Wash wool products in lukewarm water using a wool-safe wash. Make sure the water is not too hot or cold, this may shock the wool. Roll in a towel and lay flat to dry. Prewash and lanolize your wool before using on baby. You will only need to wash your wool from now on every few weeks or when soiled. Urine reacts with the lanolin to form a natural soap, this makes your wool self-cleaning between washes! Be careful not to shrink your covers! Just air dry between uses. Don't wash your covers by machine or put them in the dryer. Strong agitation will shrink them, and shocking the wool with either hot or very cold water will shrink them. Use warmer than room temperature water. Spot clean with a Wool Wash Bar, olive oil bar soap, Ivory bar soap. If covers are particularly dirty, soak in the sink for 15 minutes with a little wool wash and a teaspoon of vinegar. The vinegar will neutralize the urine (ammonia - high pH) that has built up on the cover over time.

To lanolize your cover

Add a pea size amount of solid lanolin or liquid lanolin to the bottom of your sink. Add a bit of very hot water and 1/2 tsp. of baby shampoo (this helps emulsify the lanolin) Swish until well mixed. The mixture will become sort of white and you won’t see oil floating. You can also do this in a separate jar, if desired. Full the sink the rest of the way with lukewarm water. Add the cover and let it soak for a few hours. Gently roll the cover in a towel and lay flat to dry. I usually lay my cover to dry on top of the dryer. Do not put your wool in direct sunlight. How often you need to lanolize depends on how often the cover is used. You may notice the the cover does not seem to neutralize urine like it used to. For light lanolizing or touch ups, you can use a spray lanolin just make sure you really massage it into the wool. I have found the sink method is the most effective for night time covers.

I shrunk my cover! Help!!!

Wool shrinks when exposed to shocking changes of temperature and/or agitation If your cover was machine washed or dried by accident (I don't recommend you doing this on purpose) and looks minuscule, there is something you can do to fix it most of the time.
You will need a big bottle of hair conditioner (the cheap kind is just fine). Fill your sink with lukewarm water and dilute half bottle of conditioner, soak the cover in it!... You can almost hear the cover squeal in delight :) Now gently stretch the cover until you get it back to its normal size using more conditioner if needed. Once you have it back to normal size, take good care to rinse it well and gently, using tepid water. Wash it with shampoo again to get every bit of conditioner out but been careful not to rub hard or using too hot or too cold water or you could felt it again . Finally rinse with clean tepid water and 1 TBS of vinegar. Why?... Because if left it in the cover the hair conditioner will cause the wool to hang on smells and be less water repellent/absorbent.

My cover feels very wet and tends to leak

Wool is not waterproof like plastic is. Wool is a natural fiber that absorbs 30% of the moisture that comes in contact with it and slowly let evaporate it out in the air. This is why wool is the best cover material you can get. The air circulates freely and prevents diaper rash keeping baby skin healthy. If your cover leaks, is possible that you are not using an absorbent enough diaper; For night time and heavy wetters you should use some extra layers or doublers. (Hemp is very absorbent and trimmer, so is organic cotton my favorite) Also do change your baby more often The other thing might be that it needs to be lanolized again. You will need to lanolize your covers prior to their first use.

I lanolized my cover but now it feels tacky is this normal?...

While it is possible to put too much lanolin, it won't harm the cover. Eventually it will feel normal. Next time use less. A pea size is all what is needed. If you really hate the feeling of it, you can strip it by washing it with a little of dishwasher detergent and rinsing well. Don't forget to lanolize again an amount the size of a pea. Lanolin is the soul of the wool, it is what keeps the cover antibacterial and performing well by changing the urine by contact in natural soap and keeping it odor free and water resisting.

I wash my cover and smells like wet sheep!

Yes, that can happen especially with virgin wool, organic and untreated wool jersey or interlock. The wool smells like wet sheep because is minimally treated to preserve its natural lanolin. The smell lasts only while wet and once dry you won't feel any smells. This will not happen with baby urine since the lanolin combines with it creating a satiating solution of natural soap. If you find that your cover start to smell like baby pee, this means that needs to be washed: shampoo first, rinse with a tiny bit of vinegar and lanolize.

How many wool covers do I need?...

Wool doesn't need to be washed every time it gets wet, that is the beauty of it. You will need 4 covers at least with an older baby and up to 6 for a newborn. I recommend you to air your covers between changes and wash the soiled ones immediately to avoid set stains. Wool will outlast your baby's diapering years, it can be hand out easily if you take good care of it.

What are the biggest NO- NOs?....

Rough rubbing, sudden temperature changes (Too hot or too cold water) and Machine wash or dry.