Wasting my question on blankets

May 6, 2021 11:49 AM

I have a ridiculously soft and warm baby blanket and bought the adult version and it’s... not warm? How is a blanket not warm?

I have this snuggle me too little miracles baby blanket from Costco which is crazy soft and warm.
I bought this gorgeous deer blanket (also mink polyester) and it is not warm? And sort of soft but missing the plushness mark.

How do I get an adult sized version of that baby blanket? In a neutral ish pattern but if I have to bite the bullet and get a Korean mink blanket with roses or tigers or peacocks then I will. Feel free to send me all your suggestions.

Bonus: how is a blanket decidedly not warm??

posted by St. Peepsburg to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

I guess it's not clear to me how the deer blanket is the "adult" version of the bunny/flower blanket, aside from the fact that it's a blanket and it's adult-sized. Are they from the same manufacturer? There's nothing to indicate to me that one is anything like the other.
posted by kevinbelt at 12:16 PM on May 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: They are both 100% polyester mink but correct they are not same manufacturer.
I guess I know nothing about mink blankets and need some education! What specs to look for and so on. I sat under the deer one for ten minutes and still felt cold while the bunny blanket on my shoulders had me hot in minutes.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:23 PM on May 6, 2021

AFAIK “polyester mink” isn’t any kind of technical or protected term, it’s just a word manufacturers use to make their blanket sound soft. So one “polyester mink” blanket has no guarantee of feeling anything like another.
posted by mekily at 12:33 PM on May 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

It's not blanket season where I live, but during blanket season, Costco does have soft/warm polyester 'mink blankets'. I have the sherpa version, which is very very warm, and the non-sherpa side is very soft and plush.
posted by Comrade_robot at 12:38 PM on May 6, 2021

The deer blanket fabric is probably a lighter weight and/or a looser weave. These kinds of fabrics are very hard to evaluate without actually handling them!

Saying something is "polyester mink" is kind of like saying it's "fleece" or "terrycloth" or even "wool" - you can expect fabrics within these categories to share some key qualities (terrycloth has loops, wool is made out of animal fleece, minky fabrics have that plush toy quality) but there is also a lot of diversity within the categories - not all terrycloth towels are equally soft or absorbent, not all wool socks are equally warm or thick.
posted by mskyle at 1:05 PM on May 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Yeah, unless there's a trademark, fabric names are more like general categories. Think about clothes: there's a big difference between, say, a pair of $300 Japanese selvedge jeans and a $20 pair of Target jeans, but both are just "denim". Sometimes, you'll see fabrics measured in weights (like 6.1 ounce cotton jersey, which is a heavyweight t-shirt), but even then, there's a difference between Hanes 6.1 and Gildan 6.1. The best thing to do is to find the manufacturer and see if they have any adult offerings. Barring that, that's one advantage of brick-and-mortar shopping over online: you can feel the product.

As for why a blanket might not be warm, any number of factors: the weight of the fabric, the tightness of the weave, the insulating ability of the material, etc. Not all blankets are intended to be warm. I just bought a hospital style blanket with big holes in the weave because my bedroom is on the third floor and it often gets to be over 85 degrees up here even with my window A/C running, but I'd like something more than just a sheet on my bed. With the deer blanket, it looks like it was designed to be more decorative than functional, so without actually knowing anything about it, I'd bet the fabric is lighter and cheaper.
posted by kevinbelt at 1:22 PM on May 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I've had this experience before with a mink blanket not being warm.

I'd recommend looking into Sherpa blankets. It looks like there are a lot on the market with a smooth decorative top and a cosy Sherpa bottom.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 2:16 PM on May 6, 2021

If you really want a warm throw/blanket with a plush-type surface against the skin, Eddie Bauer, and probably similar stores, sells a down throw/blanket with one smooth and one plush side. I personally can't stand that texture, but they are quite cozy otherwise. (They are very popular with the dogs I know.)
posted by praemunire at 2:39 PM on May 6, 2021

Could you or someone you know sew a few of the kid size blankets together to make a megablanket? You could mix and match patterns for a patchwork effect or get several matching ones.

Minky fleece is supposedly fairly difficult to work with, but since the blankets already have finished hems, you'd only really need to sew a few straight(ish) lines.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 4:23 PM on May 6, 2021

Best answer: We have some of those types of blankets from the American Blanket Company and they are awesome. You can get samples from them of the various materials and colors in advance to make sure you like them.
posted by procrastination at 7:27 PM on May 6, 2021

Response by poster: Just to update: I went and got a proper solaron Korean mink blanket and it is as soft and warm as I ever dreamed.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:03 PM on August 11, 2021