What Blanket Material is the Warmest?

What Blanket Material is the Warmest?

Wool is well known as the warmest non-petroleum based material, while still allowing breathability, but how do other material types compare?

The following table details performance testing of various knit materials(1). Air Permeability is the rate at which air passes through the material, and Thermal Resistance is the difference by which a material resists heat flow. 

Material Thickness (mm) Air Permeability (mm/s) Thermal Resistance (W/mK)
Wool .837 2460 .027
Acrylic 1.116 1786 .031
Wool-Acrylic Blend 1.65 1800 .047
Cotton-Acrylic Blend .72 1653 .021
Cotton(comb) + Polyester plated .37 296 .012
Viscose + Lycra plated .40 226 .015
(Cotton-Bamboo) + Polyester plated .38 293 .014

 

Technically speaking, a warm-cool feeling that is desired from clothing and blankets, has as much to do with construction type (knit vs. weave) and the relative air permeability of that structure (weave pattern), as it does with the material itself. Because there are so many variations, we've focused on just the material here against a knit base, where all materials had the same loop length and tightness. 

 

Sources

1. http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.textile.20170602.02.html

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