You should lanolize your wool cover if:

*You purchase a brand new wool cover (Lanolizing is an important part of the “prepping” process and should be done up to two or three times with brand new wool covers); OR
*You notice that your wool cover is no longer keeping your baby dry and has begun to quickly soak through each time your baby is wet (you do NOT need to lanolize every single time you wash your wool cover, especially if you use a wool wash that contains lanolin)

To lanolize, you will need the following items:

*Lanolin (we recommend any type of solid, pure lanolin- many women use the same pure lanolin they used on their breasts during the early days of breastfeeding)
*Very hot water, either in the sink, heated up in a bowl in the microwave, or poured into a glass jar
*Wool wash (this helps break up the lanolin when you melt it)
*A sink or basin filled with lukewarm water
*One or two clean towels
*Some sort of flat drying rack or surface that allows for air circulation

To lanolize, follow these steps:

1) Heat up the water until it is very hot but not boiling. You can do this in the microwave, over the stove, or directly out of your tap if your water comes out hot enough. The water must be hot enough to melt the lanolin.

2) Put a small amount (1 tsp- 1 tbsp) of pure lanolin + a small amount of wool wash or mild baby wash (about 1 tsp) into the hot water and stir or shake it until the lanolin is completely melted. Make sure the lanolin is melted and that there are not bits still floating around. (we like to do this inside of a water-tight container such as a glass jar, which we fill halfway with hot water, 1 tsp of lanolin, and a small amount of wool wash and shake vigorously)

3) Add your hot water/lanolin/wool wash mixture to a sink or basin of lukewarm water (or, if you are using the tap water method, simply turn on your tap again and add some lukewarm water to the mixture).

4) Turn your wool soaker inside out and gently press it under the water. Very gently, swish it around a bit under the water so that the lanolin will be evenly distributed over the wool.

5) Let the wool soak for around fifteen minutes. Drain the water while supporting the wool.

6) Lift the wool from the sink, supporting it with both hands, and gently press the excess water out . Do not wring the wool out. Supporting the wool, gently lay it down on a clean towel. Reshape, and then slowly roll it between two layers of a clean dry towel. Repeat several times until excess water is removed.

7) Lay wool flat to dry on a supportive, flat drying rack. The wool can take between 24 and 36 hours to dry, depending on how thick the wool is and how humid the climate is. Turn the wool inside out at least once during the drying process to speed it up a bit.

100Purewool Merino 218 (merino single ply) there are some 2 & 3 ply's also
. . approx $6.50 per skein
. . pills the most but very soft

BBR (Black Berry Ridge / merino & some corriedale) http://www.blackberry-ridge.com/ (I ABSOLUTELY LOVE BBR!!)
. . approx $16 for kaleidascope multicolor-dyed worsted weight 4oz/230 yards
. . approx $9 for solid traditional color 250 yards
. . Very soft
. . can sometimes be a mohair blend
. . doesn’t pill hardly at all
. . can get it undyed http://www.blackberry-ridge.com/specwool.htm approx $8 per 4oz/250 yards

BFL (blue faced Leicester)
. . Very soft (is called poor man’s cashmere)
. . Pills some but not as much as single ply merinos do

Blue Merino (BFL & Merino blend)
. . has the softness of merino but the sturdiness of BFL
. . dyes up nicely

Briggs & Little Wool
. . Nice alternative to the higher end wools
. . softens up amazingly after washing

Cascade 200
. . Doesn’t pill much at all
. . comes in regular - regular is in skeins with a black tag and should say 100% wool
. . also comes in superwash - superwash is in balls with a burgandy tag and should say 100% superwash wool

Cascade Quatro

Corriedale 50
. . Pills less than merino

Handpainted Yarn Merino
. . soft like purewool but a bit sturdier

Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool
. . softens a bit after washing
. . a good yarn for learning/starting out for dying, knitting or crocheting

Malabrigo (single ply merino like purewool)
. . One of softest wools – but it pills heavily since it is single ply
. . Soft like purewol but sturdier

Nature Wool
. . Thinner than some of the other wools

Patons Classic Wool - 100% Merino
. . can be found at JoAnns, Hobby Lobby & Michaels - approx $5 per 3/3.5/4 oz skein
. . A sturdier merino but still quite soft

Peace Fleece [url]http://peacefleece.com/webyarn.htm[/url\
. . approx $7.50 per skein
. . 30% Mohair/70% wool, 2-ply. Approx. 200 yds/4oz skein
. . Pills the least and felts the least
. . more scratchy / not near as soft as merino but it does soften after a few washings or a conditioner soak

Plymouth Galway

Targhee or Targhee/mohair blends (Mosaic Moon & Tykie Knits) (IN MY EXPERIENCE THE MOST DURABLE AND BULLETPROOF)
. . Almost NO pilling
. . plain targhee is possibly similar to peacefleece in feel
. . targhee/mohair blends are a bit softer

Zenstring – type of yarn varies but all is handpainted http://www.zenstring.com/
. . Nirvana - 50% BFL/50% Merino; available in worsted (218 yards), soft spun aran weight (164 yards), and bulky 3 ply (137 yards) per 100 gram (appx. 3.5 oz) skein
. . Bliss - 100% BFL; available in DK (246 yards), aran (183 yards), and bulky (109 yards) per 100 gram skein
. . Lotus Toes - 100% super wash BFL wool; available in sport weight (370 yards) per 100 gram skein
. . Serendipity - 100% super wash merino; available in fingering (375 yards), sport (246 yards), worsted (200 yards), and chunky (118 yards) per 4 oz skein
. . Harmony - 50% super wash merino/50% Tencel fiber; available in fingering weight (367 yards per 4 oz skein) and DK weight (255 yards per 100 gram skein)



GENERAL NOTES:
. . Merino does not hold it's shape as well as some of the other yarns such as BFL and Targhee. If you use Merino for a waistband you will eventually probably need either a drawstring or an elastic waistband.