wool in cloth pads

[queenginseng]

What is the deal with wool or felt in cloth pads? Would you still soak them after use? Do you have some? Love em or leave em? Thanks.

Comments

[sweetanniehi]

Wool is a natural waterproof layer. It breathes better then the plastic ones. You would follow the care instructions given by the maker. I do think that you can soak them. I love them because I dont fell clammy down there when I use them.

[honeybeehill]

I love them! The only reason I don't make them myself is that wool is kind of expensive.

I wouldn't soak them at all, just maybe spritz them with vinegar or lemon juice and put them in a wetbag (dry-pail method).

[original_cliche]

Soaking them (at least for a short while) shouldn't be much harm. Just make sure the soak water is cold and that you wash on cold so that it doesn't felt further.

What I would probably do is make some thinish (even medium absorbency) cloth pads (with cotton, bamboo, or hemp) and layer that over a separate felted wool piece as leak-proof layer/extra absorbency. You can either buy some nice wool felt, or knit/crochet up a "blanket" out of wool yarn and wash it on hot to felt it, then cut out your pad shapes/rectangles and lanolize them.

That way you can soak your wool backers briefly and then hang/lay them out to dry and reuse them. That way you won't have to relanolize them constantly.

Definitely research "Wool Soakers" (which are wool diaper covers) and that should give you a lot of ideas of how wool can be used and how to care for it.

[queenginseng]

Thanks. I love and use wool soakers but was not sure how the principles applied to cloth pads.

I was thinking of doing the circle pattern with maybe a wool circle.

I would love to knit some but do not know of a pattern so yeah, I could try a blanket like you suggested.

[chattymom]

how would you attach the pad to the wool soaker so that it was removable for laundering?

aplix or pocket or ????

I've seen wool backed pads but they've been AIO style so I've wondered - obviously they can't lanolize the aio styles and they say they are washable on cold and that the wool has already been felted so I'm curious to know as well since I have some wool interlock here that I could felt.

[heartspunmom]

I have a small set of pads that have pre-felted wool interlock as the waterproof base layer, instead of poly fleece. I LOVE THEM and any future pads that I make, I will make this way! The wool is much more breathable and still functions perfectly as a barrier. Because it's pre-felted, I can wash and dry the pads as normal and not have to worry about further shrinkage. Basically I think they are brilliant!

[chattymom]

heartspunmom - do you felt the wool interlock yourself? I'm wondering if I can felt mine and if so will it eventually stop felting? it's 100% wool interlock - would it get too thick/bulky/stiff if I felt it?