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Monday, August 6, 2012

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Wool. It's Not Just For Winter!

Wool. It’s definitely not just for winter. When a friend first suggested I use wool, I thought she was a little bit nuts. My memories of wool are not pleasant. When I think of wool, I think of cold New England winters, ice chunks on my wool mittens and wool sweaters frozen to my skin after winter snow fort building. How could wool possibly be a useful tool in my cloth diaper regimen?

Little did I know that wool would become my absolutely favorite part of my stash! Shorties, longies, diaper coversKissaluvs, Sloomb, Ecoposh, local moms, my mom! The options were really quite astounding. I started using wool for the same reason most others start with wool … the wet sheets in the morning had gotten out of hand. And, in our case, the wet sheets were sometimes mine, not his, since we often cosleep. The madness had to stop.

Sustainablebabyish longies and 2 pairs of handmade wool shorties were my entry into nighttime wool use. It was nothing short of amazing. Even my mom was impressed so she immediately set to work making me a couple more pairs of longies out of old wool sweaters from my snow fort days of yore. In the winter, wool longies were my jammies. I put on a long sleeve t and put the babe to bed. Easy peasy. In the morning, I would turn the longies inside out and let them air dry for a couple of nights. Wool is naturally antimicrobial so there is no need to wash them frequently. I probably wash my wool every 5 or 6 weeks now that I have a few favorites in rotation.

As the summer approached, Baby R wanted nothing to do with clothes in general – never mind any type of jammies or wool longies at night. However, I quickly discovered that a simple wool cover, like the one from Kissaluvs or Sustainablebabyish, was absolutely perfect. No leaks, no uncomfortable hot baby. I treated these wool covers the same as the longies and shorties, I turned them inside out in the morning and let
them air out a little bit. I love that I can use wool year-round! Definitely give it a try!

Erin Brighton is a cloth diapering mama to 4, trying to keep cool in hot and sunny Massachusetts this summer. Check out her gluten-free cooking blog at www.cookingwitherin.com

2 comments:

brian said...

Can someone explain why wool itches or better yet, how to pick wool that doesn't. I had fun making a homemade diaper from a wool sweater from a thrift store and it itches me too much that I can't imagine my daughter wearing it. I found another wool sweater the other day, shrank it in the wash and dryer and it itches even worse. Maybe I'm just wool-dumb but I can't tell what wool is going to itch and what isn't. Should I be reading labels for Cashmere only?

Anna Wick said...

I just recently discovered my love for wool, too, and have been browsing Diaper Swappers like a fiend for good deals on wool! My sister also knits so I have enlisted her to knit me wool diaper covers/longies/shorties/leggings/skirts so long as I buy the wool! I love wool and fitted diapers so much now that I actually sold/traded all my AIOs and Pockets for more of it!