Disana Boiled Wool Jackets are a 3-season staple for us. They are a very versatile piece of gear as an outer layer or as an inner layer. In spring and fall they’re a great stand-alone jacket, and in winter they can be layered over or under other pieces.
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Shoulder seasons are often full of mud/dirt/puddle play, but boiled wool as a fabric is extremely easy care, so don’t be scared off that you can’t machine wash it.
Wool fiber has scales on it which help make it a superb insulator but also make it so dirt just brushes off. Get the jacket soaked in mud after puddle biking? It will look filthy but just let it dry and then shake it out!
Boiled wool is often our layer of choice for under a rain jacket, especially when the kids are at forest school and it’s raining in the morning but might be still cold but not raining in the afternoon. They can handle a light drizzle or wet snow very well too, the snow or water will bead up on them because of the lanolin in the wool.
Eventually they will start to absorb the rain and get heavy, so if it’s raining or very wet snow we put on the rain gear or use extra layers.
We also wear them a lot with our rain bibs for lake/mud exploring in shoulder seasons. You can lanolize them for extra waterproofing, but they don’t need it.
In the winter, we will often wear them under snowsuits as an extra layer. Both my girls run cold so it’s great to have this extra layer we can add; it’s always a bonus when gear can work in different ways through different seasons. Just make sure there is enough space to fit a double layer and still trap enough warm air against their bodies to keep them warm.
When worn as an outer layer by themselves or over a down jacket, they are awesome in the snow. Even after prolonged rolling, the kids have stayed toasty warm even as snow chunks form and stick to the outside. The hood is the perfect size, offering visibility but full coverage and perfect for layering.
Other Styles of Boiled Wool from Disana
Boiled Wool Bunting
Disana also makes a boiled wool bunting, which is one of my absolute favorite pieces of gear for babies. It has fold-over cuffs on the hands and feet, and my kids wore the 6-12 month size from when they were a few months old until they were about 3 years old. It was huge but cuffs folded over, and they were in carriers so allowed plenty of room for knee-bend while babywearing.
The 12-24 month size (the biggest size they make in this style) also runs very large, and my kids generally wore that one from about 1.5 to 4.
They work wonderfully layered over another wool baselayer, like Ella’s or Wee Woolies.
The bunting is generous in the torso, so even when it didn’t exactly *fit*, the kids were still able to wear them when they wanted. They were just capris and 3/4 length sleeves, but still did the job of insulating and when worn with gloves and boots it worked when they outgrew that largest 12-24mo size but still wanted to wear a cozy bunting.
Boiled Wool Overalls
Disana makes a boiled wool overall that pair very well with their jackets, and is their “big kid” version of the bunting. They run less generously than the buntings, they are a slimmer fit. But they’re just as warm and durable!
The overalls come up higher in the back and have two buttons in the front so you can adjust the sizing a bit.
Boiled Wool Mittens
These mittens are great on their own or for layering. They hold up to snowplay very well, especially given that they have no added waterproofing besides wool’s natural ability to resist moisture!
We also love layering them under rain mittens for total protection on wet snow days or for puddle splashing in the spring and fall.
The mittens come on strings which is very handy, but the strings are a bit long. We like to tie them to take a few inches off the length.
Conclusions
What I love
Disana’s boiled wool is versatile, warm, and very durable. It lasts a long time and is the kind of gear you can pass through all your children and still pass it on looking pretty much new.
The hoods are perfectly sized, and we have no trouble layering balaclavas underneath or snow/rain suits over the top. They cuff easily, and the buttons are easy for kids to do.
The pieces also look nice and many of the colors would probably work as a dressier/less outerwear-looking coat. Boiled wool cleans up well but you hardly ever need to clean it, just let it dry and shake it out and it looks clean.
What I don’t love:
A small gripe is that the jackets are lined with organic cotton. We try to never wear cotton outside, and I wish they were lined with merino. But this would of course make them pricier, and we’ve never had much trouble with the cotton layer getting wet (and therefore being cold), even after rolling around in the snow for hours. And this is something that’s seen in a lot of outerwear so it is not unique to Disana.
I also wish they were made in bigger sizes. The jackets max out at size 4/5, which my almost 6yo still fits in but probably won’t fit next year. They do make a new style of jacket and coat that go up to size 11/12; it’s a zip style and might work just as well but we have not tried it yet.
The Bottom Line
Boiled wool is a versatile piece of gear, and don’t let hand-wash wool care scare you off – they require very little fuss!
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Thanks for this great honest review, Kristin! We purchased a Disana boiled wool overall bunting for our 2 year old this year. It will be winter here soon and I was hoping we could just use this suit as the outer layer. Underneath, I was thinking merino thermals without other layers (sweater, sweatpants). The winters are mild but damp here so it does feel a lot colder most of the time. Any suggestions on layering for this damp cold? Also do you find that snow gets in between the buttons?
Hi Rose, you could do this but you might not get as long outside as you would if the child was wearing an actual snowsuit (or at least a waterproof layer over the top). We’ve used them as an outer layer in the snow and been very happy with them, but it’s usually pretty cold here so there’s less moisture in the snow; where you live that moisture may become a problem. And it was also always a second option to our full piece snowsuits.
When we wore them as an outer layer we’d usually have a down jacket underneath (because the wool is better at handling the snow moisture than the down), or we’d layer a waterproof layer on top (full snowsuit, snow bibs, or even rain bibs over the wool would work). But they do get heavy after a time in the snow, snow is going to stick to it, and on a 2 year old who will be sitting/falling a lot I’d probably want a waterproof layer too (really any of your rain gear you could throw over it). But yes as far as layers I’d definitely do some good merino thermals underneath.
The buttons worked well to keep snow out!
Hi Kristin,
Thanks for this review, very useful !
I want to order the bunting for my 14 months boy, he is 81 cm and I was thinking about taking the size 12-24, but I see in your article that it runs very big ! I also have a question about the color, I love the light grey but I’m worried about stains. You seem to say that it is easy to maintain, but even for the light color ones? We just moved to Minnesota and we have to get ready for winter !
Have a great evening,
Pauline
Hi Pauline! I think you could go for the 12-24. I just put ours on my 3yo who is 36″ (so 91cm) tall, and it fits her great. The 6-12mo is (finally!) getting small on her. They also cuff really well, so even if it’s a little big I think it will be OK and have room to grow! Also, I bought these buntings 5 years ago, and they may have changed the sizing since then. I know they have for some of their items (the jackets are a new style now and run a bit different, and the pants with the suspenders don’t run as large), but not sure about the buntings! Oh and the light grey jacket we actually bought used, and stained (from a smoothie down the front), and I can’t really notice it. They hide stains REALLY well, and I’ve never had stains from dirt or anything stick around. I wouldn’t have chosen the light grey besides having found it used, but it’s actually a really great color! Hope you love your woolies!
Oh and adding, what I’d probably do if I were you is buy the 12-24, and if it’s big you can always get the size down also. Another consideration for me would be if there are younger siblings… if you have more kids who will wear it, it makes more sense to use 6-12 and 12-24, but if this is an only child or last child I’d be more likely to size them up and get longevity out of it! Since my child who the 12-24 fits great is 10cm taller than yours, you will have to probably cuff it and it will be larger.
Thanks Kristin ! I wish I could find it used too but no luck. A third baby is on the way so I will consider the 6-12 !
This is just the info I was looking for. I was wondering how the boiled wool worked in comparison to rain gear!
Hello! I was wondering your opinion on whether to get the 98/104 (3-4year) or 110/116 (5-6) for my almost 5 year old who is 42 inches/106cm. I can’t decide whether to size up or whether the 98/104 will fit long enough…technically that would be “small” but the other one is “big”. We do have a younger sibling that we could pass down to…although I did find a great deal on a purple color and younger sibling is a boy!
We recommend sizing up!
What type of rain gear/suit did you use to go over the bunting/wool layers? Also, in the picture with your little one’s black overall bunting, what type of shoes are those? They look more for rain than snow, but look like they’re for snow. Please and thank you! 🙂