Mission Okinami Kai

Meet Okinami Kai. This is a 20% Linen 80% cotton blend woven wrap by the company Oscha. It measures a little under 5m so is a size 6.

It is a very pretty wrap but like most new wraps is quite stiff straight from the bag so my mission today is to 'break' the wrap which basically means I am going to do things to it to make it all soft and floppy :)








 So first of all with the help of my three year old we scrunch the wrap into the washing basket and use it as something for her to sit on.











 Next we put the wrap in for a wash on a short cycle with an extra rinse and spin. Not all wraps can be machine washed so always check the manufactures instructions. After it was washed we hung it on the line for an hour and thanks to the sun & breeze it was fairly dry so we just gave it a short tumble dry to really soften it. Again, you have to be careful when tumble drying wraps, its not something I would usually do unless to break them in. Some may then have given the wrap a steam iron after but not me, the iron and I are civil to each other but try to avoid each other ;)


So once the wrap was clean and dry we decided to have a little fun...

Firstly I ran the wrap between these sling rings a few times. This is a really good thing to do if you have had a bad day and want to get some tension out but a bit boring for preschool children.
 Then we braided the wrap and scrunched it up into a ball and played with it like that. We then unbraided it and braided it again as my three year old wanted to try and braid it (but got bored so I did it).












The she had a fab idea that the wrap could be used as a bridge to run away from the crocodile so we walked up and down the braided wrap a few times. I did unbraid then braid again because every time you braid it there will be different threads put under more tension than others helping to soften it.









 
Then we tied the wrap onto the cot bars and made a hammock. Which was really fun!















I did untie the hammock a few times  and re adjust where it was tied so that again we could put different parts of it under stress :)
It was even fun to swing in but Freya wasn't too impressed when her big sister tried to give her a kiss!













Then my big girl wanted 'up' so we could see if it was any softer and yes it was loads softer already so we went for a little walk with her in a Double Hammock back carry which also helps to break the wrap in especially given that she is 2.5 stone!












Then we took a family walk on the beach with the youngest in the wrap and it was definitely loads softer! Even in a windy car park with a load of onlookers I managed to get toddler into a double hammock and I think Okinami Kai seemed right at home in the surroundings :)










 Then when we got home Amelia tested its softness once again and declared that the wrap was far softer and 'like the best softness sling in ever and ever and ever'

Mission complete :) x