What Is The Best Type Of Weight to Use In A Weighted Blanket?

Only high quality Poly-Pro Pellets are purchased in bulk and used in weighting DreamCatcher Weighted Blankets.  Poly-Pro Pellets are  non- toxic and hypoallergenic.  Poly-Pro Pellets are a polypropylene product originating in the United States.  They are are non-porous, round and smooth,  and rated to a high temperature of 600 degrees making them withstand high washing and drying temperatures. Poly-Pro Pellets are also rated as a "virgin" pellet in the industry, meaning they have not been used  before or recycled from used items. They are SAFE, machine washable and dryable, and proven  highly effective in applying deep pressure.

We are happy to supply a MSD sheet upon request.

The Poly-Pro Pellets are evenly distributed throughout the blankets according to the individuals weight specifications and the size of blanket requested. Each blanket is weighed  numerous times throughout the weighting process to assure equal distribution. The pellets are then "quilted" into inner layers of 100% cotton to keep them secure from moving or shifting.

DreamCatcher's  are designed and constructed for easy care and no fuss maintenance. DreamCatcher tm Weighted Blankets are individually  handcrafted to your specifications, cleaned prior to shipment and constructed in a smoke and pet  free environment.

DreamCatcher Weighted Blankets blankets are  convenient to machine wash and dry as nothing needs to be removed first, such as covers or weighting material. Most blankets are easily washed and dried in standard household machines. Blankets weighing over 20 LBS may be taken to a commercial machine that is  better able to handle the  higher weights. We send washing suggestions with each and every weighted product.

WEIGHTING MATERIALS THAT SHOULD NOT BE USED IN A WEIGHTED BLANKET AND WHY.

A number of weighted blankets made in  past years and a few still on  the market today are  made without little thought as to their safety, effectiveness or  comfort. Many are  being poorly made with inferior or unsafe materials such as lead, sand, stones or  river rock, steel shot, beans, rice, corn, popcorn, aquarium gravel or stone, glass beads, layers of additional fabric, etc. being used as the weighting material. These materials are unsafe, imperfect and/ or  impractical for a variety of reasons, and will in some way  either lessen the life of a blanket considerably or make it unusable. 

A  few blanket manufacturers falsely claim , that stones or corn are a more effective weight than poly pellets.  Both stone or river rock and corn are porous and should never be used in a weighted product, these types of weighting material are simply very cheap materials for those manufacturers who use them.  Neither stone or corn,  have been scientifically proven as a superior or more effective weight than poly pellets when weighting blankets. It  is a disservice to consumers in stating otherwise.

There are quite a variety  of pellet grades on the market. Many  have low temperature ratings and care must be given in choosing the right quality for weighted products. Often  low quality pellets are  recycled from things like used milk plastic jugs or cartons,  food or water containers and even old car batteries.  

* Never use sand or fine stone in a weighted product. *

Sand or fine stone , can never be effectively washed, is an extremely unsafe weighting material, as it contains silica, and should never be used as a weighting material. In addition to the health risk of lung damage , blankets made with sand will eventually leak and the blanket will become gritty.

* Never use aquarium stone, gravel, even grade stone, fine grade river rock or stone, or any type of stone or corn in a weighted product*

Blankets made with aquarium gravel, any type of stone or rock, field corn or feed grade corn are porous, unsanitary, often have very sharp or pointed edges and are likely to harm the user, and can never be effectively washed. Because these types of weighting materials  are  always porous, they  retain moisture even when the outside appears dry, causing mold, inside the blanket.  In addition, those with pointed edges will cut and wear through the fabric in a relatively small period of time, especially with machine washing and drying.

* Inferior Plastic Pellets Or Polystyrene Pellets Are Substandard weighting Materials*

Inferior plastic pellets  and polystyrene pellets should also be avoided as a weighting material. Inferior plastic pellets are often termed as "recycled " pellets and should be considered unsafe for use in weighted blankets. Recycled pellets are often made from used plastic milk jugs or cartons, plastic water and soda  bottles, old plastic containers, even old car batteries.  These type of pellets are not normally  smooth or round and  may not be of a non-toxic or  hypoallergenic grade. Polystyrene pellets ,often used in stuffed toys and bean bags, are a styrofoam type of material, very light weight , unwashable and not at all suitable for a weighted blanket.

* Never use any type of organic material in a weighted product *

Blankets filled with rice, beans, flax, popcorn,  corn or any organic material can never be effectively washed. One of the very first blankets we made for our son was weighted with rice. I almost washed it!!! What a nightmare that would have been!!! We only used the "rice" blanket a few weeks, as it quickly began to smell and had to be thrown away.

If these types of weighting materials are micro waved ( which can be extremely dangerous, read report below) to warm, get wet from accidents, or are used in high humidity areas, the weighting material  will quickly deteriorate,  mold, emit odors and attract pets, insects and other undesirable pests.  Covers for these types of blankets may be washed but the problem will still persist with the blanket itself. Removable weights filled with organic materials will also present the same problem, making the blanket useless.

* Using Additional Fabric Layers to Weight a  Blanket Defeats the Purpose *

We receive calls every week where someone states they sleep under many blankets to help them sleep, and they get sooo HOT and have to kick them off! Weighted Blankets that simply use more  fabric, heavier fabric or stuffed with scraps of fabric for weighting material are no more  practical and much less cost effective than just using many blankets piled up  for weight. With poor construction, the inner  fabric will bunch inside the blanket rendering it unusable. As is the case with using many blankets to reach desired weight, this  type of weighted blanket is normally much too warm for heat sensitive individuals. Precise weight can not be reached with this type of weighting material.

* Do not use microwave ovens for warming any blankets. *

* Read The Medical Device Safety Report Here *

* Removable Weights, Are They Practical? *

Those  blankets on the market today which are made so you can remove and add weight are normally filled with a weighting material that can not be properly washed, such as corn.   The removable weights are easy for the youngsters to pull out, which many  do , making this type of blanket   impractical or unusable. Several of our customers, reported that removable weight blankets they had previously tried , found  that initially the weights are easy to remove but, are difficult to impossible to replace back into the pockets or cells once the blankets have been washed and dried only after a few times.

In addition, by  comparing the  pocket  and cell design blankets, with the DreamCatcher tm Blanket design, you will  find, that the pocket and cell designs are extremely expensive as their makers will confirm. The pocket and cell design blanket is  cost prohibitive  to the consumer, having to buy both the blanket and weight sets separately. The advantage is sometimes expressed as the blanket can "grow with the user", because weight may be added. Unfortunately the blanket fabric size itself will remain the same so actually growth is not possible as the size of the blanket must be increased also. 

We chose NOT to use the pocket blanket design  for the following additional reasons. The pocket design allows  weights to be removed, adjusted or concentrated in one area, which most professionals discourage . It  now appears that the removable weight  design has proven problematic because the weights can be too heavily concentrated ,causing discomfort to the user.

 The adding of  Aromatherapy is not  desired and normally always avoided  by sensory sensitive individuals, making it an unnecessary expense.  The pocket design  is MUCH more expensive  than  the DreamCatcher tm design, and  listening to our customers, cost is always a VERY important priority. We are extremely happy to be able to  pass any type of  savings on to our clients.  DreamCatcher tm Weighted Blankets  also offer a blanket exchange program to further help our clients with expenses.

We understand expense as we are also  raising a special needs child.

DISCLAIMER

While we are flattered to be used as a model for their companies, please keep in mind DreamCatcher Weighted Blankets is not affiliated with, nor can we control or recommend  products offered by weighted blanket companies that have simply used our research and information  to easily promote their products.