Wool vs Fleece

A question I frequently see on message boards and/or am asked is "What is the difference between wool and fleece longies?" Well, there are several key differences (it's sort of like asking "what's the difference between pocket diapers and all-in-ones). As with anything cloth diapering related (or perhaps anything in life!), which one you choose is going to be a personal decision where you have to weigh your own values and what is most important to you in your cloth diapering journey! For some, it will be cost, for others, it will be durability, for others it will be ease of use, and yet others may feel strongly about natural vs synthetic fibers. At the end of the day, I just want to shed some light so you understand the differences and can figure out what is best for your family! Here goes...
What They Do
Both wool and fleece are typically used as moisture barriers, and often they are used as extra moisture barriers for heavy wetters. They can be just used on their own-neither requires a diaper with PUL underneath. Both require a diaper of some type (fitted, prefold, leaky pocket, etc.) but said diaper does not need to be waterproof on its own. Both of them can either be used as a cover and clothing in one (longies/shorties) or as a typical cover with clothing over the top.
How They Look
Both can be heartstoppingly cute, especially on a baby's cute little tushy! Both are available in all kinds of colors. Fleece is more likely to be available in a pattern and looks like fabric (you know what fleece looks like-you probably have a pair of fleece pants yourself!). Wool can look like fabric or not, depending on what type you get.
How They Work
Have you ever noticed that if you spill a liquid on fleece, it doesn't soak in, but rather beads up? Eventually, if it sits there long enough, it will soak in, but it doesn't right away and you can sort of brush it off. Well, fleece is a manmade/synthetic fiber and a bit of liquid-repelling is in its nature. Fleece covers take advantage of this property and hold the moisture on the inside (side of the baby's skin) when treated appropriately (more on this later).
Wool is a natural fiber (from sheep, usually, although you can also use alpaca and other fibers-but it's usually sheep's wool as this is the least expensive) which tends to absorb moisture (and can absorb a LOT of moisture before feeling wet!). So wool holds the urine away from the side of the baby's skin instead of against it.
The end result from either is dry sheets! They just use 2 different routes to get there.
Use and Care
Fleece needs to be washed after every use/diaper change.
Wool is washed about once every 4-8 weeks (depends on how you are using it) unless it gets poop on it.
Fleece can be washed with your regular laundry in the machine.
Wool needs to be either hand washed or washed VERY carefully by itself (instructions here)
You need to treat fleece with fabric softener every time you wash it. This helps enhance the fluid repulsion and makes for a better diaper cover.
Wool needs to be treated with lanolin (a natural oil which sheep produce-this oil helps the wool absorb more and also is what makes wool covers self cleaning as long as they are just wet) each time you wash it.
Cost
Wool is going to be a lot more expensive than fleece. Fleece is manmade from plastic, essentially, and so it is cheap and readily available-you can even find lots of cute prints in the remnants section of any store, most likely, that will work for your little one (because you don't need much fabric)! Wool, on the other hand, has to grow on an animal, get removed from that animal, and then get processed (I will probably do a post on this later as it's kind of cool) and dyed, etc. before being made into your garment. However, since you have to wash fleece each time it is used and wool only every few weeks, you could get away with 2-3 wool covers vs dozens of fleece covers (if you were using ONLY wool or fleece covers) and you would also generate a lot less laundry. Thus, it somewhat depends on how you are going to use them!
DIY-Friendliness
If you have a sewing machine and a basic pattern along with a basic sewing skill set, you can make fleece longies and shorties. Soakers are a little trickier, but still doable with some practice. Total time to complete a pair is probably in the 1-2 hour range.
If you are an experienced knitter, you can probably make your own longies, shorties, and covers! There are free patterns available for personal use on the internet. However, if your knitting experience is limited to dishrags and scarves, I don't necessarily recommend trying to make an article of clothing next. It may be frustrating! I am a very experienced knitter (of clothing as well as other items) and it takes me about 10 hours to make a soaker, 12 to make shorties, and 15 or more to make longies. Obviously, that will vary depending on the size of the article in question!
Baby Comfort
Some children are allergic to the synthetic fibers in fleece (or fabric softener!) so make sure you know if your child is okay with having fleece next to their skin before investing much in a bunch of fleece articles! If your child has skin issues with microfiber or other synthetic fibers in their diapers, fleece may not be your best route.
A very few people are allergic to lanolin. If your child tends to break out if you apply lotions, I'd stay away from wool. Some families note that they tend to get itchy with wool. If this is the case for your family, make sure your wool articles are made from a super soft wool such as merino, cashmere, or angora (though angora would be extremely expensive!).
In the summer, fleece may be too hot for your little ones. Fleece works by trapping heat against the body-this is why it is SO warm and lovely/cozy in the winter. This is just a characteristic of this type of fabric and cannot be changed.
Wool, on the other hand, is a natural fiber (basically sheep's hair) and breathes. This means that instead of trapping heat against the body, wool does not transfer heat. It keeps the skin at whatever temperature it was at prior to the garment being put on. This makes it VERY warm and cozy in the winter, but light and cool in the summer. Generally, hand knitted items will breathe a little better than interlock or upcycled.
Any Questions?
As always, feel free to comment or contact me if you have any questions or something isn't clear!