Removing stains from unbleached, undyed wool cover

[swd12422]

We have two Aristocrats covers that have lots of staining around the legs and I'm so tired of seeing it. Normally, it wouldn't bother me, knowing that they are in fact clean, but they've been there so long now I just want them to look new again!

Can I use Bac-Out on them? Something else? I've tried sunning, and it just doesn't work! I'm not very craft-oriented, so I was hoping not to go the dye route just yet, for fear of having everything the cover touches turn whatever color the covers get dyed! Plus, some of the staining is so dark that I'm not even sure the dye would cover it, unless I dye them brown or black..... Any ideas for getting them back to their natural wool color?

[MommaShark]

did you wet them before sunning?

[junipervt]

soak in warm water w/ a squirt of DAWN. then rinse rinse rinse until you get all of the bubbles out. this should take all of the built up lanolin out of the wool. this may be all you need to do. but if the stains are still there lay the wet covers out to dry in a really sunny window.

the lanolin may have been holding the stains in, so the sunning was not working.

good luck

[swd12422]

I've tried to strip them with Dawn and then sun them, and I always sun them dry after I wash them, and some of the stains come out, but not the stubborn ones around the leg holes. We live in a very sunny climate, too, so I'd have thought that would take care of it, but even after stripping and resoaking and resunning, the stains are still there....

Anything else to try? I'm willing to restrip but am wondering what else I can use?

[ShwarmaQueen]

I'm looking for a solution for this too.

I googles Oxiclean and wool and it was a big no no, but I'm curious why?

[junipervt]

wow the strip & sun has always worked for me....

have you tried asking over on diaperswappers? there are some wool experts over there

[swd12422]

Originally Posted by ShwarmaQueen

I'm looking for a solution for this too.

I googles Oxiclean and wool and it was a big no no, but I'm curious why?

I have no idea, but I'm glad you said that, b/c that was going to be my next attempt! (I'm out of OxiClean, so that's the only reason I haven't done it yet!)

JuniperVT: I should go over to DS and ask. I'll report back if I get any good advice. Thanks!