Wooldn't It Be Loverly?

This morning I lanolized the soakers I have on hand, two were gifted to me and three I recently made myself. :) Honestly, lanolizing was a little daunting to me until I found a tutorial that showed me how simple it is. Truth be told, I had envisioned myself rubbing lanolin all over the soakers and all kinds of other difficult ideas. Go ahead and laugh--I am. ;) Anyway, it truly couldn't be easier. 

Here's the awesome thing about wool:

Pretty much everyone knows that wool is waterproof to an extent, but what I never realized is that lanolin--the oil that lies on the sheep's skin and at the base of its wool--is what really makes wool so special. When you lanolize wool and use it as a diaper soaker, the urine actually turns to a neutralized soap like substance. WHAT?! WHAT?! Yep. God truly gave us everything we need in nature. EVERYTHING. You don't have to wash wool soakers but once every three to six weeks, just depending on use, etc. You will know when they need to be washed and re-lanolized when they start to leak and/or smell of urine. How do you lanolize? Super simple. 

Fill your sink with cool to lukewarm water. Hot water will cause your wool to felt and shrink up. Get your lanolin--most people seem to recommend this!

You probably have that on hand for your tender breastfeeding nipples, huh? I used about 1/4 inch of lanolin per diaper. Squeeze that stuff right into a cup and add about 1/2 cup boiling water. Swish around until the lanolin is liquified. The lanolin is oil, so it won't mix with the water. Pour this mixture into your sinkful of water. Slowly submerge each soaker into the water and allow to sit. I set my timer for 30 minutes. If you are washing your soakers after use, add a small amount of gentle soap such as you would wash the rest of your cloth dipes in to the boiling water and lanolin mixture before mixing it with the rest of the water. :)

Look at how pretty! Who says gender neutral colors have to be boring?!

After your timer has gone off, gently squeeze--don't twist/wring! It will alter the shape!--the excess water out of each soaker and lay them flat on a towel, rolling them up tightly to encourage more water out of them. I did this twice, using a fresh towel each time. I've read that it can take 24 hours to dry. I think I will set them outside in the shade for a while, but be careful that they are not in direct sun! You don't want those gorgeous colors to fade! 

Look at how blue the water is from those orange and aqua soakers! Haha!

I'm so excited to put these beauties to use when baby gets here! Next on the list? Baby leg warmers and wool breast pads, although I think I will toy with felting the breast pads for extra softness. ;)