# Cheap wool blankets



## Guest (Nov 15, 2008)

I got a thick, 60" X 80" wool blanket at a hardware store for $6.99. It's 80% wool, I think the other 20% is polyester.

Apparently it's intended to use as a furniture cover for when you're moving. It's ugly gray, smells like car grease, and was very rough-textured. I washed it in cold/cold water with homemade laundry soap. That fluffed it up some, but it still smells like car grease (next time I'll put downy in the rinse).

It may not be department store quality, but it's CHEAP and does the job of keeping one warm. 

My first thought was what a good blanket it would be for homeless people.

My second thought was, the survival people here might appreciate knowing how to get cheap wool blankets. So here I am.


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## dirty (Oct 14, 2005)

i agree try the downy. and you could try just letting it air out on the clothes line.

sounds like a good blanket for the truck.


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## Guest (Nov 15, 2008)

No clothes line here. Hard to have one anyway. It's very windy here with red dirt hazing the atmoshere. If you put anything outside to dry, it first gets muddy, then dries with a layer of red dust.


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## Beaners (Feb 23, 2005)

That's a good idea, I keep meaning to get a few more spare blankets. Especially for those of us in the colder climates, you never know when you are going to need one. Once it gets cooler I almost refuse to get in the car if there isn't a blanket in the trunk or on the back seat in case the car breaks down or we get into an accident.

Kayleigh


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Try washing it in that orange degreaser.


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## Guest (Nov 15, 2008)

Cyngbaeld said:


> Try washing it in that orange degreaser.


Good idea.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

if you wash it in warm or hot water it may shrink, but it will get thicker.  i have a wool blanket that shrunk big time, but it is now thick and heavy. the warmer water may help with the grease.


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## bowdonkey (Oct 6, 2007)

These sound like they would be excellent for making coats, capotes and other winter clothing.


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## longrider (Jun 16, 2005)

wool blankets usually have a coating on them that holds them together. Cheap wool blankets are a favorite of the military and they work very well when several are used. if you wash them the coating and smell will come out but they WILL shed. shed like crazy. We stopped using them on my submarine because over 90% of the dust balls we had came from the wool blankets. Also if you wash them they WILL shrink like nobodies business. feel free to do so just know what will happen and be happy. 

I like wool blankets- especially the french trapper kind.


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

the army ones are kind of felted and not woven, am I right?? I have two or so in a closet somewhere


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2008)

beaglebiz said:


> the army ones are kind of felted and not woven, am I right?? I have two or so in a closet somewhere


The one I got at the hardware store is woven.


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

If possible, try to avoid felting your wool blankets. Several light-weight layers of blanket are much warmer than one heavy layer (and more comfortable, too). I did deliberately buy a felted wool blanket at one of our thrift shops a couple of years ago, but I got it to cut up to make saddle blankets for the goats for their pack saddles. It's much too thick and heavy to put on the bed.

Kathleen


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## magnolia2017 (Dec 5, 2005)

I have several of the felted blankets I've picked up for a buck or two at thrift shops. They're warm and every BOB and vehicle contains at least one. 

Maggie


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2008)

BlueJuniperFarm said:


> Several light-weight layers of blanket are much warmer than one heavy layer (and more comfortable, too).


For bugging out one blanket makes more sense than several blankets of another kind.

For me personally, since I sleep on a couch in an unheated camper trailer, several layers don't work. Besides feeling like I'm suffocating if I have too much weight on me, I can't get several layers tucked in enough to keep them from sliding off onto the floor. A couple of wool blankets tuck in well enough to stay put.


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

Would a vinegar rinse get the smell out of it?


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## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

Not to pick a nit, but woven blankets are those with the warp and weft yarns going at right angles (more or less) to each other. Felted blankets are those that were made without yarn--the wool was turned directly into a big flat gob of felt. A fulled blanket is one that was woven with yarn first (usually somewhat loosely) or otherwise knitted or crocheted and then intentionally shrunk to thicken it. I think there are lots of accidentally fulled items out there also! In most cases of blankets that shed excessively, they are made with very short staple wool where the amount of twist is not adequate to lock the fibers into the strand. Fulling might actually help something like that to stick together better.

If you find a fulled or felted blanket, while it may not make the best cover for sleeping, they are usually quite warm. They can be cut up and sewn into good mitten-like glove covers. Also, they can be cut up to make saddle blankets (as mentioned) or to line shoes or boots. They can be cut to add absorbent thickness in a pocket inside cloth baby diapers. You can cut strips out to use as an emergency cushion for your BOB straps if you end up on foot. Wool is naturally flame resistant (will char to ashes rather than flame up, stinks like burning hair), so those old felted items make great pot holders or even heat retaining covers for fireless cooking. Wool aprons are much safer than cotton for cooking around a campfire.

There is actually a woman in my area who's business is buying up 100% wool coats, jackets, blankets, etc. at the thrift stores and then fulling them and making them into nice purses. Seems like she does a great business at the local craft shows.

Some experts believe that a thin synthetic inner layer, with a thick wool middle layer, and a thin nylon outer layer provides better protection from the cold than fancy, newer fabrics like Goretex or Thinsulate. Nothing to absorb and hold sweat near the skin where it would chill the body and the wool breaths well enough to transfer moisture out to where it can evaporate through the nylon without taking lots of body heat with it.

I know this stuff because I am a felt maker. I use fiber from various animals (sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, buffalo, even dog) and make felt out of it. You can use it for a variety of decorative uses and to make various clothing items. I have also made custom shoe inserts for people, especially those reenactment types who go around in moccasins frequently. I can modify the layering to build up support in areas where it is needed and leave it thinner in other areas. From a prep standpoint, you can't go far if your feet give out. Felt is good!


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## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

A good use for a thick, felted blanket would be underneath the feet. I'm at the computer a lot & my feet get cold. I think I'll pick up a cheap wool blanket & shrink it! 

If you end up sleeping on the floor or on the ground, it would make decent padding & insulation.


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