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September 15, 2018 by Linda Loosli 43  Comments ,

6 Reasons To Store Blankets For Any Emergency

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Today I’m sharing 6 reasons to store blankets for any emergency. I wrote this post a few years ago to remind all of us how important blankets and quilts are for several reasons.

I’ve really have been trying to downsize even more because of my new small house. Here’s the deal, I had to look around and decide what would go to the Good Will, Salvation Army, or whatever thrift store I could find. I decided of course what a preparedness chick like myself should keep.

It was very hard to let go of some things. Yet, easy at the same time to get rid of some stuff. Does that make sense? One item type I felt was important to keep was blankets.  Today’s post will outline why I feel blankets are critical to have around.

My 6 Reasons To Store Blankets:

1. Warmth

The obvious reason to store blankets is for warmth. I was going through closet after closet trying to get rid of anything I had not used in 6 months or more. Well, I have family and friends come and stay so I kept all the quilts, blankets, baby quilts, and baby blankets. I always put them away in the closet freshly washed and dried. I don’t have a fireplace or wood-burning stove in this current home.

My whole married life I have had a fireplace or wood-burning stove. I miss not having these important sources of heat. I have always been the prepared person in the house so you’d have to say I “caved in” when we bought this house. It went against my grain big time.

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But as most of us know usually when you buy a house it sometimes does not have everything we want. One good thing about where I live is our winters are not really brutal like back east or up north. But we can layer all of my blankets or quilts and be warm, even with a power outage.

 2. Blankets Make Great Tents

One thing my grandkids love doing, at least the younger ones, is building tents with blankets spread all over our dining room table. This would be great if we did have a power outage because they could play and stay warm under my large table. This is why I must store blankets, lots of blankets.

3. Window Coverings

If the weather gets worse than I expect I could cover my windows with heavy blankets or quilts to keep the cold out of the house. I do have shutters that help insulate, but the blankets could give me one more layer of protection. There really are many reasons why we should store blankets.

4. Wool Blankets

Please go to thrift stores and check for wool blankets. They are great for layering, and so many other things. Real all wool blankets are extremely expensive. They are great for keeping people alive in a brutal cold storm. They have been used for centuries.

You can make a cape with them and they usually stay warm even when wet.  Of course, if you are in a snowstorm I am not sure what would work long term to keep you warm. We go back to layering every blanket or clothing item.

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5. Emergency Blankets For Hypothermia & Shock

We have all taken classes where we have been taught to keep someone warm if they are hurt so they will not go into shock. Hypothermia is a huge reason to keep certain types of emergency blankets that will keep someone warm around, 100 degrees.

6. Cover Your Plants In A Frost

I must add this one because last year was a brutal winter for St. George, Utah. Thousands of dollars in plants froze, big time. If I had a winter garden I could cover my raised gardens with a blanket to help against frost on some plants.

I have been known to put blankets on my favorite plants outside. I go outside and shake the occasional snow off the palm trees and other plants that will not survive the cold.

I hope this inspires everyone to look for used blankets at garage sales or thrift stores. Oh, remember do not get rid of the blankets you have stored right now. If you have any more ideas on why we should store blankets I will add them to my list. Blessings to you all. Please stay warm this winter and store blankets.

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43 Comments

  1. So many people these days have hard wood floors…when the power goes out in the winter, those floor get really cold. You could put down blankets/quilts to act as area rugs or carpeting to act as another layer of insulation on any hard surface floor.

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  2. Great ideas. I just brought down a few blankets from the attic to store in our car for the cold weather season. I like to keep them there in case of running out of gas or getting stuck for some other reason in cold temperatures.

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      1. I always keep what we call “junk towels” in the car for the beach or anything. I also have those foam padded kneel pads for the garden in case you need to change a tire. I always have at least one blanket.

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  3. I live in florida where it hardly ever gets cold enough to turn on the heat. I still keep blankets for “just in case”. with the crazy weather we are getting now it could get cold here too.

    I hope all of you who live in the northern parts of our country stay warm and well this winter.

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  4. I save the old blankets and comforters (with holes and tears) for the outside dogs (or other pets). We can’t bring in all of our animals due to their size and not being house trained. When the blankets get stinky, I just wash them and give them back to the animals. At the end of the season, I’ll wash them and store them for the next year. It doesn’t matter if they are a little more thread bare. The animals don’t care one bit.

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    2. Yes! Those are our “junk comforters”. They are for the dogs when we go camping, to the vet or just to cover the couches.

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  5. Great ideas everyone.
    This winter during the ice storm,we hung blankets over the entrances to our living room to keep the heat in the 1 room we stayed in.
    We also hung one over the door to help keep cold out, kind of like the window idea above.

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  6. I have a lot of electric blankets seems each year i have to buy another, so i keep them. What i found if you have a number of blankets put a down plain white comforter as a liner and it will keep you toasty warm . Its heavy but if it keeps you warm thats what is important.

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    1. Hi Teresa, I love down comforters because they give us that insulation we need to keep warm. You are smart to buy another electric blanket. Even if we have zero electricity it still will keep us warm by layering. Linda

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  7. I also save old mattress pads as well as blankets specifically for padding on the tile floors when we have grandchildren coming to viist. They go under their sleeping bags to cushion and insulate. I was just looking at the home we have lived in for 10 months and thinking about the possibility of having to hang blankets over the big, big windows if there was a power outage. So I am adding some adjustable extention poles and the circular brakets for hanging closet poles to mount them inside the widow frame right up against the window to my emergency preparations. This has worked when we needed to add a heat resistant curtain on one window. We have a neighbor that has added expandable poles and long curtains to her patio awning – privacy and sun protection – and I was thinking those could come in handy if you need to make an outside toilet area in an emergency. Linda, you have really got me thinking about more things . . .

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  8. I bought down comforters for all the beds. Luckily my husband put more shelves in the closet to hold them in the summer. When my mother passed, I grabbed up all the blankets that no one wanted, washed them, and put them in a space bag. I also got some space blankets that will work in a pinch.

    I recommend reading “Lights Out” by Ted Koppel, if you need some motivation to get busy preparing.

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    1. Hi Janet, oh my gosh, thank goodness for more shelves and blankets! I wish everyone would read the book you mentioned, “Lights Out” by Ted Koppel. I highly recommend that book!!! Thanks so much for mentioning that book! Linda

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  9. Great list! Good to have variety in case of allergy to a particular fabric. Great for moving larger, awkward or bulky items or incapacitated people or critters. Great to cover pet crate for calming in high stress scenario. Great for lots of unexpected guests. Can be used as table cloths over 2 sawhorse & old door for large gatherings. Great for family history if made by family members or from old tshirts.

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    1. Hi Geni, I couldn’t begin to determine how many blankets per person. There are so many variables to that question, insulation in the attic or walls and the type of blankets or quilts. You can never have too many blankets. Linda

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  11. When we have all the grand kids here, we have to put them on air mattress. So to keep them from sleeping against the rubber mattress, we use blankets under them before the fitted sheets. Keeps them warmer in the winter and from sweating against the mattress in the summer. As a quilter, I can’t agree more; there are never enough blankets or quilts whatever the size or condition. If your cold you wont care.

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  12. Linda I’m going to share a story with you and your readers several years ago I was into food storage self reliance ( it was an obsession) I have always followed my gut feeling on things and so I dreamed that I needed to get my daughter on board she has 5 children and is raising her neice. I told her to stock up on blankets and to not delay she started adding more to get stocks her husband ask her why are you storing so many blankets she said mama told us to get them. That winter it was a very bitter freeze and Ice storm they had no heat and no power for over a week those blankets came in handy to block off rooms and to keep her and those babies warm. My son in law said Debbie was on time with her warning. Lol

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  13. I realize this post is prior to my discovering and following you but I have to comment….. DON’T hide those blankets! We were blessed to find two antique ladders in the barn when my son bought an 1840s farm house. While maintaininging the character, my husband sanded and stained them. We have 14 ft ceilings so these ladders now stand tall, holding beautiful plaid and faux fur throws and blankets. They warm the feeling of our home, while providing comfort and bonus…..not taking up any precious space.

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    1. Hi Bob, thank you for your kind words, that means a lot to me. You know I do not store wool blankets, I realize wool blankets are the best against fire, water, etc. Mark had a wool blanket that was so itchy I donated it probably 40 years ago. I make quilts so I switched to those. Thank you for the question, I think I need to do a post on wool blankets after I do some research. GREAT question, I”m glad you asked. Let me work on this, Linda P.S. 80/20 wool blankets should be awesome. Some people have zero blankets stored.

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  15. They have these little (one person) pop up tents that people use at ball games on Saturday morning. Keep you out of the wind and cold but if you tape a towel or paper over the Window area it could be used for a quick outside toilet or hanging area.

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  18. Another book that’s good (it is an older fiction book) – really got my mind going. It’s called “Alas Babylon” by Pat Frank. It is set in 1969 – Nuclear bomb scenario. Reminded me about keeping an emergency pair of Prescription glasses, shoes, and many other things. I reread it every year.

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    1. Hi Margo, I will have to check that one out. Remember how we had to get under our desks at school when the sirens went off for practice testing? Many families had bomb shelters and many still have them on their property. Linda

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  19. I read the email abut pop up tents. I have one of those play tents for my grandchildren, and I was thinking of giving it away, but I never thought, until now how it could be used in a power emergency. The children and their sleeping bags could be in the tents in a warm section of the house and they would be quite cozy and warm. I also thought I would mention old electric blankets. Instead of throwing them away (fear of the wiring as they get older), I painstakingly stripped the wires out of them, then washed and gave them along with some older towels, to my local animal shelter. They really appreciated them (minus wires). I love adding your helpful ideas to my collection.

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    1. Hi Marie, thank you for your kind words. What a great idea about removing the wires and gifting the blankets and towels to the animal shelter. I LOVE this! I would keep the pop up tent as well! Linda

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