If You’re Curious About Weighted Blankets, Get This One

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- If you did a #10Year Challenge focused on your attitude toward sleep, chances are in 2009 you bragged about how little you needed, but in 2019 you’re showing off how much you’re getting. We’ve learned a lot about the literal value of a good night’s sleep; in her book The Sleep Revolution, Arianna Huffington says sleep deprivation costs the U.S. economy more than $63 billion a year in absenteeism and lost productivity. But we’ve also learned how difficult it can be to get a night of solid shut-eye. Thus, weighted blankets such as the Napper ($259) from Bearaby have exploded in popularity. Their makers tout the benefits of deep-touch pressure, which originally was found to have soothing effects among people with autism, ADHD, and even PTSD.

The Competition

• Those who need help getting their Zs will like knowing the blue chambray Weighting Comforts blanket (10-pounders start at $195) has already aided others. They’re made by Sew for Hope, which provides refugees with sewing machines and jobs.

• The cover fabric for the BlanQuil Chill—a clean white polyester weave covered in a honeycomb blue stitch—stays cool to the touch long enough for a hot sleeper to go gently into that good night. It’s even Kardashian-approved ($299).

• Bedding’s biggest names, including Sleep Number Corp., are trying to hog the covers. Its Relaxation weighted blanket ($199) comes in three colors and three weights.

The Case

Bearaby’s 20-lb., 48-by-78-inch Napper takes the comfort of a weighted blanket and turns it into something stylish enough for your sofa. The chunky open-weave design is made of nothing more than organic cotton enhanced with a touch of stretchable elastane. (Some options, such as the $250 category-leading Gravity Blanket, have glass beads inside.) Bearaby founder Kathrin Hamm, who came from the sleepless high-pressure world of finance, working for the World Bank in Washington, Dubai, and Mumbai, is now a full-on proponent of napping, saying that “workplace productivity increases even just with a short 20-minute nap.” Snuggling under the blanket is like being soothingly embraced in a full body hug, or being very cozily shrink-wrapped. $259

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gaddy at jgaddy@bloomberg.net, Chris Rovzar

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