No more grandma's image: the heated blanket is back in use
18.10.2023
Translation: machine translated
I'm too young to have a heated blanket; that's been my motto until now. But I've been secretly gaga over this cosy electric gadget for years. The fact that it's becoming more and more popular is helping me out of this confused situation.
One product haunts my shopping basket. Every time I order something online, I take it out of the basket only to put it back in again wistfully, all the while promising myself, "next time!"
This item, trapped in the "maybe", is guaranteed to be a warm embrace. This is a warming blanket. Do you also immediately think of "retirement home", "rheumatism" and "arthritis"? No wonder: up until now, electric blankets have had an old-fashioned image. Yet it's the best friend of anyone suffering from frostbite and back strain. For years, I envied my mother her cosy blanket. And I particularly like to visit her in winter to slip my frozen feet under her electric blanket. Or sometimes even my whole body.
From the retirement home to social media
But buying me one? Never in a million years! I'm not... old. If it did manage to make its way into my basket, it's because of the flat I live in: it's in a typical old, poorly insulated building in the north of Germany. My desk is right next to the draughty window and, from October onwards, as I type on the keyboard with frozen fingers, each day of teleworking magically catapults me back to the last Ice Age.
Recently, at the office, as I complained about the cold at home and revealed my inner heating blanket debacle, I was in for a surprise: "I bought one just after I left my parents' house", I learned from my colleague Kim Muntinga; a long way from retirement age, it should be noted. I also learned that this winter gadget had recently moved in with a friend. If the people around me and social media are anything to go by, the heated blanket is warming the hearts of the younger generation. There are numerous posts on Instagram under the hashtag #Heated Blanket, showing young people (and animals) celebrating their me-time with this electric gadget. Or working hours, as streamer @Sarah_Habits shows in her video.
The pandemic and the energy crisis are encouraging this trend
I suppose the coronavirus-induced wave of working from home has popularised the heated blanket in young single households. Out of sight of colleagues, you can make yourself comfortable. The shop's figures also illustrate this trend. When I talk to our customers about the subject, they tell me that there has been a marked increase in sales in the heated blanket range. Our bestseller from Beurer is particularly popular: here, demand increased by 53 per cent between 2020 and 2021, and by 44 per cent between 2021 and 2022.
The blanket offers you 180 x 130 centimetres, six different temperature levels and can even go through the washing machine at up to 30 degrees. Some new products in our shop also invite you to snuggle up in them: for example, the Asmi model, which you can attach with a zip and wear like a cape; extremely practical if you want to move around with it or have your hands free.
You'll find all the other heated blankets in our shop here. There are loads of different sizes and colours to choose from. I'm still not sure which product to choose. But I'm sure there'll be a purchase soon; for real this time. Or maybe I'll ask for one for Christmas so someone else can finally take matters into their own hands and free me from this inner torture.
So dare the heated blanket!
Headline photo: Kim Muntinga
Cat lady and coffee lover from up north. Always on the lookout for «News and Trends».
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