What is lanolin? You probably used it if you breastfed for sore nipples, but it’s also in hundreds of commonly used products on the market. Lanolin is basically a wax or oil, but more specifically lanolin (according to Wikipedia) is:
“Lanolin (German, from Latin lāna, “wool”, and oleum, “oil”) also called Adeps Lanae, wool wax, wool fat, anhydrous wool fat or wool grease, is a greasy yellow substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals, with the vast majority of it used by humans coming from domestic sheep. Chemically akin to wax, it can be used as a skin ointment or water-proofing wax, and is also sometimes used as a raw material in the manufacture of such products as shoe polish.”
So just like it is frowned upon to pour oil down the drain it may be wise to use a separate bucket or container when lanolizing your wool covers. This is something I did not know or even think about when I entered the world of wool covers. I just assumed that the sink was the logical place to soak and lanolize wool covers and since I only owned 1-2 wool covers at this point, it was only every month or two that I even needed to lanolize them. Luckily, my pipes probably didn’t suffer any more build up that some of my body scrubs or beauty products have done over the years from this limited use.
The bottom line is that you know your pipes the best and it depends how many wool covers you own, lanolize and how often. It may not be worth the extra step for you if you only use a wool cover or two, but it’s not that much more effort to alleviate any build up that may form in your pipes over time. If you live in an older home, use many wool covers or are diapering multiple children simultaneously or one after another I highly encourage you consider lanolizing in a separate bucket if you don’t already. It’s really not that much more work and actually it frees up your sink for washing hands and being, well, a sink!
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Wouldn't it be harder to do in a bucket ? How would you drain it so that it lanolizes properly ? Maybe one of those camping sinks would be handy for this ?
You would take each cover out of the bucket and gently squeeze the water out, roll it in a towel and set it out to dry just like you would if you were doing it in the sink. Then the water in the bucket can be discarded outside.
It shouldn't be that much harder or affect the lanolizing process. I also set my bucket in the tub so it doesn't get knocked over and you can easily fill it with the water initially this way as well.
If you've got a camping sink, give it a try! I've love to hear how that works
I don't have a camping sink , maybe I'll watch for one on freecycle :]
I only have 2 wool so haven't tried washing or lanolizing them yet just been looking at the how-to's !