A while back it was getting quite chilly during the night. I’d wake up freezing or have trouble falling asleep. I got the bright idea to look into an electric blanket and/or some flannel sheets and while I had trouble finding sheets which would fit out extra deep mattress, we did find a heating blanket at Target. I wasn’t looking to spend much so we actually just got a twin sized blanket in ivory which just covers the top of our queen sized bed but doesn’t hang over. That’s good enough for us.

The blanket reminds me of old people blankets. It’s made of “micro plush” which feels nothing at all like microfiber, as the name made me think. The top is detailed with a satiny strip of fabric and the other edges are finished with a whip stitch. There are coils throughout the blanket which are pretty thin and not necessarily pokey but I can still feel them. Overall, I’d say the blanket is okay. Not super comfortable. I wouldn’t want to sleep with it against my bare skin but I don’t mind it with a sheet underneath.

I plugged in the cord to the blanket and the other side to the outlet and Ryan got to use it at first. The manual says that it won’t feel directly hot so it’s not like you’re standing directly in front of the fireplace or radiator. It’s an indirect heat, like someone has been lying under the blanket and heated it with their body heat. It’s pretty comfortable and there are 10 different settings so you can have just a little heat or a lot, if you prefer. The manual also says it’s safe to “preheat” it by turning it up high before use then lowering it once it gets to the temperature you desire.

I was initially a bit worried about fire safety and there’s lots of notes about keeping it away from animals like cats. We have cats. Crazy cats, at that. But we put the Biddeford Electric Heated Blanket between the top sheet and comforter on the bed which offers a bit of protection and keeps it closer to us, as well. The blanket is also equipped with an auto shut off if it’s on for over 10 hours. We’ve occasionally forgotten that it was on so this is useful. Simply switch it off then back on for it to resume heating.

The analog controller sits on my nightstand, well within reach, and the cords are long enough that every reaches. Though, the cords are a bit heavy and have a tendency to pull the controller off the nightstand. I also have tripped over them a couple times. LOL There’s no place to put them to keep them out of the way and also have it be usable but that’s a small sacrifice. The numbers on the controller are backlit by an orange light which is easy to see at night and also indicates that it’s on.

Since we bought the Biddeford Electric Heated Blanket, the weather has warmed up a bit and we don’t use it every night. Some nights Ryan will turn it on but it’s too warm for me but it’s thin enough to leave it on the bed, turned off, on the slightly warmer nights.

Interestingly enough, this blanket is machine washable and dry-able; although, it does suggest some special care and not to use laundromat style machines which are all we have access to now. I would probably wash it by itself and hang it to dry, especially because it seems to pick up lint which sticks to the blanket. It’s already full of little lint balls from our comforter. The manual has many warnings about use which I would suggest reading before using the blanket for the first time and it wouldn’t hurt to keep around for future reference, either. Other than that, the Biddeford Electric Heated Blanket has worked exactly the way we needed.