Soaker Stuff

I've been getting a lot of hits lately from people looking for information on knitted soakers for cloth diapered babies. (Stop reading now, Geekzilla.) Thanks for the shoutout, Stacey! It's been awhile since I knit a soaker (Mr. Munchkin's been potty trained for awhile) but I'll try to recap the lessons that I learned when knitting soakers long ago.

Yarn - Choose a mostly or all wool yarn that will knit into a dense fabric. Worsted weight is fantastic as it knits up relatively quickly, and still provides the thickness needed. Preferably a yarn that is very soft to the touch, as it will be rubbing against your baby's tender skin. Definitely NOT superwash. (The superwash treatment basically nullifies the lanolinization that soaker has to go through to be effectively "waterproof".)

My personal favourites for soaker knitting included Malabrigo and 100PureWool. 100PureWool is the same quality as Malabrigo - possibly a touch thinner - but MUCH cheaper than Malabrigo. But I've knit soakers out of Noro (scratchy as hell), Cascade (nice, if a bit limp), and Manos del Uruguay (ungh, very bumpy) ...whatever works for the pattern, your baby and you. If pilliness is an issue for you - get a 2 ply as opposed to a single ply like the malabrigo.

Pattern - There are several patterns available online, such as the Curly Purly soaker, Fern and Faerie soaker, and the Down Under soaker. I have knit the Punk Knitter's Soaker and the Perfection Pants soaker...but by far and away, my favourite pattern was the Hybrid Rib Wrap from Little Turtle Knits. It was trim under clothes, very effective and just plain purty. Most of the soakers I knit were the hybrid rib, as it worked the best for us. Easy on, easy off and it holds its shape reeeeally nicely over time, unlike most of the others.

Washing and Care - Soakers need to be lanolized before they're initially worn. Two ways to do this:

Old School - Take some pure lanolin (you can buy tubes in the drugstore) and a small jar. A baby food jar works well for this. Fill the jar with the hottest water you can stand. Squeeze a pea-sized amount of lanolin into the jar, along with a small squirt of dishsoap. (The dishsoap is to suspend the dissolved lanolin in the water.) Close the lid, and shake the jar until the lanolin is more or less dissolved...you definitely don't want lanolin lumps. Add the concoction to a basin of tepid water, and swoosh it around to mix it all up. Put your soakers into the basin, and let soak for an hour or so. After that time is up, get the water out of the soakers - dealer's choice on either using the towel method or tossing them into the washer for a quick spin - and lay flat to dry. They're ready to use now.

New School - Use a lanolin spray like the ones from Naturally Luxe. Spray it onto a clean soaker, rub in, you're done.

Soakers need to be re-lanolized every once in awhile to maintain their effectiveness...but you can prolong the time between lanolizations (is that a word?) by using a nice wool wash, some of which are specifically designed for wool soakers with extra lanolin added. I like Eucalan, the wool soap bars from stores like Baby Blossoms, and the Organic Wool Wash from Naturally Luxe.

Just as an FYI - if you are prone to skin conditions like eczema, lanolin can trigger flare-ups. I have this problem, so I always wore rubber gloves when lanolizing Mr. Munchkin's soakers.

So...I can't remember anything else important about knitted soakers. (Short term memory loss FTL!) If there's anyone out there reading this that has questions, I'd be happy to answer them if I can. I would post pics of the soakers that I've knit, but I've loaned them all to a friend who's using them on her baby. That's the other advantage of cloth diapering - you can share the cuteness of a big ole squishy baby butt!