Felted Wool and the Microwave

By Heather H. (Guest Post)

For not so nice looking packs, I have also used a rice filled men's athletic sock. Just nuke it for about 3-4 minutes to use (make sure the animal/human won't be touching it or it is wrapped up at first because it will be hot!)

Works wonderfully when we have a cold snap and the furnace can't quite keep up. Not only do they add heat, but humidity, which makes the air seem warmer and for many pets is very important. We have used these for keeping warm finches, parakeets, hamsters, our iguana and us. They also work great in our dog's crate, though we just usually let her sleep with us on night's like that.

The rice can start to smell burnt, but we have found it doesn't make a difference.

If you want nicer looking packs, you can use the sock filled with rice as the inner layer and make the nicer, outer layer removable for washing.

Have fun!

By carla bledsoe (Guest Post)

you might try lentils. i suppose any grain would work.

By Pam (Guest Post)

I just made hand warmers with felted wool. I tried them in the microwave and it worked fine. My only suggestion is to wash the material before you make anything with it. My hand warmers smelled of dye after I microwaved them. You can use lentils as a filling and it works great!

By sherry o'shea (Guest Post)

Wool is naturally a flame/fire retardent. Be sure you are using all wool. rice works, millet would work etc.. Good luck

By (Guest Post)

Flax seed works very well.

Not sure about the felt though. I would use cotton or denim.

By Michawn (Guest Post)

Funny you should ask, as I was just realizing that I need to change the rice in my outside kitties heat pack (it's cold outside and he's a rogue kitty who adopted us) cuz' the rice is smelling burnt. But I use a cotton sock that I bought filled up with rice. I don't know about the felted wool, but if it doesn't work, then why not make an inner skin (cotton) and then make a felted wool pack, a simple crochet or knit chain stitch for a button loop on felted wool should work to close it.

Hope that helps a little!