Best Baby Blanket Material Choices
What are the best options for baby blanket material if you want you and your baby to be truly green?
Whether you are making a homemade baby blanket, or looking for a good baby blanket to buy for your new baby or grandchild, or for a gift, you'll want comfort, durability and a baby blanket which is easy to care for.
Here are some of the best options for eco-friendly baby blanket material available on the market today.
Picture, right: a good handmade baby blanket or shawl can easily become an heirloom
Comfy cotton
Cotton has a long history and if you buy organic cotton or cotton fleece you can be sure that your baby's blankets were made without using earth-damaging chemicals. Not only that, it's reassuring to think that the cloth from which the blanket is made is free from any chemical residues.
If you are opting for a coloured blanket you will want to source ones which are dyed using safe and eco-friendly dyes, particularly non-synthetic and azo-free dyes. Organic cotton can be a superb choice of baby blanket material and there is plenty of variety to choose from.
Cotton comes in many forms - cotton terry towelling, cotton jersey, cotton fleece and brushed cotton are popular types which are all suitable for blankets, either alone or in combination with other materials.
One of the advantages of cotton is that it is and easy to clean - just pop it into a normal wash. Cotton is also generally relatively cheap.
However cotton products can need tumble drying and softeners to get that fluffy bounce back into the fibres. One green solution is to add a cupful of to the last rinse cycle.
Drying in a tumble drier with a drier ball also will help some. If you like to line-dry your baby blankets you will get better results if you dry cottons in the shade. See for more greener laundry ideas.
The shown in the illustration, above, is a quality item from Green Nest which should last through years of use.
Supersoft newborn blanket from New Organic
Amazon has a fairly extensive collection of organic baby blankets, including this which apparently lives up to its name!
Cotton fleece is fairly soft and lightweight and quite desirable as a cuddly baby blanket material. It may need a more careful approach to washing and drying than other cottons. A low temperature "woollen" wash cycle is sometimes recommended.
Cotton fleece may also suffer from fluffing and pilling.
Where to buy: In the UK you can get such cotton blankets from Hippychick and GreenEyedFrog.
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