Have you been shopping lately for something specific and accidentally come home with one or two fuzzy blankets you absolutely could not resist? Cue the confessional: Almost immediately after I had given the members of my household a huge lecture and moratorium on bringing anymore blankets into our home, Walmart sucked me into the abyss. Dang you, Rea Drummond! Yes, I succumbed to two new Pioneer Woman throws. Gah!
We have a blanket hoard. During that one special season, you know, the one where we stayed at home for months on end, the blankets seemed to initially form little gangs and migrate around the house reeking blanket havoc. Pretty soon they were conducting full on conventions by region of our home. Blanket disorganization was one of the top three things keeping our home from remaining “company ready”. In order to gain a little sanity over the situation, we needed to figure out an organizing system that would work for the whole family. Join us in discovering what has finally become our solution. Also stay tuned on our website, because in following blog posts, I will share our other top organization failures and how we resolved them.
1. Blanket Zones!
Know the Purpose and Zone for each Blanket
Step 1 is to understand how and where in your home each blanket is used and get it to that zone. Because of the quantity of our insane blanket menagerie, we are able to pinpoint a use for virtually each one, avoiding very much overlap into other categories. Some of you may not need to join Blankets Anonymous and will use one blanket for several different purposes. In either case, I will help you to categorize your blankets so you can put them in the right zones for your home.
Later in the blog post I will also share several different storage solutions for each zone that has helped our family.
Below is a list of categories and zones we use in our home:
- Bedrooms
- Snuggling up in a Chair / Den or Living Room
- Guests
- Seasonal Decor
- Outdoor / Car
- Play, Fort Building, etc.
- Heirlooms / Display
- Emergency
- Pets
- Cross Over Categories (In The Room it’s Mostly Used)
Please share in the comments or contact us if you have any blanket categories we do not have listed above as well as the zones you use them. We would love to hear about your blanket struggles!
2. Blanket Storage!
Zone Storage for Both Function and Beauty
If you have been on You Tube, Instagram, Pinterest, or the blogosphere at any time in the past couple of years you are probably as hyper aware as I am of the over use of the word COZY. And yet, for this subject, it is a perfect adjective.
Blankets, no matter the time of year, emote a warm hug. Whether tossed over the bottom corner of your bed, stacked neatly for display, effortlessly thrown over a foot stool or a beautiful basket, they make your home feel lived in, welcoming, and quite frankly, COZY!
Step 2 is to figure out beautiful and functional ways to display or store blankets in their zones, adding that cozy flair to any space.
Interior Decorating 101 teaches that transforming a house into a home requires the employment of both form (beauty) and function (ease of use). Anytime product storage focuses solely on one of those elements, it’s not quite complete.
Professional decorators also focus on designing spaces with the right combination of hard and soft design elements.
Blankets are just one of those soft items that are an easy, natural way to bring gentleness to any space, calming down the harsher lines of hard furniture, flooring, and accessories.
For this reason, I do not store all our blankets out of sight. Having a stack of them on a bookshelf, in a hutch, draped over a surface, or spilling out of a basket are all simple and beautiful ways to store them to easily grab and go..
Of course not every blanket is pretty. Nor do they all need to be on display, especially not at all times. So we use multiple ways, in different seasons, to display and store our blankets.
Below are some storage ideas we use according to the zones our blankets reside:
Bedrooms – Draped across the end of a bed, as a part of the bedding, neatly folded stack on a tall dresser or other surface.
Living Spaces – Draped over the backs of recliners, folded or rolled into a large blanket basket, or draped over the edge of a basket under a console table.
Linen or Bedroom Closet – Stacked uniformly, making sure guests know where to find extra linens or blankets. The best aspect of hospitality is making your guests feel at home and comfortable.
Seasonal Decor Storage – Fall, Christmas, and spring blankets are kept with that season’s decor except our heirloom and emergency wool blankets (when they are not being displayed they are kept in a cedar chest). Blankets stored in holiday decor bins should be placed in garbage sacks or dry cleaning bags to avoid decoration lint or worse, glitter, being permanently transferred to certain fabrics. I may have created more than one Christmas fleece blanket victim by not following the above advice.
Car Sports Bins – For sports events, sports practice, or picnics, store blankets in a container in your vehicle or garage. Be sure they are cleaned, folded, packed and ready for use. After the game, shake, fold and replace so it’s ready for the next one. I usually do not wash those until the end of the season unless something really awful has spilled on it before the season is over. Plaids, Florals, and other bold prints are very forgiving when trying to get by with just one wash.
Toy Bin – Usually the dollies or play house toy bins include blankets that can also be used for fort building. If you are like our family, you may have the “Fortinator” as a member. Consider creating a toy cube, bin, or basket that holds all of their fort building supplies (pre-approved by you, of course). One of the things we always struggle with regard to fort building is getting everything put away afterward. Having a predetermined container helps your children know exactly where to get the supplies and where to put them away. I promise they will eventually grow out of building tiny houses under the dining table that are held, rather timidly, by grandma’s China tea cups.
Display Only – We have some antique and family heirloom quilts we use as display only. In our house currently we have a blanket ladder they drape on, or sometimes we stack a few on my living room book shelf, depending on which decor season we are in. We also have a cedar chest to store them in. The children in our home also have their special childhood blankies (ki-ki’s) that are still in operation. Eventually they will be moved to “keepsake” storage and kept for them when they enter adulthood.
Emergency – We have a few of my grandmother’s vintage wool blankets we keep for emergency power outages. Layer a sheet followed by the wool blanket, then what ever number of other blankets on top for weight. Your body heat, next to the wool, separated by only a sheet (because wool is a bit scratchy), creates what feels like a little furnace keeping you warm during winter outages. We have them dry cleaned about once a year and store them in the cedar chest. Oh the warmth and true meaning of cozy!
Pets – Most pet blankets have been donated to them after too much love by the humans in our house. Our pets do not spend a lot of time in their crates, but we spoil them with cozy blankets when they do have to use them. They are located in our bedrooms and we typically stack the extra pet blankets right on top to swap out and wash as necessary. I try and toss them once they have too many holes or are thread bare. In the past, when we’ve been low on blankets that we are willing to let the pets have, the thrift store has been a great place to snag them at a reasonable price.
Cross Over Categories – As stated earlier, many of you may use one blanket for several different things. I suggest storing it in the room you use it most and try to find a beautiful way to drape it over your bed or chair or basket so that you or a family member can easily grab it. If it’s difficult to get out or put away, it’s more likely to end up where you do not want it. Reflecting on our past family trends, that meant it may end up waded in a disturbing pile on the couch or (please hold while I clutch my pearls), the floor.
How do you store your blankets? Contact Us.
3. Blanket Care!
How to Wash and Care for Your Blankets So They Last
We live in a “toss it” society. We just throw it away and buy a new one. And to be honest, there are items when it makes sense to just toss it. However, I think our elders did a better job at purchasing quality items that were made to last if cared for properly. In our household, we try to purchase quality when it makes sense for us and find multiple uses or step down functions for single use or cheaply made items.
Lets figure out what we are working with and how to preserve it.
Step 3 is to preserve your stash. As always, be sure to read your product tags or washing instructions carefully. Following manufactured instructions is always the best policy. But if you do not have a tag or any instructions, follow the hints below. Remember, do everything at your own risk.
- Polyblend Fleece – Begin by using a lint roller to remove extra fibers, lint, or hairs. Wash by hand or use the cold, gentle cycle in your washer. Polyester fleece has stain resistant features so using very little mild soap is best. Gently pre-treat stains with mild soap. Using heat or too much soap will alter the fibers of your blanket causing it to look dull and could cause it to pill.
- Wool – First, check your label to see if your blanket is dry clean only. If so, take it to the professionals. If it is washable, pre-treat stains with cold water and a mild non sudsy detergent using a small scrub brush or tooth brush to gently remove the stain. Fill washer with cold water and let the blanket soak for up to 15 minutes. Complete a quick, gentle cycle on cold only. Lay out large towels on the floor. Lay the wet wool blanket on top. Roll up and press out excess water. Be careful not to wring it out as it can cause shaping issues. Unroll and remove wet towels. Lay over a drying rack until dry. It is possible to tumble for a few minutes on a cool setting before laying it on the rack in order to prevent wrinkles settling in.
- Sherpa Style – Follow the same instructions used for poly fleece. In addition, regularly comb or brush the sherpa fleece, removing lint or hair. This will keep the fibers soft and like new.
- Antique or Heirloom Quilts – I recommend always washing antique or vintage quilts by hand. For best practice, be sure to do a lot of research based on the material your quilt is made of. Even after all the best care and concern regarding instructions is employed, a quilt may still experience some discoloration or worse yet, begin to fall apart. Do all antique quilt washing at your own risk. However, it is best to have a clean quilt. It has literally been years since I washed our 120 year old family heirloom crazy quilt. It desperately needs it, but some of the fabric pieces are in really rough shape. It gives me such anxiety thinking about it. I need to roll up my sleeves and get to it by filling a wash basin with cold water and mild liquid detergent. Liquid detergent won’t leave residue in the same way powdered detergent can. Gently agitate the quilt for 10 minutes and remove the water completely. Rinse quilt with cold water. Refill basin with cold water and add 1/2 cup of white vinegar. This will help rinse out any remaining detergent and help your quilt feel soft (you may use white vinegar to rinse many different types of laundry loads both by hand or by using a washing machine). Air dry your quilt using the wool towel roll and press method for wool and lay it out over a rack or several dining chairs. Be careful about line drying an antique quilt as some colors may fade in the sun. Be sure you are understanding all risks.
- Cotton – Whether you have 100% cotton or a blend, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s washing instructions. If hand washing is not required, wash on cold with mild liquid detergent. 100% cotton is prone to around 5% shrinkage. Blends prevent shrinking. Dry on your machine’s lowest heat setting until almost dry or still damp. Line dry for remaining dampness.
- Flannel – Wash in warm or cold water with gentle liquid detergent and never use fabric softener unless it is white vinegar on the rinse cycle. Dry on the lowest setting or line dry.
- Linen – Hand wash or machine wash on warm or cold on gentle cycle. Use a mesh bag for machine washing. Line dry.
- Fur and Faux Fur – For best results, take your fur and faux fur to the dry cleaners. They have specialized equipment and experience with different fibers and materials. They use an electrification process with fur to lift the hair fibers and remove debris. Spot treatments, reconditioning, and general airing out of the item is definitely doable at home, but you need to know a lot of specifics regarding the type of debris or stain you are working with, as well as the solution required to clean it properly. All in all, I recommend the professionals.
If you have a fabric type or blend that I did not list above, please reach out. I will do my best to research and find some possible solutions for you. Contact Us.
4. Purging Your Blanket Stash
Is it Time to Transform, Donate or Toss that Blanket?
Earlier I shared that we try really hard to get more than one use out of something before it hits the landfill. Sometimes, something might experience several different iterations before getting pitched. Blankets are no different. Of course, we have to keep in mind the material it is made of and what our hope for it’s future could be. Not everything meets the requirements necessary for transformation.
Step 4 is to ask yourself the following questions to help guide your blanket purging process:
First, decide when you have too much of any one blanket category and think about how you could use the blanket(s) in a new way around the house. Can it become an emergency use blanket? A good car blanket? A fort building supply or bedding for a pet? Heck, even a good “oops toilet overflowed again” solution.
If none of those options are right for your blanket, go to the second question to ask yourself, Is this blanket in good enough shape to be given to someone else? Below are some ideas for donating your gently used blankets.
- Local shelters – Many homeless shelters and organizations routinely hand out blankets, especially in the winter months to help keep homeless people from freezing at night. Be sure your blanket is right for this purpose. Some blankets are more for looks or ambiance than actual warmth.
- Animal shelters – Often animal shelters go through tons of blankets transitioning a pet from intake to rehoming. Sometimes the blanket they used upon intake must be destroyed in order to maintain sanitary conditions. Donations help get pets through that process with less funding.
- Foster care programs – Local programs in my area build back packs with items a child may keep with them while they transition through the system. A blanket can be a comforting item while experiencing the trauma of entering foster care, or moving from home to home.
- Pregnancy and mid wife centers – Some pregnancy and mid wife centers rely upon donations for many of their services to women in emergency situations. All kinds of donations, not just blankets may come in handy.
- Thrift stores – We have a wide array of really nice thrift stores in my area, including three that support my favorite homeless shelter. I have personally purchased household linens at those thrift stores and have been very pleased with the quality that I would not be able to afford if purchasing as new. So, if you have a favorite charity that also has a thrift store, It’s a great way to support their efforts.
A Word on Donating to Charity
Having had the privilege of working for multiple 5013C organizations, I want to share a few thoughts on donations. Please, if the item has significant stains, holes, or is decimated, please dispose of it yourself. A few minor imperfections is absolutely not a problem. People who thrift or receive donated items know they are not likely to be brand new or in pristine condition. However, when you donate an item that is clearly unfit for respectable use, it actually COSTS that organization $$$ to do your disposal for you, defeating the purpose of donating to them.
Unsure if a particular organization or person can actually use your donation? Simply reach out and ask them. Inquire and find out what they are needing and what they already have too much of or cannot accept. If they can’t use your items, have a yard sale and donate the proceeds or go and purchase what they actually need with those proceeds. In your giving and blessing of others, be certain it is not a burden instead.
Lastly, if you cannot use your blanket in another way, and if it is not in good enough condition to be given to someone in need, just toss it. Don’t let your acquisitions consume you. It’s never worth it.
Thank you for reading this post. We hope you found some nuggets that help with your family’s blanket pile and how to store, preserve, reuse or possibly donate some of them. Again, please reach out using this Contact US page with any comments or questions. We look forward to hearing from you!