefully in the spring!).How do I wash my wool?
Washing wool is the scariest part, at least to me! But I finally just did it, and it wasn't so bad. To start, I bought a good sized storage container that was big around, but only about 6" or 8" deep. I filled it with tepid water (sat it on the counter by the sink), and added the recommended amount of wool wash that is on the bottle per gallons of water. I then had the sink running with tepid water and rinsed out each piece, making sure to check the sink for color bleeding out (can happen with darker colors, red especially) - I didn't see any from each item, so I just kept placing them in the tub of wool wash and water. I turned the inside out for this part. I gently moved them around in the water to make sure they got enough wool wash. I then poured the water out and rolled each item up in a towel to suck some water out (wool really holds a lot of water!). I laid them flat to dry. I have a spray lanolin, so I didn't add any extra lanolin to the water. Once they were dry or nearly dry, I sprayed them really well (inside out) with lanolin spray, and gently worked it into the fabric. Then I laid them back on my drying rack (flat) to finish drying.
How often do you need to wash your wool? You wash it when it smells when dry. Wool with lanolin has natural antibacterial properties - so you can generally go a few weeks between washings if you have a couple different items you rotate.
Why Can't I machine wash my wool with my diapers? Hot water as well as the agitation from a washing machine will cause your wool to felt. Felting means the fibers shrink up and get tighter together. Felted wool is less stretchy. Some people purposefully felt items for better nighttime use - I haven't been brave enough, and wool interlock works really well at night for us.
What do I do with wool when it gets wet after wearing it all night? I just take off Claire's wool cover in the morning and set it on her changing table inside out. It's dry in a few hours. As long as you let it dry between uses you can continue to use it until it smells when wet. Thats when it's time to wash.
