Pavo Red Wool Lobsters {Woven Wrap Review}
Blend: 55% cotton, 45% (cruelty free) superwash merino wool.
Price: $340 for a size 6
Weight: 336 g/m2
When I first saw these lobsters previewed on Pavo’s Instagram feed a few weeks ago, I instantly knew I needed them. I didn’t know anything about them other than that they were red, and lobsters, but I knew my stash would not be complete without this wrap. The New England girl in me wouldn’t do without!.
I have been fortunate enough to be able to test this wrap for Pavo, prior to its official release (which will be coming up soon). I was slightly intimidated because it is my first woolie, and I was completely paranoid that I would manage to ruin it somehow. If you’re afraid of wool, this is a PERFECT first woolie for you! The wool in this particular wrap is superwash, meaning that it can be washed, wait for it, in a washing machine (cold, on the wool, handwash, or delicate cycles), and not felt! Superwash wool is typically treated with some type of chemicals to protect it, but with Pavo being the excellently economically friendly company that they are, their wool is eco-coated. I’ll be completely honest with you, I am not entirely sure what eco-coated means. But what I do know is that this wrap will require a slightly lower level of caution in its care than other woolies. You should still be careful, however. Superwash doesn’t make a woolie immune to felting, it just makes it far more difficult to felt. You should still always lay a woolie, super wash or not, flat to dry.
This wrap arrived to me in loom state, like all Pavos do. It was slightly stiff, but I could tell that after a bath, the wool fibers were going to be very soft. This is a size 6, and it measured 4.9m pre-wash.
After a quick 30 minute Eucalan bath and a long overnight dry, these lobsters had fluffed up nicely! They were already incredibly soft, and I knew this wrap wouldn’t need much, if any, breaking in to reach its full potential. Post wash, this wrap measured in at 4.7m and 33.5” (85cm) wide. To put that into perspective, most woven wraps average anywhere from 45-75cm wide; so this wrap is extra wide! However, the ladies at Pavo plan to hem it a little more narrow for the actual release. So, don’t let that width be a deciding factor either for or against purchasing this wrap. Unfortunately, I don’t have a gsm on it, because I don’t have a scale.
Now the fun part: wrapping with this thing!
Almost every brand new wrap I’ve tried has required some kind of breaking in period - except this one. This wrap was soft, snuggly, and full of drape immediately following a wash/air dry/steam iron. Because of the nature of the pattern, the “right side” of the wrap is almost all wool, while the “wrong side” (the side that touches your baby) is almost all cotton. So, it’s almost like having two completely different wraps in one! Wrapping with it was a little different than I’m used to because of the width, but once I adjusted to that, it was perfect! This thing absolutely rocks a DH, a RR-TT, and a FWCC… I’m actually pretty confident that it would rock any carry I tried it in. Because of the width, it does make a pretty large knot. Also, because of the width, it does take a little bit of work to get it to sit properly on my shoulders during back carries - shoulder pleating/sandwiching is a must, or else it’ll slip off.
When this wrap came in, we used it exclusively for almost a week. It’s that good. It’s full of bounce, stretch, and is supremely cushy on my picky shoulders. It’s not particularly grippy, but it’s not slippery either. I know a lot of people read reviews and think that the person reviewing it is just saying good things because it’s a review. But I promise you, this wrap is perfection. I’m not just saying that. The ONLY thing negative that could possibly said about this wrap is that lobsters are not for everyone, which I get. And the width may be intimidating to some (which again, is being changed in the actual production run).
If you have even the smallest inkling that you’d like to try this wrap, go for it. Buy it. Don’t let the lobsters or the wool scare you away. You won’t regret it.