@peris1989 If you have any sewing skills or know someone who does (and doesn't mind being politely asked and compensated for their work) thrifting a couple wool sweaters and turning them into covers is hecking cheap! 2-3 decent sized sweaters made of at least 80% wool will make about 6 soakers and two longies in a couple different sizes.
@peris1989 My family is buying a good bit for us for Christmas because my mom is really big on us using natural fibers if possible! so cost isn’t an issue thankfully! I’m just a little spooked by maintaining them..
@joyful0128 Before I started having issues with poop I only washed mine about once a month! And really you just swish it around in some water to wash it so it's not difficult. Just a few new techniques to learn
@joyful0128 I bought wool shorties, and they're so soft and lovely and they work well, but my kid refuses to put them on anymore. She throws a fit when I get them out. Guess they're not terribly comfy idk.
@joyful0128 I found pockets to be more ‘work’ than I wanted with my older kid. Now I do AIOs (Thirsties Natural)… I put them in the washer, turn it on a second time, then put them in the dryer.
It’s not maximizing being eco-friendly, but I’m not filling up a landfill with boxes and boxes of diapers that will be there for decades. The amount of work to maintain wool covers to save on the small amount of PUL I’m using… I can spend that energy elsewhere. Buying glass Evenflo Balance bottles instead of plastic made a larger eco reduction for less effort. (The glass is easier to get clean too, dishwasher cleans glass bottles beautifully without a pre-scrub.)
The cost isn’t a major factor for me since I knit.
@joyful0128 I would have loves to keep using wool covers, but my kiddo has really sensitive skin and needs a stay-dry layer, so we would already have to use synthetic materials for that (we tried wool liners and they did nothing for her). We could use a babee greens cover with a pad folded flat/prefold and a fleece liner, but babee greens covers never worked as well for us as disana ones, and disana covers (or covers that style) don't work with a pad fold, and they're not super practical to wear under pants. So we switched to pockets! It's a much more simple system for us at this point in our journey.
@joyful0128 I have recently started using wool that I bought second hand. Even used, they are still expensive but I absoluetely LOVE them. I use them over fitteds and they have been fantastic for overnight with our giant nighttime diapers. I've started using them during the daytime while at home too as I feel my baby has better mobility with them and that his skin can breathe easier than PUL. But my current pocket system is more absorbent than a fitted without boosters so if we are going out or settling in for a nap we use pockets. I'd absolutely love more wool but it's just so pricy and more of a hassle for washing.
@joyful0128 It absolutely makes sense from a health and environmental aspect. Your question doesn't exactly invite positive anecdotes, but if you're looking for reassurance that it's possible to do wool pretty much from birth until potty training, I can give it
@grimmjow Thank you! I was hoping for some positive responses but I did word it funny! We bought some pul covers and some wool last week. My girls 3 months and seems soo uncomfortable in the pul covers also it makes her skin so red where it touches her? The wool one hasn’t effected her like that so I was thinking of doing all wool and selling the other ones! I’m getting nervous about it since it’s a pretty big investment
@joyful0128 I recommend not stocking up all at once because you may find that some covers work better for you than others (like some people here I also found that some very thin covers leak more easily). But I'd definitely encourage you to keep working with wool!
We never used PUL covers at all, only wool, the entire time with our kid, and we intend to go the same with our second child who's due in February.
Wool is a lot more expensive than PUL. The actual cost of the wool itself is much higher, and then you will need to buy lanolin, special wool wash, etc. A lot of people get into cloth diapering to save money, and the price of wool can be very cost prohibitive.
Cleaning difficulty. You can't just toss wool covers in with the rest of the diaper laundry. You have to take care with cleaning and drying.
Bulk. Wool is a lot more bulky than PUL covers. Much harder to wear normal clothes over a wool cover. Thin wool covers like Puppi covers are not as leak proof as thicker wool.
Reliability. No matter how much I lanolize, I've found that my wool is just not as leakproof as my PUL covers. My baby once pooped directly THROUGH a lanolized Puppi cover once, because the presolids poo was that liquidy and that targeted. Would never ever happen with PUL.
@kagenonikki I agree with all of the above. I’m a yarn-crafter, so I’m super familiar with the care of wool, but in this phase of life, having to mange wool covers was too much for me. PULs just made more sense for my priorities for cloth diapering and lifestyle.
@joyful0128 I had a hard time getting them on my kid, no snaps meant I had to wiggle it on a wiggly newborn. Then it got dirty every time I used it and took 2-3 days to fully dry. So then I’d only get to use it once and for all that extra work of washing it by hand it wasn’t worth it. Covers are way easier to put on and easier to wash so I abandoned the wool even though I wanted to love it.
@joyful0128 They’re really expensive upfront, and the hassle of handwashing sounds harder then it is. Also you can’t just pad fold liners the same way which is a little annoying (at least not for pullons which is all I have) I use wool parttime. I found someone selling 4 used for a great price. We use them for bedtime and occasional day use. I wash them less than every two weeks and it’s not really harder. Because we use them overnight they rarely get poop on them. Now that it’s winter I occasionally use them for day use too. They’re so expensive, if I had tons of money I would buy fitteds and wool all day though. That is definitely my favorite system.
@joyful0128 I wanted to use wool and purchased two covers to try with the rest of our stash. I didn't have any issues prepping them, but it seemed like every time I used them, they got poop on them so I had to wash them more frequently than I planned which meant hand washing and line drying which I didn't have the time for, on top of the expense.
@joyful0128 We didn’t have the expense to worry about in the newborn stage with wool since my mother in law made us a bunch of wool covers from sweaters. But they are expensive if you buy them—we’ve spent several hundred dollars now on babeegreens wool covers. They’re worth every penny in our opinion, but not accessible for everyone.
There was a period around four months when we stopped using wool altogether, since we couldn’t for the life of us keep poop in the diapers and I was tired of always washing the covers.
Drying is a problem for us in the winter in our cold, drafty house in a damp climate.
I still love wool and I’m glad we’re using it, but it’s not like it’s the path of least resistance. At least in terms of ease of use and care, you can’t really beat throwing the tpu covers in the wash with everything else.
@live4christ2016 Why do you say you don't need as many covers with wool? I found that to seem to be the opposite since many need to be hand washed and then need to air dry. And any poop leaking means starting that process. With the way our early months went I would have needed 8-10 wool covers to get through 3 days.
