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Hotties? Or leccy blankets?

(146 Posts)
MawB2 Tue 10-Nov-20 10:48:21

Brought up in a north facing stone cottage in Scotland I always had a hotty or - height of luxury in my teens - an electric blanket.
Over the years I have had both - or neither- but the other night I fell asleep with my leccy blanket on (thermostatically controlled, so safe) but woke up imagining I could smell singeing - so at 2 in the morning, I whipped it off, bagged it up and it went out with the bins yesterday!
Quandary -what to do last night, so I looked out the little furry hotty I keep for visitors and popped it in, moving it down to the foot area when I came to bed.
One of the best nights sleep of the last few months!
So ——
Do you use either?
Which do you favour?
Or are you like this posh lady?

PattyFingers Wed 11-Nov-20 10:10:53

I use a microwavable wheat bag which is very versatile. I do have different sizes of them including one that comes over both shoulders (the shape is a bit like a toilet mat!).

jaylucy Wed 11-Nov-20 10:10:56

I have woken up sweating too many times when using an electric blanket - and that is after it has been switched off!
I now have a fleecy topper on my mattress as well as a merino wool duvet that keep me warm enough!

grandtanteJE65 Wed 11-Nov-20 10:10:58

Remember the other awful aspect of our Scottish childhoods, the unheated bathroom?

In very cold weather we lit a convector heater in the bathroom fifteen minutes before bath time. Ugh!

I turn off my electric blanket when I lie down to sleep.
The old stone pigs were marvellous - they stayed warm all night, which rubber hotties never did.

Horatia Wed 11-Nov-20 10:15:38

Hotty that I use it in summer often too.

Ailidh Wed 11-Nov-20 10:17:22

Hotties every time!

I can't abide a hot bed or bedroom but do like to reach my toes onto something warm if I need it.

nipsmum Wed 11-Nov-20 10:18:55

I'm definitely a hottie bottie fan. I hate electric blankets.

Flakesdayout Wed 11-Nov-20 10:31:53

My hot water bottle died the day before yesterday. :-( It was in a fake fur cover and I emptied it and tried to take the cover off and it was stuck. There was a sediment in the sink which when checking was rubber. After the cover was removed the rubber on the bottle was perished. I think I have been lucky that it didn't give up when I was using it. I do have an electric blanket which I use on very cold days, so I have to admit I do like both but not at the same time. (obviously)

HannahLoisLuke Wed 11-Nov-20 10:33:44

I have an electric blanket but haven't used it for at least three years, it just hasn't been cold enough. At the moment I'm still using my summer duvet too and I am a cold person. I occasionally use a hottie and also on a hot summers night I freeze the hottie so it becomes an ice block, that is bliss.

Madwoman11 Wed 11-Nov-20 10:34:59

Electric under blanket for me has been a Godsend for my pain as well as for warmth.
Use a POWER BREAKER to plug it into, and replace your blanket every 5 years.
Mine is a well known brand beginning with S, and has a sheepskin type covering. I leave it on the bed all year, so it's there if needed on chilly summer nights

Moggycuddler Wed 11-Nov-20 10:36:19

Hottie on the feet. Lovely! Obviously you need to make sure the bottle isn't worn and the stopper is safe - nobody wants to be scalded. I've known of people whose bottles split or leaked.

lizzypopbottle Wed 11-Nov-20 10:38:12

I keep my socks on until my feet are warm and I've changed my duvet cover to a brushed one. Sometimes I use a wheaty bag or two. They are comforting to cuddle but cool off pretty quickly. My dog snuggles beside me and keeps me warm but he doesn't half hog the space!

Bellasnana Wed 11-Nov-20 10:39:46

DH and I had an electric blanket many years ago but it wasn’t the type you could leave on overnight. It set fire to the mattress so we never dared have another.

I’ve always loved hot water bottles and I sit with one on my back most evenings as it’s not yet cold enough to need heating on, but nice to feel a bit of warmth.

What a nice thread, Maw! Love the cartoon but, much as I love my dog, he’s not allowed on the bed.?

lizzypopbottle Wed 11-Nov-20 10:41:50

But MawB I'm not posh so only one dog!

pen50 Wed 11-Nov-20 10:48:48

Modern electric blankets come with a timer so will switch off automatically.

I used to be really cold but in the last few years I've warmed up dramatically, so nowadays sleep naked with bits of me sticking out to let the heat escape.

Bodies are weird.

inishowen Wed 11-Nov-20 10:50:49

I got my first electric blanket when I was eleven. There was no control over the heat. It got hotter and hotter! There were stories about people being burnt to death at the time. As long as it was turned off at bedtime I felt safe. The newer blankets hardly get warm so I dont have one.

MayBee70 Wed 11-Nov-20 10:53:00

I have a hottie a whippet and keep my socks on at night (to stop the dog licking my feet) and wear a hat sometimes. So that covers pretty much everything really.

Panda25 Wed 11-Nov-20 11:03:14

Neither, my husband is always so warm within minutes of getting into bed that I often have to lie as far away as possible from him as I can't stand feeling too warm in bed

Juicylucy Wed 11-Nov-20 11:12:07

Neither, hot flushes night sweats ?

Justwidowed Wed 11-Nov-20 11:12:26

Hottie for me both winter and summer,but only when it's very warm in summer.I fill the hottie with cold water which cools my feet and I move it around the bed !!

biba70 Wed 11-Nov-20 11:17:18

we live in a very old house up in mountains- and in the deepest of winter we throw a blanket over the duvet- and a hot barley cushion (home-made, microwavable with some lavender flowers) if it gets VERY VERY cold- and window always at least partially opened, with shutters closed.

MawB2 Wed 11-Nov-20 11:21:29

Has anybody mentioned bedsocks ?
I hope none of my rellies are reading this as they are all getting cashmere bedsocks for Christmas(if I don’t snaffle a pair for myself first) ? ?

NotANana Wed 11-Nov-20 11:27:50

Hot water bottle for me too - I have just bought a new one from Boots with a lovely furry cover. I can fill it with 90 degree water and it is lovely and snuggly without burning my toes or fingers when I get into bed.
I have also discovered that three cats piled onto a hot water bottle insulate it so well that it is still perceptibly warm in the morning.

Annaram1 Wed 11-Nov-20 11:28:51

I take a hot water to bed and put it against my chest. I put my feet into two old pillow cases and pull them up as far as they will go. Also have 2 light weight duvets and one heavy one which I can throw off if necessary. Bliss!

dragonfly46 Wed 11-Nov-20 11:29:32

I need neither and use a summer duvet in the winter. And I have the window open.
I must be very hardy.
I was brought up with a coal fire as the only form of heating and a tin bath once a week in front of it. We used to take it in turns to use the same water.
Even when I was first married teaching in Scotland I used to come home from work and get the coal in to light the fire before we had heat or hot water.

Stoker48 Wed 11-Nov-20 11:30:15

I’m another who likes a cold bedroom with window open, no matter what the weather.
Until recently, I was a five a night hottie lover. One to hug, one for my knees, one for my ever cold feet and two on my back. Having discovered the joys of a long hot water bottle, I’m down to just three.
I fill my normal ones over the sink. The long one just in front of it.
I really don’t like the smell of microwave hotties.