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Weighted Blankets 101: Benefits & How to Pick One

You know (and yearn for) the feeling: It’s Saturday morning, and your body’s natural alarm clock wakes you up from the best sleep of your life. You feel energized and full of zest – and you haven’t even started your coffee yet.

There’s a handful of reasons your sleep was so restorative: Maybe you had a Friday night in, focused on self-care. You probably cut your caffeine off at noon and fell asleep reading a good book instead of scrolling through Twitter. What if we told you you could get the same energized sleep on busy weeknights too? That’s the magic of a weighted blanket. And while the weighted blanket is a trending topic right now, at ARDO, we know it’s more than just a fad.

BEHIND THE SCIENCE: THE BENEFITS OF A WEIGHTED BLANKET

With the weighted blanket’s rise in popularity, you’re probably wondering how weighted blankets are so calming; It’s all about the science. Deep pressure stimulation (DPS) is the key. Research has shown (ironically) that applying deep pressure to the body triggers a switch from running its sympathetic nervous system to its parasympathetic nervous system. In other words, what we commonly refer to as “fight or flight” switches to “rest and digest.” This is essential for relaxation because when your fight or flight mode is engaged for too long, you feel tired, stressed, irritable and – most importantly – both your sleep and digestion suffer horrendously.

"when your fight or flight mode is engaged for too long, you feel tired, stressed, irritable and – most importantly – both your sleep and digestion suffer horrendously."

What to Look for in a Weighted Blanket

Everybody is different, so it's often difficult to pick the right weighted blanket for you. It’s often recommended to pick a weighted blanket that is 10% of your body weight; however, it’s always better to go under than over. If it’s too heavy, you’ll be too hot and claustrophobic. A little-known secret to getting great sleep happens to be a regulated temperature. Through research and testing, we’ve created a breathable, cooling, universal weighted blanket.

1. EVEN WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION

Because we’re all built different, we’ve created a universal solution to weighted blankets, no matter what size you are. The ARDO weighted blanket is composed of 5”x5” square quilts – one of the smallest quilt sizes on the market. Each includes an identical number of premium glass beads, which evenly distribute a total blanket weight of 12lbs.

2. SELF-REGULATING TEMPERATURES

Director of the University of Arizona’s Sleep and Health Research, Dr. Michael Grandner, probably put it best when he previously said, “Your body’s ability to regulate temperature is a big part of how it regulates sleep.” Our lightweight, breathable bamboo rayon fabric ensures the perfect temperature for an uninterrupted, good-night’s sleep – with a warm hug during the winter and a gentle, cool touch in the summer. 

3. EASY TO WASH

Can you wash a weighted blanket? Absolutely.

Seeing that “how to wash a weighted blanket” is a popular search, we know that cleaning a blanket filled with glass beads is something that baffles many, and understandably so. Glass beads trapped in each quilt pocket tend to shift around if not held in place properly with the right filling. Worse still, if the stitchings come undone in the wash, beads can spill over to adjacent pockets or even out of the blanket – yikes! 

A gravity blanket with uneven weight distribution can be very uncomfortable. So the idea here is to go for a blanket that has robust stitchings and tight quilts that lock beads in place, and high-quality filling to ensure beads don’t shift around. Most importantly, look out for care instructions that say it’s machine washable and can be tumbled dry. 

In a nutshell, getting a good weighted blanket with the right weight, filling, and fabric is pivotal to your quality of sleep. ARDO understands that, and so we’ve distilled the best of sleep support into our premium offering – the ARDO weighted blanket.