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Weighted Blanket Buying Guide, How To Choose Size, Weight And Fabric
The problem with buying a weighted blanket blind
Most people buy their first weighted blanket based on a photo and a price. Then it turns up, and it is either too light to feel like anything or so heavy it is a wrestle to pull over. Neither is a disaster, but both are avoidable if you spend five minutes thinking about three things: how much it weighs, how big it is, and what the surface feels like against your skin.
That is really all a weighted blanket is. Fabric, fill, and the stitching that holds the fill in place. Everything else is detail. This guide walks through the detail using the blanket on this page as the example, a 150 x 200 cm blanket with a velour face on one side and a sherpa fleece face on the other, filled with fine glass beads and offered in 6.8 kg or 9 kg.
How the weight actually works
Inside the blanket are fine glass beads. They are small, roughly the size of coarse sand, and they are dense. Density matters because it lets the maker hit a given weight without making the blanket enormously thick. If you used plastic pellets instead you would need more volume to reach the same number on the scale, and the blanket would be puffier and less even.
Those beads do not float around loose. They sit in small stitched pockets spread across the whole blanket. Picture a grid of little compartments, each holding its share. When you roll over, the beads in each pocket stay in that pocket. That is the single most important construction feature in any weighted blanket, and it is what stops the whole lot migrating to the foot of the bed within a week.
You will sometimes see this described as quilted or box stitched. The names vary. The function is the same, and the test is simple: hold the blanket up by one corner and see whether the weight shifts dramatically. Pocketed fill does not.
Choosing between 6.8 kg and 9 kg
Both options here are the same 150 x 200 cm size, so you are choosing on weight alone. The maker's guidance is to pick around 10% of your body weight. That rule of thumb has been standard advice for weighted blankets for years, and it is a reasonable starting point.
Run the numbers. Ten per cent of 68 kg is 6.8 kg. Ten per cent of 90 kg is 9 kg. So the two options roughly bracket a lot of adults. If you sit between those figures, say around 80 kg, either could work and the decision comes down to preference.
A few things to weigh up if you are on the fence. If you shift position a lot during the night, the lighter option is easier to drag around. If you tend to settle in one spot, the heavier one is less likely to feel like too much. If you are buying it mainly as a lounge throw rather than something you sleep under, the 6.8 kg is simpler to carry between rooms.
And one rule with no flexibility: this is for adults. Do not use a weighted blanket on a child, and do not give one to anyone who would struggle to move it off themselves. That applies to both weights here.
Why two different faces matter more than you would think
A lot of weighted blankets have the same fabric on both sides. This one does not, and the split is genuinely useful.
The velour face is 220 GSM. Velour is a smooth, short pile fabric. Against the skin it feels flat and a bit cool to the touch at first. It is the face most people prefer when the room is warm or when they just do not want a lot of fluff near their face.
The sherpa fleece face is also 220 GSM. Sherpa is the deep, woolly looking pile that gives the blanket its winter character. It traps more air, so it feels noticeably warmer, and it is the side people reach for when the house gets cold.
Both faces being 220 GSM is worth noting. Some two sided blankets pair a decent face with a thin backing, which means one side is really just structure. Here you get two proper surfaces. The practical upshot is that the blanket works across more of the year than a single faced one, because you can simply turn it over.
Getting the size right
At 150 x 200 cm, this is sized for a person rather than a mattress. Laid lengthways on a single bed it covers the sleeper with a modest overhang on each side. On a double, queen or king it lies as a centre strip over the body, with the normal bedding handling the edges.
That is the usual way weighted blankets get used. The weight is meant to sit on you, not to tuck in around the mattress. Most people keep their regular sheet or doona and add the weighted blanket on top. It is worth saying out loud because first time buyers often expect a weighted blanket to replace their bedding, and then feel short changed by the coverage.
For two people sharing, 150 x 200 cm is not enough. Each person gets a narrow section, and whoever turns over first takes the blanket with them. If you want something for a couple, look at a wider blanket instead.
As a lounge throw the size is excellent. One adult can lie right out under it on a three seater. Just watch where you drape it when you get up, because 9 kg will slide off a narrow chair arm.
Looking after it
Here is where weighted blankets differ most from ordinary bedding, and where people most often go wrong.
Spot cleaning is your friend. Catch marks when they happen with a damp cloth and a little mild detergent, work from the outside of the mark inwards, and let it air dry. Most of the time that is all you will ever need.
When a proper wash is unavoidable, use a gentle cold cycle in a large commercial machine. That is the guidance for this blanket, and the reasoning is straightforward. A 9 kg blanket absorbs a lot of water. During the spin cycle that mass is being thrown around a drum that was built for a few kilos of clothes. A laundromat machine is sized for the job. Your washer at home probably is not.
Wash it by itself, use plain gentle detergent, and leave out the bleach and the fabric softener. Bleach is hard on fleece fibres. Softener coats the pile and gradually dulls the texture of both faces.
Drying needs patience. Lay it flat, or spread it over a strong rail where air can reach both sides. Avoid high heat, which flattens sherpa pile and never does synthetic fabrics any favours. Once it is dry, give the blanket a few shakes so the beads settle evenly back through their pockets.
If you want to make life easier, use a removable cover. A cover takes the day to day wear and goes through a normal wash without any drama. Pick one sized for 150 x 200 cm, and ideally one with internal ties so the blanket does not slide around inside it.
Storage and handling
Store it somewhere low. Reaching 9 kg down off a high cupboard shelf is an awkward lift, and there is no reason to make a chore out of it. Folded on a bottom shelf, in a storage box, or over the end of a bed all work fine. Keep it dry, and do not leave it squashed under heavy boxes for months on end.
The short version
Pick your weight on body weight, around 10% as a starting point, which here means 6.8 kg for lighter adults and 9 kg for heavier ones. The 150 x 200 cm size suits one adult, works well on a single bed or as a lounge throw, and is not intended as a full cover for a larger bed. Use the sherpa fleece face when it is cold and the velour face when it is not. Spot clean where you can, use a large commercial machine when you cannot, and skip the high heat drying.
Get those few things right and the blanket does its job without any fuss. Get the weight wrong and you will spend the next year not quite enjoying it, which is a shame when the fix was one question answered before you ordered.