How to Make and Use a Ring Sling

Download this file for tutorial: Ring_Sling_Tutorial.pdf

Print this file & fold in quarters (with the instructions on the inside) to make a card to share: HowToUseYourRingSlingCard.pdf

The rest of this page is under construction. Please use the downloadable PDFs above until it is finished! Thanks!

Basic Breakdown of Steps

1. Pick a safe fabric
2. Buy the right amount of fabric
3. Scour your fabric (if needed)
4. Wash your fabric
5. Dye your fabric (optional, not covered in this tutorial)
6. Buy the correct rings
7. Cut to width
8. Hem 3 edges
9. Pick & sew the shoulder
10. Learn to use it

1) Pick a safe fabric

An ideal fabric for a ring sling is made of natural fibers like cotton or linen, has no stretch, and is a bottomweight fabric - that is to say, heavy enough that you could comfortably make men's trousers out of them. If you are unsure, check out this page on picking safe fabric that goes more in depth.

If your ring sling is going to be used in the water, you'll want to follow the guidelines for picking a safe athletic mesh fabric. Unfortunately, natural fibers like cotton should NOT be used in the water because they can absorb the water and get exponentially heavier (not to mention the chlorine in pool water can irreparably damage the fabric.) Likewise, a mesh water sling is not recommended for dry use. Mesh slips dangerously when dry and can be very diggy and uncomfortable. As a note, unlike most sling fabrics, mesh does have some stretch in one direction, but should have NO STRETCH lengthwise.

A popular choice for ring slings is using a cotton tablecloth. A 60" wide tablecloth that is at least 80" long can be cut in half and will only need one raw side hemmed. (Bonus: the other half can be used to make another ring sling for a backup or a gift. Or, if your tablecloth was 104" or longer, can be simply hemmed and used as a size 2 woven wrap.) A jacquard woven tablecloth will be soft, floppy, and feel a lot like a woven wrap conversion ring sling. A printed tablecloth will have a blank wrong side and a thinner, tighter weave but are still perfectly safe to use and are often less expensive than jacquard tablecloths. Whatever tablecloth you choose, make sure it passes the 4 Rules of Fabric Selection.

Buy the right amount of fabric

For a ring sling, length is simply a matter of how long you want your tail to be. A minimum length of 12" of tail beyond the rings is recommended for safety, but anywhere between this and knee-length is safe. A longer tail can be used as a nursing cover, sun shade, or burp cloth, or can be wrapped around the rings as a cushion or rolled into the top rail as neck support.

The chart below shoes FINISHED length from rings to tail. The last column indicates the yards needed in order to account for 20% shrinkage, 5" shoulder depth, and 1" for the hems. Keep in mind that fabric like duck and most tablecloths will only shrink 10%, but some shoulder styles like floating gathered may require more fabric. The "total yards needed" is just a ballpark.

Do not agonize too much about what size ring sling you need. Aim for the approximate size you think you are. As an example: I am a US size 8-10, 5'7", small unisex t-shirt sized woman and I can safely use anywhere from an XSmall to an XXLarge sling safely. The usable range is extremely flexible.

When in doubt, buy enough fabric for a size up. You can always hem the tail shorter later.

Scour (mandatory for osnaburg; skip to washing for other fabrics)

Most fabrics are highly processed, cleaned, and dyed. Osnaburg is not, and therefore the fabric is built up with a ton of chemicals and mysterious junk. Scouring is a deep cleaning the removes what a simple hot wash cannot.

Instructions for scouring vary, but the common ingredients are:

• Steaming/Boiling hot water
• Blue Dawn Dish Soap/Fairy/Synthropol
• Soda Ash
• An hour long hot soak

Soda ash is "sodium carbonate" - not to be confused with baking soda, sodium bicarbonate. You can buy it in the laundry aisle under the brand name Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, in pool supplies as PH+, or you can make it from scratch by baking baking soda in the oven until it changes from a powdery texture to a more crystalline one.

Some people prefer to literally simmer the fabric on the stove in a non-reactive (not aluminum) pot (if you do, it is recommended to not use the same pot for food.) An easier option is to pour boiling water into a cooler and shut it to keep the heat in. I scoured mine in the sink starting with boiling hot water and just kept the sink covered to keep it hot enough. After an hour, my water was still steaming hot. The important thing is just to keep in hot - whether you do that through direct heat or just insulation is up to you.

As far as amounts of soda ash and soap, for a size 6 wrap I’ve seen everything from “a few teaspoons of each” to “several tablespoons of each.” Don’t agonize too much over it. I always aim for “a generous scoop/squirt of each.”

After an hour long soak, making sure to turn the fabric so it is all soaked, properly appreciate how brown and stinky the water is, then toss your fabric into the washer for a good hot wash with a wrap-safe detergent.

Wash & Dry

Regardless of your fabric choice, you'll want to wash your fabric before you start in order to get any and all shrinkage out of the way up front. The general recommendation is to wash your fabric however you plan to wash it in the future, but I prefer to start with a very hot wash and hot dry to get any and all shrinkage out of the way in case someone were to "help" and wash my wrap for me.

You'll want to use a wrap-safe detergent. In general, wrap-safe detergents:

• Are free of dyes and fragrances
• Have no added fabric softener
• Are liquid, not powdered
• Have no optical brighteners

Popular brands include Ecos (despite the label, there are not any unsafe fabric softeners in this detergent) or Seventh Generation.

Dye

(Optional) Dye with a baby-safe dye. Join the Facebook group Dyed Baby Carriers for more info. While it is possible to dye a ring sling after sewing the rings in, it is much easier to do and much easier to get an even dye job beforehand. If you dye after the rings are sewn in, you will want to wrap the rings in plastic wrap and then duct tape (turning the rings to make sure you also wrap the part inside the shoulder) because the washing soda used in the dye process will destroy the finish on aluminum rings.

Rings

A key part of the ring sling is the rings. Never use rings from the craft store, as these have not been weight tested and can break under weight. The best source for sling rings in the United States is Slingrings.com, but you can check the Materials Sources page to see where to order rings in your country. If you don't want to order rings online, you can check local cloth diaper or babywearing stores, or ask if any moms in your local babywearing group have extras they could sell you.

In an absolute pinch, you can use weight-rated o-rings from the hardware store. You'll want 3" rings with a very smooth weld line. Any kind of bump or raised area from the weld will wear out your fabric faster than an un-welded ring, and a rough weld can outright rip your fabric. Note that hardware rings are not tested to be free of dangerous metals for baby and are not designed for this purpose. They will also be significantly heavier and harder to adjust than a real sling ring.

If you are ordering official sling rings, you may have the choice between nylon or aluminum sling rings. Both are equally safe and rated to a minimum of 250lbs. The difference is mainly aesthetic, with most people prefering the thinner aluminum rings.

As far as size goes, refer to the chart below.

-- Alyssa Leonard - 2016-07-16

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