There’s many feelings that provide comfort to people. The soft and steady pressure of a good hug always feels comforting. Curling up under a blanket eases stress and induces relaxation. Eating your favorite home cooking reminds you of a simpler time. Weighted blankets try to compress several of these feelings into a single tactile experience.
Weighted blankets add extra heft to a blanket. Specifically, they increase the weight of the blanket through additional materials woven into the blanket. This provides something very similar to deep pressure therapy. The person is surrounded by a light feeling of pressure that sort of mimics the feeling of being in a nice hug or in the womb. Weighted blankets have mixed reviews with full medical studies, but the people who swear by them really love them.
Claims of Weighted Blankets
Weighted blanket providers often state a lot of benefits that their blankets provide. Some may be a bit of a stretch, but some benefits can be easy to see. Claims include:
- Pain Relief - This comes from the blanket mimicking the deep pressure stimulation therapeutic technique.
- Anxiety Relief - Sleeping with a weighted blanket is intended to help reduce stress and anxiety, putting a person more at ease.
- Mood Improvement - This benefit tends to work with the previous one, as a loss of anxiety tends to make a person feel happier and in a better consistent mood.
- Better Sleep - This is a benefit specifically aimed at those suffering from insomnia, restless leg syndrome or some other sleeping disorders. The blanket subtly encourages the body to remain in place sleeping restfully.
It should be noted that along with the benefits, there are some risks. People with sleep apnea or asthma shouldn’t use a weighted blanket due to the extra weight that can be applied to the chest area.
How Are They Used
The first thing some people may feel weird about is the size of the blanket. Weighted blankets are specifically intended to fit the top of a bed only. THe ideal weighted blanket size will never fall over the edge of the bed. This is because that can put extra stress and pressure on the sleeper.
Weighted blankets are not created the same. They are designed for people of different sizes to be the same level of comfort. This means that a weighted blanket for a larger 300 pound person and a petite 100 lb person are very different. The general rule of thumb is that most blankets should be somewhere between 5% and 10% of a person’s body weight. This doesn’t change even if the size of the bed changes. Most blankets are offered between 10 and 30 pounds in size. There are some weighted blankets for kids that may range from 3 to 15 pounds, but weighted blankets are specifically to be avoided by very young children.
Most people use a weighted blanket for their night’s sleep. However, there’s a growing number which might just use it as a napping blanket. Just 15 to 30 minutes of napping under a weighted blanket on the bed or couch can feel very relaxing.
Different Types of Weighted Blankets
Weighted blankets can vary in price from around $100 to upwards of $500 depending on the blanket in question. This usually comes down to what the blanket is made from, as well as the size you choose. Be sure to shop around and compare the specs of different blankets. One consideration might be if they include a special fitted duvet cover. The slightly different sizing can often mean that weighted blankets don't fit well into standard duvet covers.
The most important consideration is the what adds the extra weight to the blanket, or the “stuffing” of it. There’s three main options. The first is plastic pellets. These are made of polypropylene and often are the choice for lighter weights. These pellets can add a fair bit of extra insulation and some people claim use of their blankets is high temperature. The second type of stuffing is glass. This usually comes in the form of glass microbeads. These are often woven into a blanket of pockets so that they can be filled to varying degrees during the manufacturing process. Glass beads tend to be fairly temperature and scent neutral so they can be a good choice. The final main choice is steel beads. These can provide excellent weight, but tend to be larger granules than the glass. Sometimes they can also make a distinctive clinking sound while moving the blanket. It’s not necessarily a bad sound, but not everyone finds it soothing.