Use of Lanolin Cream

Lanolin is another word used to describe wool wax, wool fat or wool grease. It is a term that refers to the grease that woolly animals secrete through their sebaceous glands. Although the lanolin typically used is obtained from sheep, it xan come from any wool producing animal. It is often used as either a skin ointment or waterproofing wax because of its moisturising and water resistant nature. Lanolin is often used as a raw material in the production of shoe polish.

Production

Lanolin is recovered from wool after an animal is shorn. This can be any wool--alpaca, sheep, goat or any other animal. Crude lanolin makes up a significant proportion of most freshly shorn wool, accounting for anything between 5 and 25 percent of the wool's total weight.

After the wool is removed from the animal, it is washed in hot water along with a special detergent. This detergent is designed to remove dirt, lanolin and sweat salts or suints from the wool. During the washing process, lanolin is continuously removed using centrifugal separators, the lanolin collecting into a wax-like substance.

Health Issues

Lanolin is used in many products including cosmetics and lubricants. However, it is most popularly used as a primary ingredient in moisturising creams. As lanolin is essentially pure grease, it is very effective at moisturising your skin and is used by a variety of people for a variety of reasons.

Not only does lanolin soothe your skin, it is also both hypoallergenic and bacteriostatic--limiting to the growth of bacteria. This makes it very useful for medicinal purposes, especially when at full strength. Lanolin cream is most often used by breastfeeding mothers to soothe cracked or sore nipples. However, lanolin cream can also be used to relieve chapped lips, diaper rash, dry and itchy skin and rough feet, among others. As it is readily absorbed through the skin, it is good for effectively facilitating the absorption of other medicines that it is mixed with into the body.

Other Uses

Although lanolin is primarily used for medicinal purposes, it also has some other practical uses that exploit its water resistance and ability to lubricate. Lanolin oil is often used to lubricate brass instruments such as trumpets and trombones. It is very effective at helping valves and slides work smoothly.

Lanolin oil is often also used in shaving cream to moisturise the skin during and after the shaving process. Baseball gloves are commonly broken in and softened using lanolin oil as well -- commonly the lanolin in shaving cream. Lanolin is also used as a raw material to produce Vitamin D3. Cosmetic products often contain lanolin, however if the lanolin that the product contains isn't 100 percent pure, some people may suffer an allergic reaction.