Blankets & Throws (Bedding)

Everything in this group is one layer of cloth with nothing sewn inside it. Blankets are sized to a bed and go between the sheet and the comforter. Throws run smaller, usually near 50 by 60 inches, and are made for a person on a couch rather than for a mattress.

Fiber does all the work when there is no fill to help. Wool traps air in crimped fibers and stays warm even damp, which explains the price and the cold water, flat drying care. Cotton waffle and thermal weaves build air pockets into the structure itself. They add warmth you can shed easily and they survive hot washes. Polyester fleece is the cheapest warmth per dollar and dries in minutes. But it does not breathe, so you go from cold to sweating with nothing in between. Weighted blankets are a separate product wearing the same name. They hold glass beads at roughly 10 percent of body weight, and they calm rather than warm.

Quilts look similar folded but hold batting locked in place by stitching, so they lie flatter and slide far less. Comforters cannot do what a throw does, since a throw's whole job is to be grabbed, dragged into another room and slung back over a chair arm. Coverlets are sized and finished to dress a bed all day, while blankets and throws are meant to be moved several times a night.

People who run cold in one room and not another need a throw. Any sofa in a house of three or more needs one per seat. Wool suits dry cold climates and buyers who want thirty years from a purchase. Fleece suits kids, dorms, cars and anywhere the thing gets washed weekly. Wool is out if anyone reacts to it on bare skin. Weighted blankets do not belong on children under about 50 pounds or on anyone who cannot lift the weight off unaided.

The edge tells you more than the fabric does: a blanket bound in satin or whip stitched by hand outlives one whose raw edge is simply serged, because that edge is where unraveling starts. Wash wool cold, skip the dryer entirely, and store it clean, since moths feed on body oils rather than on wool. Run fleece alone and without softener, which flattens the nap and takes the warmth with it.