Garnet,
Dunno about lanolin - the usual recipes call for glycerin. The simplest being glycerin mixed in a 10% solution with water.
More exotic formulae suggest adding glue and alcohol to the mix.
The purpose of the glycerin as I understand it, is to act as a wetting agent, holding the water in the veneer long enough to allow it to be plasticized enough to flatten when pressed with weights. Personally, I have not found it makes a huge difference compared to plain water. I wet the veneer pretty thoroughly using a spray or brush, then depending on how buckled it is, put it between sheets of newspaper and then between melamine faced chipboard. After a couple of hours, I check on it. If it is now flat enough for the next stage, I change the paper for dry and then weight the MFC or put it all in my vacuum press for a few hours, changing the paper once more before finishing.
If need be, I repeat stage one first.