Moving Blankets - How To Select The Right Blanket

by: Adil Aliev

On our site we offer a wide variety of quilted moving blankets to choose from. We often hear a question – what is the difference? Which moving blanket is better? How do you compare to the competitors? Is there a difference between moving blankets and furniture pads?

• Moving Blanket or Furniture pad. Moving Blankets and Furniture pads mean the same thing – it’s a quilted pad or blanket that is used for covering furniture. during the moving or storage to protect from nicks, dents and scratches.

• What kinds of blankets out there? Distributors of manufacturers use different terns to describe their product. And the same term used by different seller can apply to completely different blanket. But more or less you can break them to three different categories:

o Skins – blankets that have no padding whatsoever;

o Economy – the cheapest blanket that the seller carries, usually padded;

o Premium – padded blanket, with different type of outer fabric;

• This category can consist of several types of blankets depending on weight of the blanket, outer fabric, size, and marketing preferences of the seller. ( for example they can be called Professional, Premium, Standard, Deluxe, ProWrap, Multicolor, etc.

All padded moving blankets are quilted ( Zig-Zag stitched)..

• How do you compare the thickness of moving blankets? The thickness of the blanket generally represented by the Weight per blanket. Some manufacturers use Amount of filler in Oz per yard. This is quite confusing and I will get in more details in further articles or you can go to our site and read more.

o NOTE: Imported moving blankets are usually compressed before they shipped so they look thin. But after use they absorb an air and will get thicker – it’s like pumping up a pillow)

• What type of filler is used? Blanket for moving filled with recycled cotton. Recycled cotton is not a “Pure cotton” as some distributors may tell you. It may contain all kind of fiber including synthetic, etc.

• What is the difference in durability of the moving blanket? The blanket weight or thickness of the blanket is a factor of protection of your furniture. The durability of the blanket will be determined by the outer fabric and the binding that is used to manufacture a moving blanket. There are theree major types of fabric that are used in the industry:

o Nonwoven fabric – this is man-made material that looks like it’s a pressed fabric. You will see no woven threads. This type of material is cheap and usually “Economy “ blankets are made with this outer fabric.

o Polyester or Terylene fabric - Polyester and Terylene are exactly the same material. (See our site for more details why they have different name). Polyester is very durable and abrasive resistant material – very soft and smooth. Polyester is mildew resistant very easy to wash and dry. Moving blankets with Polyester outer fabric look shiny and “slippery”.

o Cotton – cotton is more expensive material to use. Blankets with cotton outer fabric do not look shiny. They are not Slippery. They feel more … natural.

o Mixed outer fabric – some moving blankets are manufactured with variety of used fabric, which can be mixed in unpredictable combination. – manufacturer would use whatever was available. These blankets sometimes can be very rough, not flexible and can be hard in cold weather.