DIY hiking wool?

[Gwaihir]

Hi!

I´m looking into blister prevention techniques.
I know (from here on the forum), that NOK cream and hiking wool work.

The thing is, hiking wool here (brandname) sells for 19,00 euros (40 grams) and the site says it will only last for about four times of application. That´s not going to cut it - I will be walking for 4 months.

The main"ingredients" are pure lambs wool and lanolin. I can buy a bottle of lanolin (10 euros) and I can buy 1kg of pure lambs wool for also 10 euros.

Does anybody know if this DIY idea will work?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Someone must have come up with the idea of doing that and finding out that it worked well. Then someone figured out a way of overcharging for the same thing.

 

[Gwaihir]

That´s what I thought Rick. Wool is not that costly. I think I´m just going to try it.

 

[Rob the Slob]

They sell the same stuff for ballet dancers, at a fraction of the price.

 

[Gwaihir]

It´s amazing what people will buy Rob! I think I ought to start my own store, selling something cheap for ridiculous pricing

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

It´s amazing what people will buy Rob! I think I ought to start my own store, selling something cheap for ridiculous pricing

Sell rocks to pilgrims to pay for your own pilgrimage.

 

[Gwaihir]

"100% organic" can be used for many different things:

rub against your face to exfoliate.
tough love back massage
beat against clothes to remove dirt
defense against bugs and misbehaving pilgrims

Just 50,00 bucks a piece!

 

[Telboyo]

Is "lambswool" actually wool from a lamb? If so why not just pick it up from the brambles and barbed wire surrounding a field containing lambs. Do you just stuff this in your shoes to stop blisters?

 

[domigee]

Is "lambswool" actually wool from a lamb? If so why not just pick it up from the brambles and barbed wire surrounding a field containing lambs.

That’s what I do....

 

[Kathar1na]

Is "lambswool" actually wool from a lamb? If so why not just pick it up from the brambles and barbed wire surrounding a field containing lambs. Do you just stuff this in your shoes to stop blisters?

Because you can’t find a lot of lambs or their wool between The Netherlands and Santiago? At least not in my experience, I don’t think I could have picked up enough wool for one foot and one day of walking ... .

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Because you can’t find a lot of lambs or their wool between The Netherlands and Santiago? At least not in my experience, I don’t think I could have picked up enough wool for one foot and one day of walking ... .

Detour through Kent (include the Via Francigena in your Camino!) come shearing time the wire fences around here look like Tibetan prayer flags - you just need to tease out the twigs and leafy bits. The lanolin come free of charge too!

 

[Anamiri]

Hi!

I´m looking into blister prevention techniques.
I know (from here on the forum), that NOK cream and hiking wool work.

The thing is, hiking wool here (brandname) sells for 19,00 euros (40 grams) and the site says it will only last for about four times of application. That´s not going to cut it - I will be walking for 4 months.

The main"ingredients" are pure lambs wool and lanolin. I can buy a bottle of lanolin (10 euros) and I can buy 1kg of pure lambs wool for also 10 euros.

Does anybody know if this DIY idea will work?

Do you know someone who spins wool,? A 'spinning' friend of mine gave me a small bag of her carded wool, which I gave to another friend to wrap her toes. Seemed to work just fine,

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Detour through Kent (include the Via Francigena in your Camino!) come shearing time the wire fences around here look like Tibetan prayer flags - you just need to tease out the twigs and leafy bits. The lanolin come free of charge too!

Great idea, Jeff!

 

[Kathar1na]

Detour through Kent (include the Via Francigena in your Camino!) come shearing time the wire fences around here look like Tibetan prayer flags - you just need to tease out the twigs and leafy bits. The lanolin come free of charge too!

So not only a spatial but also a temporal challenge! I picked up sheep wool from barbed wire fences along the South Downs Way but it was autumn and would not have been enough for a 2000+ km walk as @Gwaihir envisages.

@Gwaihir, Amazon.de sells Heilwolle for 8€ per 100 g. You would have to add delivery cost to the Netherlands but it’s not a lot. Less in any case than when you order the Original Hikers Wool from New Zealand. I have ordered and used both, btw.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

How about substituting dust bunnies from under the bed, or collecting the stuff out of your clothes dryer vent screen!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

How about substituting dust bunnies from under the bed, or collecting the stuff out of your clothes dryer vent screen!

Dust bunnies = hair/dead skin/bed mites so YUK!
Dryer fluff is always magenta in colour so might clash with socks? (does make good kindling though!)

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Dust bunnies = hair/dead skin/bed mites so YUK!
Dryer fluff is always magenta in colour so might clash with socks? (does make good kindling though!)

Yes, Jeff, but the stench of sweaty Camino feet kills off all the cooties!
P.S. My dryer stuff is not magenta...you must be washing too many pairs of RED socks at a time.

 

[AllanHG]

Hi!

I´m looking into blister prevention techniques.
I know (from here on the forum), that NOK cream and hiking wool work.

The thing is, hiking wool here (brandname) sells for 19,00 euros (40 grams) and the site says it will only last for about four times of application. That´s not going to cut it - I will be walking for 4 months.

The main"ingredients" are pure lambs wool and lanolin. I can buy a bottle of lanolin (10 euros) and I can buy 1kg of pure lambs wool for also 10 euros.

Does anybody know if this DIY idea will work?

We've used natural carded wool, bought in a skein from a yarn/knitting store. It is anti-bacterial, light weight, really cheap and you pull off as much as you need to protect tender spots on your feet. You can re-use it as many times as you want. We usually put Neutrogena Norwegian Formula foot cream on our feet first (a tip we learned from a reflexologist on our first Camino). It works great and, so far, haven't gotten blisters with this protecting our feet. We always take extra to give away on the Camino too!

 

[Pilger99]

If you can have the wool from other resources take it there. The world market price of 2017 was less than 15€/kg, which makes a 5€ wool T-Shirt unlikely, but 100g could be in that range.

I'm about sure to see at least 100 wild boars before one sheep will show up in my town. Therefore I'd go to Spain during spring and autumn (sheep shearing season) and keep the eyes open. I'd say I've seen a shepherd with flock at least once in any 2-3 weeks camino.

 

[Kathar1na]

I’ve matured from a person who never had a blister during a hike into a person who gets blisters under the pinky toes after the second day of consecutive hiking. Guaranteed. It’s not the shoes, it’s not the socks, and neither Compeed, nor five toe socks, nor gel tubes, nor taping, nor any kind of wonder cream helps.

Hikers Wool turned out to be a godsend because it’s very fluffy. It will compress during a day of walking and you can then pull it apart to make it fluffier again but after a few days this will no longer be possible. That’s the reason why you have to change it. I’m just adding this because this is an important feature for me and my foot problems, and I can see from the comments that not everyone seems to be aware of this.

If I just wanted to wrap a bit of wool around my feet I would knit myself a pair of woollen socks. Heck, I even know how to do this, five knitting needles, heel and all.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Am I missing something here...what about good ol'Compeed? I love the stuff!

 

[Telboyo]

Dust bunnies = hair/dead skin/bed mites so YUK!
Dryer fluff is always magenta in colour so might clash with socks? (does make good kindling though!)

Dryer fluff are the ghosts of missing socks

 

[Kathar1na]

Am I missing something here...what about good ol'Compeed? I love the stuff!

If you are referring to my post, yes, you missed the line where I said that Compeed doesn’t help. I am a fan of Compeed, btw. I’m happy to explain why but it’s nasty stuff. Google triangle toes and try to find it on the website of the Fixing your feet guy, another favourite of mine. Triangle toes and walking lots can lead to a toe sock and that’s really really nasty to have ... fluffy hikers wool helps avoiding it. Compeed doesn’t.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

@Kathar1na, if what you mean by toe sock is a bunching up of fabric in the space by the littlest toe you might want to try a pair of socks that come shaped for the foot; one for the right and one for the left. Yes, they exist. That doesn't leave extra fabric to bunch.

 

[Kathar1na]

@Kathar1na, if what you mean by toe sock is a bunching up of fabric in the space by the littlest toe you might want to try a pair of socks that come shaped for the foot; one for the right and one for the left. Yes, they exist. That doesn't leave extra fabric to bunch.

That’s not it. Honestly, you don’t want to know ... I’ve done a few (slow) half marathons in an earlier life and a lot of jogging, nearly all my socks have the letters R and L on them.

 

[domigee]

I picked up sheep wool from barbed wire fences along the South Downs Way but it was autumn and would not have been enough for a 2000+ km walk as @Gwaihir envisages.

As @Jeff Crawley said, there is plenty of sheep wool to be picked (free) in Kent
I also found - but that could just be me - that you don’t need it after the first 1000 km...

 

[AnnieS]

I use hiker's wool. You don't need to add lanolin as sheep's wool naturally has lanolin. I wouldn't use raw unwashed sheep's wool because you could risk infection (sheep's woo is quite dirty). What you want is carded wool rovings or ropings, or wool that's been washed and ready for spinning. You should be able to get some fairly inexpensively at a woolen mill, or even a knitting shop. Or if you know someone who spins and weaves. I had ordered some hikers wool from a company and realized it was carded wool and luckily my mother is a spinner and weaver so she has some 60 huge bags of carded wool all ready to be used for my hikes!

 

[Rob the Slob]

That’s not it. Honestly, you don’t want to know ... I’ve done a few (slow) half marathons in an earlier life and a lot of jogging, nearly all my socks have the letters R and L on them.

I call these "moral socks". Just by looking at your feet, you know what's right and what isn't.

 

[pmw]

Hi!

I´m looking into blister prevention techniques.
I know (from here on the forum), that NOK cream and hiking wool work.

The thing is, hiking wool here (brandname) sells for 19,00 euros (40 grams) and the site says it will only last for about four times of application. That´s not going to cut it - I will be walking for 4 months.

The main"ingredients" are pure lambs wool and lanolin. I can buy a bottle of lanolin (10 euros) and I can buy 1kg of pure lambs wool for also 10 euros.

Does anybody know if this DIY idea will work?

I’ve walked 7 different Caminos, all 5-6 weeks in length and have never had any blisters- I’m sure it’s because of using untreated sheep’s wool. I first heard about it from an old shepherd here in the Uk- just take some from the hedges. When I feel a ‘hot spot’ I put first a small bit of Vaseline on followed by a generous lump of wool. It becomes felt after a few days. In Uk Boots the chemist sells it, but have to ask at the counter as it’s not on general display...

 

[Kathar1na]

That’s not it. Honestly, you don’t want to ...

“Toe sock” is a not very scientific name for what can happen after you get a “pinch blister” under your pinky toe (not due to tight shoes but due to the anatomy of what I like to call mature feet ) and there is “graphic evidence” on the internet. Pinch blisters are not unknown to participants in an endurance sports event (ultramarathon and longer).

Btw, I never used the small ball of sheep wool I collected along the SDW. It sat around for a while in my house and eventually I discarded it. I considered the risk of an infection as too great for me and my toes.

 

[Leacwillie]

Wow! Blisters r a interesting topic. We walked del norte 2017 and just used micropore on any hot spots. It just a paper tape super cheap and used as a prevented works 100% ...for us anyway Burn Camino

 

[Kathar1na]

Wow! Blisters r a interesting topic.

For me, the interesting topic is actually hikers wool and where to get it.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Dryer fluff are the ghosts of missing socks

Or, at the very least, their soles . . .

 

[Espee84]

I bought some really cheap ‘animal wool’ from amazon. £2.25 for 25g. Worked a treat. Add the word ‘hikers’ and you can charge 10x more. The brand was Carnation.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Hi!

I´m looking into blister prevention techniques.
I know (from here on the forum), that NOK cream and hiking wool work.

The thing is, hiking wool here (brandname) sells for 19,00 euros (40 grams) and the site says it will only last for about four times of application. That´s not going to cut it - I will be walking for 4 months.

The main"ingredients" are pure lambs wool and lanolin. I can buy a bottle of lanolin (10 euros) and I can buy 1kg of pure lambs wool for also 10 euros.

Does anybody know if this DIY idea will work?

Raw wool already has the Lanolin in it, from the sheep's back (or front)

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Another DIY solution for those who REALLY want/need some wool for their toes and are not around sheep is to pluck some from the tops of their socks.

The idea came to me in a weird moment.

 

[VNwalking]

I wouldn't use raw unwashed sheep's wool because you could risk infection (sheep's wool is quite dirty)

100% agree, from bad experience.
But soft lamb's wool is an essential part of my foot bag - for the same reasons @Kathar1na describes.

And compeed?...Chris and I obviously disagree. Enough said.

 

[malingerer]

Hi!

I´m looking into blister prevention techniques.
I know (from here on the forum), that NOK cream and hiking wool work.

The thing is, hiking wool here (brandname) sells for 19,00 euros (40 grams) and the site says it will only last for about four times of application. That´s not going to cut it - I will be walking for 4 months.

The main"ingredients" are pure lambs wool and lanolin. I can buy a bottle of lanolin (10 euros) and I can buy 1kg of pure lambs wool for also 10 euros.

Does anybody know if this DIY idea will work?

I am tempted to say: "ask the sheep" but Godspeed and good luck! I use a compeed stick for prevention and then compeed plasters when all else fails.

Yours aye

The Malingerer.

 

[Craig Towers]

Hi!

I´m looking into blister prevention techniques.
I know (from here on the forum), that NOK cream and hiking wool work.

The thing is, hiking wool here (brandname) sells for 19,00 euros (40 grams) and the site says it will only last for about four times of application. That´s not going to cut it - I will be walking for 4 months.

The main"ingredients" are pure lambs wool and lanolin. I can buy a bottle of lanolin (10 euros) and I can buy 1kg of pure lambs wool for also 10 euros.

Does anybody know if this DIY idea will work?

Take a look.

ENGO Rectangle Blister Prevention... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008QLQJ64/?tag=casaivar02-20

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Take a look.

ENGO Rectangle Blister Prevention... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008QLQJ64/?tag=casaivar02-20

I think these can also be bought at Rebecca Rushton's blister prevention website. Aussies and Kiwis can show their appreciation for her help by buying these from her.

On this webpage she tells about some things that keep the Engo patches from doing their best:

The Limitations of ENGO Patches

ENGO Blister Patches are great for stopping blisters. But they can’t fix every foot pain. Here's an overview of the limitations of ENGO Patches.

www.blisterprevention.com.au

A definite must read website.

 

[Marney]

Hi!

I´m looking into blister prevention techniques.
I know (from here on the forum), that NOK cream and hiking wool work.

The thing is, hiking wool here (brandname) sells for 19,00 euros (40 grams) and the site says it will only last for about four times of application. That´s not going to cut it - I will be walking for 4 months.

The main"ingredients" are pure lambs wool and lanolin. I can buy a bottle of lanolin (10 euros) and I can buy 1kg of pure lambs wool for also 10 euros.

Does anybody know if this DIY idea will work?

Best way to prevent blisters is to make sure your shoes or boots fit well, no hot spots and that you tie them snug and loosen them as your feet swell. Soak your feet in the streams and other cold water sources as you go or at least take your feet out of your shoes or boots a few times a day and massage. In the morning lube your feet with lanolin, vasoline or something greasy, reapply as needed during the day. Your feet are your temple. Listen to them. No blisters on my Camino de Frances.

 

[taigirl]

Wool straight off the sheep's back (so to speak) will have its own lanolin. No need to add.

 

[taigirl]

Am I missing something here...what about good ol'Compeed? I love the stuff!

Compeed should be for open blisters or wounds. It can make healthy skin soggy and cause it to breakdown.

 

[Craig Towers]

Hi!

I´m looking into blister prevention techniques.
I know (from here on the forum), that NOK cream and hiking wool work.

The thing is, hiking wool here (brandname) sells for 19,00 euros (40 grams) and the site says it will only last for about four times of application. That´s not going to cut it - I will be walking for 4 months.

The main"ingredients" are pure lambs wool and lanolin. I can buy a bottle of lanolin (10 euros) and I can buy 1kg of pure lambs wool for also 10 euros.

Does anybody know if this DIY idea will work?

One old soldier in the Army told me of a trick where you soak your feet in cold tea to toughen them up. He swore by it. I think in Europe you can buy cream with tannin in it. Might be a long slow process but the idea of toughening the skin has merit.

 

[Julia Sydney]

Hi!

I´m looking into blister prevention techniques.
I know (from here on the forum), that NOK cream and hiking wool work.

The thing is, hiking wool here (brandname) sells for 19,00 euros (40 grams) and the site says it will only last for about four times of application. That´s not going to cut it - I will be walking for 4 months.

The main"ingredients" are pure lambs wool and lanolin. I can buy a bottle of lanolin (10 euros) and I can buy 1kg of pure lambs wool for also 10 euros.

Does anybody know if this DIY idea will work?

I loved the hiking wool. Half a pack lasted me the Camino BUT I gave a lot away and half way through my stash has dwindled. I washed it at the end of each day. Let it dry and combed it out to make fluffy. And used it to the end. Just got me through. Next time I would take 1 or two packs and share half and use more fresh wool. It weighs nothing. It’s so fine. I wouldn’t waste money on anything else. I only had 2 blisters in 1000 kms. I love hiking wool.

 

[Julia Sydney]

I loved the hiking wool. Half a pack lasted me the Camino BUT I gave a lot away and half way through my stash has dwindled. I washed it at the end of each day. Let it dry and combed it out to make fluffy. And used it to the end. Just got me through. Next time I would take 1 or two packs and share half and use more fresh wool. It weighs nothing. It’s so fine. I wouldn’t waste money on anything else. I only had 2 blisters in 1000 kms. I love hiking wool.

BTW. I didn’t use any lanolin.

 

[domigee]

I wouldn't use raw unwashed sheep's wool because you could risk infection (sheep's woo is quite dirty).

of course you wash it!
Oh and regardless of how clean it is, you don’t use it on broken skin. By then it’s too late. It’s only good before a blister forms.

 

[Gwaihir]

Half a pack lasted me the Camino BUT I gave a lot away and half way through my stash has dwindled.

Hi Julia, do you remember how much grams you bought or the price?

@Craig Towers interesting! I´m looking for ways to save money though. Two patches for 12,00 bucks? Still expensive (specially if you need more patches, which I probably will in 4 months)

@malingerer I will ask them! If I can figure out their answer I will let you know.

@Rob the Slob "moral socks" that´s brilliant man

I did not know about washing the wool! What´s the best way to wash it without damaging it?

This is the site I want to order it from: https://www.purewol.nl/spinwol. The wool is meant for spinning. I don´t know if they washed it, but I can ask

 

[Gwaihir]

I also figure I might as well just bring along a set of cutters so I can shear the sheep on the go (kidding)