wool wraps - 2 questions

[maryo2]

hiya my first question is, if you are knitting them yourself is any pure wool ok? is it ok if it is dyed, does that take away its waterproof qualities?
or does it have to be organic and non-dyed?
you see i'd like to have some colourful ones!

my second question is.....
is there always a faint whiff with a wool wrap... ?? as the wool absorbs the wee and it evaporates.....
or do i need to wash mine more often....
how often do you wash yours?
how often do you lanolise yours?

Thanks!

I don't use them anymore but I did knit my own.
the wool you use needs to be 100% wool, and it needs to be able to felt up, which means that machine washable wool is not the best as its designed not to felt. The felting makes it denser. Dye makes no difference, its the washable ness that makes the difference.
I didnt' use organic wool but I got small amounts of 'vintage' wool from ebay, you need to look for 100% wool of types that say 'hand wash only' or don't give any washing instructions at all. The kind that will shrink and felt up at the mere mention of a wash!
Yes there was always a faint whiff but it was more of a lanoliney smell than wee. If you can smell wee then its not working properly.
I loved loved loved my own knitted wraps but some drawbacks:
Its really hard to judge the size as they shrink and felt up and one I knitted shrank to a totally different shape than another. It was fun knitting them in small sizes but the wool was expensive and the sizing hit and miss so for larger sizes I bought the Disana ones made of pre-shrunk/felted wool which velcro on.
Wool is very breathable but not waterproof so in winter I didn't use them at night as when the nappy gets wet you tend to get a damp patch under where the baby lies on his bum/side of hip, which caused a lot of washing of pyjamas and sleeping bags. For boys they are not good during the day for the same reason as clothing becomes damp where it presses against the wrap.
But for at home, garden, summer nights they were fab.
I think I handwashed mine in olive oil soap once a fortnight or so (I had 3 in rotation) and re-lanolised every other time.

thanks flibbertyjibbet.
now i know what wool i can buy, look forward to some colourful ones for under summer dresses...
and thanks for all the other tips. all really helpful.