Questions about care
Washing wool isn’t more complicated than washing your hair. Because wool is hair too - sheep hair.
Everything our hair doesn’t like during a wash, neither does wool e.g. using too hot water or too cold water for rinsing, an aggressive shampoo or long rubbing and grating. If you treat natural wool just the way your treat your own hair, nothing can go wrong.
How often do I need to wash my woollen article?
The least possible. Wool and water just don’t get along with each other and therefore a wash should take place infrequently. Wool is self-cleaning. Wool fibres have an extraordinary surface that rejects dirt particles, as well as bad odours and sweat and stops them from entering the fibres. Airing is enough to remove the dirt particles from the surface and to make the woollen article hygienically clean. You might saw the same effect when wearing a woollen jumper or ski underwear. Those articles only need to be aired overnight and are just as new the next day. Does this sound to you like magic? Yes, it might be. It works for sure!
Can I wash my woollen article in my washing machine?
Yes, but at your own risk. If your woollen article shrinked by 2 sizes and became “bullet proof” we will refuse to offer any compensation. Meanwhile almost all modern washing machines have a wool programme. However washing machines are differently designed. Some washing machines are programmed to automatically spin up to 1200 rotations during the wool setting. That’s way too much for wool. Also the temperature often varies between +/- 10c. A 30c wash can quickly turn into a 40c wash. Wool won’t hold out against such temperatures. Therefore we advise to handle a machine wash with care.
But I’m able to wash other woollen articles in my washing machine without any damages!
Yes, that’s possible. Nowadays many woollen articles are equipped with a “washing machine protection”. A lot of aggressive chemicals are used. The wool fibres are surrounded with an artificial resin cover. The characteristics of wool get lost. The naturalness is taken.
How can I hand wash my woollen article in the best way?
Infrequently and with care!
It’s best to do the hand wash in your bathroom’s sink. It has the right volume and an ergonomic working height.
You also need a mild wool shampoo, a terry cloth and a small tub for the wet wool articles. Add lukewarm water into the sink. Lukewarm means about 25c. Use a baby thermometer in case you can’t estimate the right temperature.
Add wool shampoo according to the dispense instruction on the package. Now you can put the dirty woollen article into the water.
Heavy stains can be carefully treated with ox-gall soap before, which is well known as the natural stain remover. Slightly push the article carefully and repeat the process a few times.
Don’t wring or rub it, simply push it a few times, max. 1-2 minutes, that’s all.
Take the woollen article out of the washing water and rinse it carefully with fresh water at the same temperature (also 25c, in no case colder).
To remove the rinse water off the article, squeeze it with utmost care.
Place the woollen article in the prepared tub and go to the drying area. Woollen articles mustn’t dry in a hanging position.
In that case the shape is modified. Therefore drying in a laying position is much more suitable. A drying rack will be perfect.
Pull the wet article carefully in shape and place it on the terry cloth. Leave it there ready to dry.
Don’t dry your woollen article placed on a heating or in strong sunlight. This will harm the fibres. A shady, well ventilated place is perfect.
That’s all! Not much more work compared with a washing machine wash.
Which wool detergent am I allowed to use for my disana articles?
We highly recommend the disana wool shampoo. It is perfectly adjusted to the care of natural wool articles. It is free of skin-irritating fragrances and preservatives and has its pH level adapted to the slightly acid pH level of natural wool. Also a pH-neutral baby hair shampoo can be used as a wool detergent very well. Never use a conventional wool detergent from your local drugstore. Most of them are alkaline and don’t mix well with the slightly acid natural wool. Furthermore a lot of fragrances and preservatives irritate your child’s skin. Also many organic detergents are not suitable for a wool wash. A use most likely leads to matting. Better pick the baby hair shampoo.
What about this ox-gall soap?
Ox-gall soap is a natural stain remover. It is indeed produced from a cow’s gall. Only apply the ox-gall soap on the stains. Its power can also remove the article’s colour. Therefore we recommend to test the soap on a not noticeable spot before the stain removal. You can apply the ox-gall soap on the stain with your finger. The article has to be dry yet. Slightly rub the soap into the fibres and allow to take affect briefly. After that wash the article as described above. Ox-gall soap can burn the eyes and mucous membranes. They must be kept out of children’s reach.
Help! My husband/ my grandma washed the woolen article in the washing machine at 60c by mistake….
Now the woolen article shrinked by two sizes and is totally matted. What can I do? Unfortunately matting and shrinking is a chemical and physical process that can’t be undone. The woolen article is broken and can’t be rescued anymore. Your only option will be to buy a new one. Let the person pay who did the washing? Woolen articles with a minor shrinking can be pulled carefully into shape again, in a water bath at 25c. Take care not to damage the stitches. Afterwards dry the article on a hanger. This method also often helps to rescue a slightly shrinked woolen article.
Why does my new cotton item hardly absorb any moisture?
Untreated cotton does not absorb moisture by nature. Water simply rolls off a new cotton item. You will be familiar with this effect from a newly purchased kitchen towel, for example. Our disana nappies and nappy liners made of cotton are also completely untreated and therefore hardly absorb any moisture at first. This is due to the still "closed" cotton fibre, whose cross-section looks something like a folded "V" and whose surface has a water-repellent effect. The cotton fibre only opens up when it is washed in hot water and the folded "V" becomes a round cross-section with a much larger surface area than before. Only this washing with hot water makes the cotton absorbent. Cotton items become softer and more voluminous through washing, as the surface of their fibres is now round and larger.
What do I need to do?
As already mentioned, our disana cotton nappies and nappy liners are completely untreated, so they hardly absorb any moisture at first. As with all natural cotton items, they must be washed in the washing machine 2-3 times on hot water before first use to achieve their full absorbency. Attention! This hot washing only applies to disana cotton items. Other items made of wool or silk must not be washed in hot water, as heat can destroy their fibres and the item will shrink and become felted. Remove the disana cotton items to be washed from their packaging and put them in the washing machine. For disana knitted nappies, we recommend making a loop in the ties of each nappy before washing. This way you avoid tangling all the ties in the washing machine.
How should I wash the cotton items?
Select the full wash programme (usually programme A or B) on your washing machine and set the temperature to the highest setting. This is usually 90° or 95° C. To protect the items and significantly extend their life, reduce the spin speed to below 1000 revolutions per minute for each wash if possible. This is completely sufficient. If possible, use an ecological detergent without fabric softener or fragrances. These can cause skin irritation or even allergic reactions for your child. After washing, remove the cotton items from the washing machine and prepare them for drying. If the items are still damp, you can carefully pull them into shape a little to minimise shrinkage during washing.
Can I dry the washed items in the tumble dryer?
Our disana cotton items can of course also be tumble dried. However, avoid this whenever possible and dry nappies and pads on the line or on a clothes horse. This significantly increases the lifespan of your textiles and is good for the environment and your wallet. Repeat the washing and drying process 2-3 times to allow all the cotton fibres to expand. With each wash, nappies and nappy liners become a little more absorbent until they have reached their maximum absorbency.
And ironing?
To finish off your preparations for the first nappy change, you should iron the cotton items with a hot steam iron. The steam, which can reach up to 160° C, expands even the last remaining cotton fibres and disinfects the cotton item in the process. Ironing restores the original size and shape of items that have shrunk slightly after washing. You should also iron the cotton items in our nappy system with a hot steam iron from time to time during the period of use. The hot steam will make the nappies really open up again and become soft and fluffy. Even if your child has been ill, e.g. with a minor stomach infection, you should hot iron the cotton nappy textiles after washing to disinfect them. So well prepared, the first nappy changes with your baby can come soon. We at disana wish you lots of fun and joy with your baby.
No, you don’t need to wash your disana woollen article before using it for the first time. Since disana articles are almost free of chemicals and don’t contain any questionable substances that could harm your child, there’s no need to wash them first. Wear them and feel comfortable.
A clothes moth, a nocturnal butterfly, is called Tineola bisselliella. This moth has a length of 6 to 9 millimeters and is colored in between glossy yellow and dark brown.
The clothes moth prefers quiet living and storage rooms.
The female places between 100 and 250 white eggs on woolen cloths, coats
and upholstered furniture. About two weeks later light yellow
caterpillars eclose. The main flight time between May and September is
the most dangerous time for moth attacks.
To increase, the grubs
need a protein called Keratin, which is available in animal hair. The
grubs also eat strictly herbal and synthetical cloths but these cannot
be stomached. Therefore mixed cloths with a high woolen percentage are
in danger.
The moth’s meal/grub causes holes and bald spots in textiles.
Questions about what to wear for my child
A clear „Yes “!
The overall works well for Spring and Autumn, also with a layer look underneath.
But I’m still unsure if my child is freezing…
A mother or father has to decide by themselves if their child is wrapped up warm enough or not. The heat sensation is so different like it is with us adults too. There are people who get cold quickly (my wife) and those who always feel too warm. And it’s the same with children.
We can only recommend to try. For example, with the next trip into the nature, on the way to the bakery shop or with a walk with Grandma and Grandpa. A cardigan or a small blanket should be with you. These are the simple things you can do when your child gets cold despite of a boiled wool overall from disana.
Your child should wear more layers, which is useful for when there are changes in temperature. The garment which is worn directly on the skin is the most important one for a comfortable warm sensation.
We recommend a long sleeve body out of wool or wool/silk, like our colleagues Engel Nature or Cosilana offer them. Above should be a long sleeve shirt and a jumper out of Merino wool, like our disana Melange jumper. On really cold or windy days, you can additionally use a knitted cardigan out of wool.
For the legs we recommend tights out of cotton or cotton/wool mixture. Brands like Hirsch Natur and Grödo are out of good quality. Above you could use disana leggings and woollen socks for the feet.
That should be warm enough to being well equipped for colder days.
Sounds complicated and exhausting? A while ago I watched my wife while preparing herself for a winter walk….
That’s complicated and tricky and especially very expensive. Our overall would cost at least twice as much with a complete lining and padding. Would you still buy it then?
Properties like wind- and waterproof can’t be achieved with natural fibers… but we’re working on it!
But the overall is offered as a snowsuit?
A snowsuit is a water- and windproof overall, which remain sealed also with storm and in mud. Properties than can’t be achieved with natural fibers.
We checked it. We never referred to our overall as a snowsuit. Although it works well in snow – as long as it’s dry. But it will never replace a snowsuit.
With boiled wool, the fabric is compacted by controlled felting. The knitted fabric is washed and shrinks by up to 30% in length and width. During this process, thousands of tiny air bubbles are trapped in the boiled wool fabric, which then act as an insulating layer to keep heat and cold away from the wearer of the boiled wool item.
Wool fleece is knitted as a kind of towelling fabric whose loops are cut open. In addition, these open fibres are then mechanically roughened.
By compacting the boiled wool, more wool is added to each square metre of fabric. With disana, there is around 420 g of wool per square metre. However, wool fleece does not have this compacting process. As a result, boiled wool fabrics are usually significantly warmer. Also, the surface of the boiled wool fabric tends to remain closed, so that raindrops and dirt particles roll off more easily. Wool fleece, on the other hand, has a completely open surface. This is why boiled wool is more water-repellent and much more resistant to dirt than wool fleece.
The TOG (Thermal Overall Grade) is a unit of measurement that shows the thermal resistance of textiles. The higher the value, the warmer the article, for example a sleeping bag.
The "correct" TOG value largely depends on the temperature of the room in which the baby sleeps. The recommended temperature for a child's room is 16-18 ° C.
Which TOG value can be used at which temperature is usually indicated as follows:
0.5 TOG: Summer sleeping bag for hot temperatures from 22 ° C
1.0 TOG: Light sleeping bag at temperatures of 19-24 ° C
1.5 TOG: Medium-weight sleeping bag at temperatures of 18-21 ° C
2.0 TOG: Lined sleeping bag at temperatures of 17-20 ° C
2.5 - 3 TOG: Heavily lined sleeping bag at temperatures below 16 ° C
The disana Sleeveless Sleeping Bag and the Long-Sleeve Sleeping Bag were measured with a TOG of 1.7. The disana Boiled Wool Sleeping Bag with a TOG of 1.8.
That shows the problem with this TOG system, which is currently so popular with many manufacturers.
Only the thermal resistance of the material is measured. Since both disana sleeping bags are made from the same organic wool, the resistance of the material is of course almost the same.
The TOG value does not consider or does not sufficiently consider if the material was not only knitted but also boiled and felted afterwards. In addition to that, the TOG value does not take into account whether a sleeping bag has or doesn’t have sleeves.
Furthermore, it doesn't take into account what your child wears under the sleeping bag. However, this is very important for the well-being of your child.
- disana
RECOMMENDATION | disana Knitted Sleeping Bag
We recommend our disana Sleeveless Sleeping Bag and Long-Sleeve Sleeping Bag for the warm season when the room temperature hardly drops below 18 ° - 20 ° C, even at night.
A short-sleeved body made of fine wool or wool/silk can be worn directly on your baby's skin and over the diaper package. Wool balances out temperatures perfectly and your child will never get too hot or too cold under a wool body.
Over the wool body, you can put on light terry pyjamas, also made of wool. You can skip the pyjamas in tropical nights with over 25 ° C.
⇒ chart | disana Sleevless and Longsleeve Sleeping Bag
- disana
RECOMMENDATION | disana Boiled Wool Sleeping Bag
Our disana Boiled Wool Sleeping Bag is heavier and comes with a light cotton lining. It is therefore intended for the cold season and room temperatures of
16 ° - 20 ° C.
Same as with the other sleeping bags, you put your child in a wool or wool/silk body. In Winter time with long sleeves. The pyjamas should also be made of wool terry, in a slightly heavier quality and with sleeves.
⇒ chart | disana Boiled Wool Sleeping Bag
The TOG value does not consider or does not sufficiently consider if the
material was not only knitted but also boiled and felted afterwards. In
addition to that, the TOG value does not take into account whether a sleeping
bag has or doesn’t have sleeves. We recommend to rely more on common sense than
on theoretical values when choosing the sleeping bag and the right clothing.
Of course you can. We only use very fine merino wool for all our disana items. The fibres of merino wool, meaning the wool hairs, are so thin that they cannot stand up on their own. Because they are so thin, they bend under their own weight. The wool fibres in our articles therefore always lie flat with their long side against the skin and therefore cannot scratch. This is in contrast to other wool qualities, whose hairs are thicker and where the tips of the wool fibres can scratch our skin.
Questions about sustainability
Questions about sustainability
The wool for our disana items comes from Patagonia, the southern part of Argentina all the way down to Tierra del Fuego, South America.
The region around the small towns Esquel and Trevelin, in the province of Chubut, is one of the hotspots for wool processing. We receive our wool from there.
But that’s at the other end of the world. Why from afar?
Yes, Patagonia is at the other end of the world. It’s a 16-hours flight from Frankfurt to get there.
The climate in Patagonia is rough, dry but never too cold or too warm. It’s characterized from falling winds of the Andes. The huge space creates an ideal living space for Merino sheep, that produce an especially soft wool. And exactly this soft, scratch-free wool is the one we want for our disana items.
The European climate, which is rather wet and cold, doesn’t agree with the Merino sheep. They would get sick very quickly with our climate here in Germany.
What does the name „Merino“ mean?
„Merino“ is a breed of sheep that is bred especially for wool production. The diameter of their hair is extra thin, which makes the wool very soft and scratch-free. Merino sheep produce about 3-5 kg raw wool per year. After washing and combing, there are still 1,5 - 2,5 kg washed wool fibers left for the yarn production.
The Merino sheep is a very old breed, that where brought in the previous Millennium turn from north African Moors to Spain / province of Cordoba. Later on, Spanish kings paid attention that the secrets of their soft wool have been kept. It was forbidden to take the sheep out of the country. Special border guards controlled the export ban. That’s why still today the Spanish call their border police officers “Merinos”.
Later on, English emigrants brought the Merino sheep to Australia and New Zealand, South Africa and subsequently to South America.
What’s „organic“ with the sheep bred?
„Organic“ already starts with pasture farming. Artificial fertilizers are taboo. Overgrazing and destruction of flora must be avoided. If the sheep have too much living space, they only eat the best and freshest sprouts. Over and over again. Dry shrubs are left over in a landscape like a steppe. That’s why the sheep must be brought to new grazing areas.
Sheep are often infected by parasites. Therefore, they are mostly hustled through big tubs of pesticide baths. Many pesticides stay in the wool. We only have a careful selection of medicine which we use for our sheep. Contagions can be avoided due to huge spaces and animal-friendly husbandry
There are only two examples for organic animal husbandry.
What about the so called “Mulesing”?
At the beginning of the last millennium, a fly from south Africa was introduced to Australia. It puts their egg into the sheep’s anus fold. The hatched larvae drill themselves into the sheep’s meat and eat them from the inside with alive body.
The Scottish veterinarian John Mules discovered, that the fly can’t put eggs on the sheep if you scratch their skin at a certain position. They get scarfs there and this little operation protected the sheep from flies.
It became a bloody and cruel spectacle in times of perverted factory farming. Even the smallest lambs have been cut out a piece of their skin – without anesthesia. Between 15% and 20% of lambs annually bleed to death on the meadows. That’s why people worldwide criticize and condemn Mulesing.
The above-mentioned pesticide baths are the only alternative.
In Patagonia, the origin of our sheep, there is no such a fly. The wind blows day and night with storm strength there. A fly can not resist such a permanent storm. Without flies you don’t need Mulesing.
Our wool is mulesing- free – in a very natural way.
And you guys can prove this?
Yes of course. Firstly, we checked the conditions on the farms in Patagonia by ourselves. Secondly all of our items are certified according GOTS and IVN BEST guidelines. These certifications include yearly inspections on the farms where an independent expert controls very accurate all requirements with the pasture farming and animal breeding. We can count on that. The GOTS and BEST quality labels on our items are the proof.
But you print only „wool“ on your labels and not “organic wool” or “Merino-wool”.
The European textile regulation specifies exactly how fibers should be named on labels – also for fibers from our disana items. Wool can be named as wool only. Every addition as „from organic animal husbandry“ or „Merino-wool” is, according to the textile regulation, a competitive distortion and may be prosecuted. An easy target for warning lawyers and easy money for them.
Wool is naturally dirt-repellent. This is due to the chemical/physical properties of the wool hair surface.
Unfortunately, wool does not differentiate between a dirt molecule and a dye molecule. Both are repelled by it. Colours therefore stick very badly to a wool fibre and would come off again when washed and worn. This is why the colours have to be "fixed". This is a process that involves the use of very intensive chemicals.
This also applies to dyes that are extracted from nature. Colours from plants or stones, for example.
Around 100 years ago, it was discovered that the surface of wool fibres forms a strong bond with a certain group of dyes in an acidic environment. The wool fibre reacts with these dyes. The group of synthetic "reactive dyes" was born.
These dyes stick very well to the wool as they are chemically bonded to the fibre. When washed, worn, in the sun ... They do not need to be chemically fixed.
And they are considered harmless and can therefore also be used in textiles that are manufactured in accordance with the strict GOTS and BEST guidelines.
We therefore use synthetic, or "chemical" if you like, dyes in order to minimise the overall use of chemicals in our natural textiles.
These flying little beasts are everywhere, especially in the summer months. No-one south of the Arctic Circle can claim not to have clothes moths in their home.
Moths lay their eggs in woollen clothing, from which larvae hatch after a while. Tiny, but very hungry. They feed on the keratin of the wool fibre and destroy the threads of a fabric in the process. When the affected item is worn or washed, the gnawed threads tear and the knitted fabric opens up. A hole is created.
The requirement for this, however, is that the moth can lay its eggs on a woollen article.
Many of our disana items are manufactured weeks, sometimes months, before they are delivered and then go into stock. It is quiet and dark there. Ideal conditions for clothes moths.
To ensure that our clothing is also protected from moth infestation during storage, we seal each individual item with PE film.
As clothes moths have no piercing or biting tools, they cannot get through the film. The item remains protected.
We believe that it is much more sustainable to wrap an item in an average of 2 grams of polyester film than to have it damaged by moths. Then all the raw materials used, the energy for machines and light, the labour of our employees, everything would have been for nothing.
Of course, we also searched for other packaging materials.
Paper requires around 1,000 times more energy to produce than PE film.
Plastic boxes are 10,000 times heavier and require much more material than film.
In addition, the packaging should be recyclable anywhere in the world.
In short, PE film is the most sustainable way for us to protect our items from dirt and moth infestation. Even if we find it difficult to associate the word sustainability with plastic.But in this case we still have no alternative.