Lanolising Your Wool Covers

Sheep naturally produce lanolin to keep their wool water-resistant and provide antibacterial qualities. This means that you will need to lanolise your wool cover to make it do it’s magic. You will need to lanolise before you use your cover and from time to time you will need to replace the lanolin. The period of time between lanolin treatments will differ for every family. A good way to tell if your cover needs treating is if it is still smelly after airing or if the outside layer is damp to the touch after use.

When I first heard this ‘lanolising’ word, I thought “No way, that’s too hard!” but guess what? It’s not hard at all! Once you’ve done it once, you will be all over it like wool on a lamb! (Sorry, couldn’t resist that one!).

I can hear you thinking, “So how do I do this lanolising business you speak of?”

Well, I’ve done a tutorial . . . (You are welcome lol)

Step 1.

Distract your children so you can get busy.

Step 2.

Hand-wash your wool cover using cold water and a gentle wool wash. Lay it flat on a towel to absorb the excess water.

Step 3.

Prepare you lanoline mixture. You can use the lanolin that you use for cracked and sore nipples. This one or similar:

Place a small amount of solid lanolin in a small glass jar. I used about half a teaspoon. Add a drop of baby shampoo and a tablespoon of hot water and shake vigorously to melt and disperse the lanolin. If the oil is not fully dispersed it will settle and can make oily spots on your wool. The first time I did it I used a cup and stirred with a spoon, instead of putting in a jar. This is totally doable if you need to, but it is easier if you can vigorously shake instead of stir really quickly with a spoon. My little ones are in love with this yummy jam, so we have heaps of these jars hanging around the place! It worked really well.

Step 4.

Fill some water in a bucket. Enough to cover the wool cover nicely. Add the mixture to the bucket of water and swish to ensure it is evenly distributed.

Step 5.

Add your wool cover and massage the lanolin gently into the wool, concentrating on the areas that get the heaviest use. Gently squeeze the wool so that you feel that each wool fibre is getting wet.