Are You Truly Allergic to Wool?

This week I made my first sale! I am so excited, and I just love that it was a good friend too. My friend, Katie, was getting some covers for an expecting friend of hers. Her friend is having a baby with Spina Bifida and is worried about the latex allergies that are common with this disorder. The PUL found in the water proof covers (or layers of the pocket and AIO styles) contains latex (I believe) and the elastic does for sure. My covers are latex and elastic free, so hopefully her friend will be finding some wooly love. I'm wondering if sposies have latex? That's another blog for another day though! This allergy thing got me thinking about the allergies people have to wool. . . or the imaginary allergies that is. Read on as I explain the more common 'sensitivity' to wool rather than allergies.


If you look at wool as an allergen, you'll discover that it's quite rare to have a true allergy to wool. Many people can be sensitive to the fibers of wool, which is why it can be itchy at times. If you are truly allergic your response to wool would be similar to an allergy of pet dander or dust (which if not cleaned or stored properly, you're sweaters will attract and trap such allergens!). You could get a rash on your face or hands immediately from handling the wool or even a few days later. I'm not talking a little itchy here and there. . . I"m talking full blown strawberry red bumpy hive-like rash. If you have an allergy it actually could be due to the wool alcohols in the lanolin. If that's the case for either you or your baby, it might be possible to use wool diaper covers w/out lanolizing them! Simply make sure to buy or make soakers that have plenty of layers and thickness in the wetzone. If it's made from a felted sweater, likely most of the wool alcohols have been washed and processed out. You would need to be extremely careful with raw wool or lotions and creams containing lanolin of course. And you would be very surprised at what contains lanolin. My apricot scrub for example! If the allergy to wool alcohols is too severe for even that or you're allergic to the fiber itself try using fleece covers if you want something breathable. You can wash them in your regular diaper laundry and don't lanolize them. They have to be washed each time and can not be reused until they are washed. I have not used fleece as a cover personally so I can't give you a testimonial on it. I do use it as a stay dry liner with some success.

As far as sensitivity to wool goes, make sure you get softer wools such as lambswool, merino or cashmere (that's my favorite, but for diaper covers it needs some major help in the wet zone!). Anything labeled simply 100% Wool, is not going to be any of the above mentioned. It's a scratchier wool that comes from regular old sheep. Wool blends can also be useful to people with sensitive skin!

Ok, so lets talk about the processing that goes into wool before it's made into that lovely sweater hanging on the wrack. I did some research, and it's a little overwhelming and I can't even begin to understand the process enough to explain it. I found lots of information on hand making yarn. . . that's simpler and involves less scary words ;) I'll touch on that another time though! For now I'm just going to list the chemicals I've read are used in this process. Most of my information comes from here.
Things like: (these were listed as possibilities in one step so I'm thinking only one is used?) Perchloroethane (read the health and safety section. . . scary), dichloromethane (it may be organic, but it's still scary), Freon and more. Which are then followed with a water/iso-propanol/hexane treatment. Then because they remove the lanolin, they have to add lubricants or the wool will become brittle and break. Though organic scouring is done rarely it involves a non-aqueous solvent (tri-chloro-ethelyne). Sulfuric Acid is concentrated and then carbonized. It's removed by a mechanical treatment. Then they wash and neutralize the wool with a diluted amonia solution and possibly add a sodium carbonate. The highlighted names there are pretty scary, so read at your own risk! I can't actually believe they allow people to work with those to process wool.

So you could be sensitive to the chemicals used in processing that may be left behind. If this is the case, you should be careful to avoid store bought wool sweaters with delicate or dry clean only washing instructions. . . because delicate hand washing wont get rid of the chemicals that may remain and dry cleaning just puts more on top of what's left behind. However, hand knit items from quality yarn (I'm talking about the stuff you can't find in the local craft store, but a yarn specialty store) that's minimally processed can work wonders for you. Wool is such a great fiber you really shouldn't miss out on being able to use it for something in your life!