Help me find a blanket that doesn't die in the dryer!

December 18, 2009 9:22 AM

Why can't I find a soft blanket that doesn't fall apart in the dryer???

Several years ago I purchased a Woolrich blanket from Target for my bed. It's VERY VERY soft and washes beautifully. It wasn't expensive- maybe $50. The good people at Woolrich tell me that they just license their name to Target for the manufacture of these blankets but they're no longer available at Target.
Every attempt at buying a new soft blanket has resulted in unbelievable pills after drying. The last one we got a Kohl's left balls of fuzz in my dryer the size of my fist!
Every time we get a new one we follow the cleaning instructions and they still do this.

Please help me find a REALLY soft, warm blanket for my bed that will also launder properly without falling apart. I wish this Woolrich one was still available but I can't find it anywhere! Help!

posted by Thrillhouse to Home & Garden (16 answers total)

Best answer: L. L. Bean has some great fleece blankets that wash well and are super warm.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 9:46 AM on December 18, 2009

Not quite what you asked for, but why not just avoid putting your next soft blanket in the dryer? It should dry in a couple of hours if hung over a drying rack (improvise with some chairs if you don't have a rack) or on a clothesline in the summer months. Dryers are hard on fabric items, and you can really save your belongings a lot of wear and tear if you air dry stuff.
posted by orange swan at 9:48 AM on December 18, 2009

Response by poster: Orange- I've tried that but they never seem to come out soft. They seem to dry all stiff. How do you avoid that?
posted by Thrillhouse at 9:51 AM on December 18, 2009

Have you tried drying it at a lower setting?
posted by mkultra at 9:58 AM on December 18, 2009

Best answer: Not blanket specific, but what i do for my many hoodies to keep them soft and yet not shrink in the dryer is to let them air dry, then throw them in the dryer with no heat for 10 minutes.
posted by cgg at 9:58 AM on December 18, 2009

Best answer: After you line-dry them, maybe try putting them in the dryer on "air fluff" or something with a tennis ball or two. That should agitate them enough the break down some of the stiffness.
posted by Madamina at 9:59 AM on December 18, 2009 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I Think we'll try those ideas. Thanks a lot!
posted by Thrillhouse at 10:12 AM on December 18, 2009

Costco sells the softest, warmest microfiber blankets EVER* and they're only about $20 bucks (and they're huge). We have four of them and use them instead of a comforter and as our living room blankets in the winter. We wash them all the time and aside from getting staticky, they hold up great.




*We have to fight the cats for them constantly.
posted by Kimberly at 10:17 AM on December 18, 2009

I have a microplush blanket from Target and I've had no trouble with pilling or falling apart in the dryer. I think it shed quite a bit at first but it didn't fall apart.
posted by cabingirl at 10:36 AM on December 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

Seconding Target's microplush blanket. I wash the bedding pretty frequently because of cat hair, and it's held up really well.
posted by something something at 10:40 AM on December 18, 2009

I have the Target Home Fuzzy Blanket, and it is amazing. It is the only thing I sleep under, and we keep the heat turned down low at night. I've washed and dried it with no problems, and it is soft enough that one of my cats keeps trying to nurse it. (The other cat hates it and won't go near it. Go figure.)
posted by Ruki at 11:17 AM on December 18, 2009

Response by poster: Ruki- are you talking about this?
http://tinyurl.com/yekse6v

It's the only one that comes up with I look up Fuzzy Blanket that isn't a baby blanket. It looks COZY!
posted by Thrillhouse at 1:08 PM on December 18, 2009

I have the Target Home microplush blanket, which feels like the pelt of an expensive teddy bear, and it is the greatest blanket in the whole of the entire world. I recently bought what I thought was the same thing from Walmart in an emergency, and it's awful. Accept no substitutions.

Its static is pretty ferocious, though; I use at least two softener sheets in the dryer, and I can see the dogs' feet arcing on it when they walk on it at night, especially if we don't use a humidifier. I don't care; it's this thin little slip of a thing with the weight of a lead apron. I need to go buy more before they get discontinued.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:41 PM on December 18, 2009

don't use liquid fabric softener.
posted by elle.jeezy at 2:08 PM on December 18, 2009

No, my daughter has the shabby chic one, and it's not as cozy. I have this one which is about twice as plush and so much softer as the shabby chic one. I don't know why I didn't think to link it before - sorry about that!
posted by Ruki at 4:13 PM on December 18, 2009

nthing the microplush idea. Kmart has some very nice ones. I have one that I've used for five years with regular washing and laundromat drying, and it's still just as soft as when I got it. No pilling of lint problems like polarfleece has. Just dry it on low temp so you don't melt the soft fuzzy surface.
posted by irisclara at 8:06 PM on December 18, 2009