Review: Ankalia - Rubix, Slate
Smushy, Blankety, great for winter & Dad friendly. I'll be honest, I bought this woven with my husband in mind.
I was keen on trying more Ankalia myself, but also thought the gender neutral ecru/charcoal wrap would be great for when hubby wanted to carry 'A.'
Plus a trusted friend in the BW community had given it her tick of approval.
My first thoughts upon opening the package were exactly that! Smushy & blankety without much breaking in required. A wash, tumble dry & a few wears only helped add to the softness.
The blend is 100% cotton and although the same composition as Neveah by the same brand, the two wraps are day and night!
I was once told to think of cotton this way - Muslin cloths are 100% cotton, the same can be said for denim jeans. Slate is a thicker, medium wrap with a higher GSM, at 285 post wash.
Even though Slate and Velvet are both the same Rubix design they are also pretty different.
Whilst it's true they both make great winter wraps, slate is a lot softer & a little stretchier in loom state and doesn't require effort in breaking in.
Velvet requires a lot of work and has less bounce, both have the same amount of grip.
As a size 5 it has the versatility to be worn in many different carries with different finishes. It's a great beater but can easily be dressed up or down.
The lack of garish colours makes it coordinate seamlessly with many outfits and gives it more unisex leanings.
I found Slate to have much less dig than Nev & be more comfortable for longer.
The passes are easy to tighten with marginally more effort than a few of the thinner wraps that I've tried. On rare occasion I have noticed a tiny amount of dig or shoulder burn in the early days.
Although I find Slate more suitable for toddlers, it was great when my little one was a squish too. The generous width meant there was a surplus of material, sometimes creating creases, but that was easily remedied by folding or rolling down the top, whilst allowing an ample seat.
The softness of the wrap is definitely newborn friendly.
Keeping in mind I was also able to ruck my 8 year old niece in it. It is still a nice and dense weave as is typical of a lot of Ankalia.
To me Ankalia create a lot of hardy, easy care wraps that you don't have to be too gentle with.
The main carries I use slate in are FWCC, DH, Ruck & shepherds.
Although it is more suitable for winter, we still used it in summer in the middle east.
The cotton allows it to be breathable but it certainly is a little heavier.
Slate is suitable for all levels of wearers. From begginners to advanced
Some may struggle with the width but most Ankalia's tend to be similar width-wise & they make it almost effortless to get a nice deep seat.
