Minerals in water affect lanolizing of wool covers?

[elekia]

My son is nearly a year old and we have been using Little Beetles wool covers from the beginning. For the first nine months they were great, but the last two months they have been getting worse and worse. They smell (that urine-amonia smell) sometimes the first use after being re-lanolized. They are absorbing more and more moisture and now two of my five will soak as much urine as the diapers themselves.

When this first started happening I would lanolize more often, then leave them soaking longer periods of time (up to 12 hours), and finally I started doubling and tripling the amount of lanolin I used to soak... nothing is working. I live in Botswana, Africa and the only reason for this change that I can come up with is due to the fact that our village converted from a local well based water supply to one piped in from the capital around that time. Could it be something to do with the water?

I am starting to worry about my lanolin supply so don't want to blindly use it up.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do? Thanks so much for any help you can offer.

[Jaimee]

It is possible that mineral deposits are interfering with the wool absorbing the lanolin.  But, have you tried different lanolizing techniques? Instead of soaking you can rub lanolin directly into the cover using the "dry method."  Or there are lanolin bar soaps and sprays that do not require soaking, but just hand washing.  If you'd like more info let me know!

[cdc]

Hi,

This is a bit late, but if you dont have your problem solved, you can try soaking the wool in vinegar.  That will help remove any minerals, and the old urine that may have dried on the wool.  Just add 1/4 cup vinegar (any kind) to your water, and let the wool soak.

Also, you do not say HOW you are washing your wool....it is important that they get really clean.  Lanolin will not help with waterproofing or stinkies if the wool is not clean.  I would suggest a good wool wash, but since you are in Africa, you may not have access to lanolin rich wool washes.  Anyway, the vinegar may help, then wash the wool again, with a good long soak (several hours) in whatever soap you are using.  At this point, I would bet there is enough lanolin on the wool, but you can try the dry method mentioned above, and just massage it into the wetzone to conserve lanolin.

:) Cheri