Okay, it’s spring in LA but the nights are still chilly and, with the impetus to spring clean our homes and our bodies, at the end of the day, we’re a little achy. We saw this homemade heating pad while watching Martha, The Martha Stewart Show the other night. Filled with dried cherry pits or buckwheat hulls (we’re thinking that rice or dried beans might be another filling option) we thought we’d share the how-tos here. (Please excuse our pictures. They were taken off our television)
How To: Make A Homemade Heating Pad
via Martha, The Martha Stewart Show
- Using a piece of fabric 20 x 14, fold the fabric in half the long way, right sides together.
- Sew up the long side and one short side.
- Fold down the top 1/4 inch.
- Turn right side out and iron.
- Fill with dried cherry pits or buckwheat hulls
- Stitch closed 1/8 inch from the top.
Heat it briefly in the microwave to use it as a heating pad or chill it in the freezer to use it as a a cold pack. A longer version can be used as a draft dodger, lying against the gap at the bottom edges of your door or window to prevent cool air escaping in the summer and the cold air coming in in the winter.
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I make these a lot as gifts... fill them with rice and put them in the microwave for about 3 minutes, like popcorn. They stay warm all night, too!
view fugitiverouge's profile
It might not look as good, but you can also use a men's tube sock, filled with rice.
view JeninLB's profile
I find they start to SMELL like popcorn, too, pretty soon (after 2-3 uses, with my rice version). That's why I was glad I didn't go to all this Martha-ish effort.... I just rolled the rice up in the middle of a kitchen towel, folded the ends of the towel into a deep topknot, and tied them with a ribbon.... when the rice got too popcorny for my olfactory "taste," then out with the old and in with the new! Of course, now that rice is the hot commodity, perhaps cherry hulls will be the less expensive option. : )
view ljbmonkey's profile
I also make these heating pads as gifts. And at the other end of the temperature spectrum.... sometimes I need to chill out. I make chill tubes to wrap around my neck and around my wrists in the summer to cool me down.
Sew a tube out of some fabric (shorter for wrist, longer for neck). Add a few tablespoons of polymer beads (used in gardening to keep soil moist longer). Sew the ends closed. Soak in water till saturated. Wrap and be cool.
I know these are vague instructions, but if you type "cooling neck bands" into your browser you'll get lots of hits.
view monkeypants's profile
yeah, Rice, 2-3 mins in microwave. Make a cloth bag and fill loosely with rice then sew the last side up.
During the winter, we heat two of them and put them at the foot of the bed to keep us warm. My wife has ice feet so I sometimes require that she heat one of these up to take some of the burden off of my feet to get her feet up to room temperature.
I have also used them as door stops for a door that had a tendency to gradually close.
view plasticorange's profile
Yeah, we've always made these with tube socks and rice. They aren't as pretty, but I surround myself with them when I go to bed, turn off the heat, and really save on the electric bills.
view hilaryb's profile
as others have said, rice works beautifully, but does eventually begin to smell. (not bad, just... starchy.) because of that, i always make one seam an easy, sort of external seam. then, when i want to change it, i just rip it out and refill. (i've also done resolved it by doing buttons and zippers, but find that it's just not as cozy.)
view katiebug's profile
is martha wearing a prison tee?
view foog's profile
Buckwheat hulls! Now all I can think about is those infomercials for the sobakawa pillow...
view firecracker's profile
that was awesome, foog.
view loislane's profile