Find me a heavy, warm blanket.

January 19, 2016 2:56 PM

Please recommend to me your favorite heavy, warm blanket! I've realized that I like sleeping under something pretty heavyweight, and while I love my down duvet, it's not really doing the trick. I don't think I need something that's specifically a weighted blanket, just something that will be thick or dense enough that I'll really know it's there.

Because I need to make it harder to get out of bed in the mornings, apparently.

I'm not fussed about what it's made out of, and even warmth is secondary (see above about the down-filled duvet), but I want something nice and heavy to see out the rest of the winter. My budget is...good, I guess, but not limitless; it would definitely top out around $100, though I am willing to be swayed higher if, like, it's pure wool and I'll be willing it to my descendants.

posted by kalimac to Home & Garden (25 answers total)

I also like heavy blankets! What about adding a quilt on top of the down?
posted by radioamy at 3:07 PM on January 19, 2016

I love heavy blankets as well. A winter-weight down comforter or down and feather combo comforter will usually be much heavier than a medium/year-around down comforter. I augment that with a thick, wool blanket that has been handed down to me (I'll hand it down at some point as well, that thing is bulletproof).
posted by quince at 3:07 PM on January 19, 2016

I also like sleeping under something heavy and this rippled, quilted blanket is the one I turn to. Unexpectedly heavy.
posted by cocoagirl at 3:09 PM on January 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: it's something you'll have to make, hire someone to make, or buy on etsy, but my blue jean quilt is the heaviest best warmest blanket i've ever owned (mine was made by my grandmother - you'll have to marry one of my cousins if you want one from her...heh). if you want to make it, thrift stores are a good place to get cheap denim - that way you can also pick heavier weighted denim. mine has a couple pockets that i love, especially on sick days when i need some place to put my chapstick/phone/inhaler/etc.
posted by nadawi at 3:11 PM on January 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Hudson's Bay blankets are ultra-thick and cozy. !00% wool. Machine washable (gentle); no need to dry clean. Keep it in a cedar chest during the off-season. Expensive; worth it if you're a coziness maven.
posted by BostonTerrier at 3:13 PM on January 19, 2016 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Another vote for Hudson Bay! We are still using the one my husband took to college 30 years ago. A great investment and very substantial weight-wise.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 3:17 PM on January 19, 2016

And as a note, I also have a wide range of down blankets and handmade quilts and one dense wool blanket by the French company Ourson. The Ourson blanket is a nice backup, and you can shop their site by wool weight (grs au m²).
posted by cocoagirl at 3:18 PM on January 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Cellular cotton blankets work. Also the"mink" ones you can find in Chinese/Indian marts. In India we used them without anything else. Super heavy. And bonus, usually incredibly ugly prints.
posted by taff at 3:18 PM on January 19, 2016 [5 favorites]

Wool duvets are super heavy and cozy without being too hot.
posted by corey flood at 3:25 PM on January 19, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Nthing Hudson Bay blankets. Surprisingly non-scratchy for a wool blanket, but you will KNOW that you are enblanketed. Expensive, but if you keep the moths away your grandkids will be able to use it.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 3:31 PM on January 19, 2016

I love my wool-poly comforter for this reason. I think it's warmer even than down comforters I've had, and I love the heaviness of it. I get into a guest bed at someone's house or a hotel bed, feel like I haven't got any covers on me because they're always so light-weight by comparison.

I got a wool-polyester blend because I was trying to be frugal at the time, but I'm tempted to get a 100% wool one now.
posted by BrashTech at 3:44 PM on January 19, 2016

Best answer: I love the feeling of heavy blankets! I use a heavyweight down comforter, but I also have a blanket on my bed that I tuck in pretty ferociously on the sides, and that lets me feel like I'm swaddled, which it turns out is what my body has been requesting all these years.
posted by janey47 at 3:44 PM on January 19, 2016

Best answer: Vintage Pendleton blankets and Hudson's Bay blankets: heavy, dense and warm. Look on Etsy and eBay. For special weightiness, fold a Queen size in two and lay it over yourself.
posted by xaryts at 3:50 PM on January 19, 2016

Vintage woven bedspreads from Abruzzo, Italy. I have three and they weigh a ton.
posted by crush-onastick at 4:43 PM on January 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Wow, thank you guys so much! I'd been debating a Hudson's Bay blanket, and will probably take the dive, since it sounds more than worth the price.

(I'm -- very slowly -- working on a quilt, so good to know that's heavy too; I'll have to do a denim quilt next! Also ++ for hideous 'mink' blankets, will totally keep an eye out for those because yessss.)
posted by kalimac at 5:07 PM on January 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: We have two pretty heavy blankets:
1. A duvet cover made out of a very heavy brocade. A pain in the butt to launder and refill because it is so heavy.
2. A velvety fuzzy thing with the sun and stars patterned on it in a hideous sort of way. Perhaps this is the 'mink' thing that Taff is talking about, but my husband bought it through the passenger-side window while we were waiting in line at the border crossing in TJ one day.

I should have let him drive.
posted by SLC Mom at 5:26 PM on January 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: ++ to the mink. There is an especially hideous one on our bed at this very moment.
posted by raspberrE at 5:55 PM on January 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

These "faux sheepskin" blankets/throws from Pottery Barn are quite nice. Not an heirloom purchase by any means, but still quite nice.
posted by Nerd of the North at 6:04 PM on January 19, 2016

An approved alternative from another person who loves sleeping under a heavy blanket in the winter: if you're not too fussed about the look, pile your thinner couch blankets/throws on top of your current quilt. I'm up to 3 at the moment, have gone as many as 5 and it feels the same as one big heavy throw. Bonus option to peel off a layer or two for the occasional unexpectedly warmer night.
posted by paradeofblimps at 7:04 PM on January 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

I have four of those mink blankets (all pretty, because I'm picky like that) on my bed, plus a ridiculous huge thick afghan I crocheted, on my bed at the moment. There would be five, but I can't get one of my teens to give it back.

I'm someone who is ALWAYS cold, and I'm fairly recently single... so I've been thinking I wouldn't mind adding another one or two. But for normal people, one or two is plenty. :)
posted by stormyteal at 8:34 PM on January 19, 2016

I'm currently wrapped up in a newer Pendleton wool/cotton blanket, and it's wonderfully heavy and that's the reason I love it (that, and it's beautiful and matches the duvet cover color-wise). Expensive, but I received it as a gift.
posted by liet at 8:54 PM on January 19, 2016

Quilt + afghan = super warm and delightfully heavy.
posted by gatorae at 9:00 PM on January 19, 2016

Wool duvet + flannel duvet cover + mink blanket on top + ibex flannel blanket as top sheet = super warm and heavy
posted by lafemma at 8:34 AM on January 20, 2016

My ex husband brought a couple of those "mink" blankets home from Korea and I still think about them sometimes. So thick, so heavy. He managed to find a couple that weren't awful - just a nice solid brown, so they ARE out there. You can find them all over on ebay. Ours were so thick and heavy we had to wash them at the laundromat, I was pretty sure they'd overwhelm our washing machine. But they are so amazing.
posted by lemniskate at 4:54 PM on January 22, 2016

Response by poster: I am posting this from underneath a Hudson Bay blanket (bought on eBay for significantly less than new), and thank you guys SO MUCH, this is perfect!
posted by kalimac at 1:14 PM on February 1, 2016 [2 favorites]