Throw Blankets

A throw is a blanket that moves around the house

A throw blanket is sized for a person, not a bed. It goes over your lap on the couch, around your shoulders in a reading chair, or folded at the foot of the bed for a nap. It's the blanket you grab, not the one you make the bed with.

That's why the choices are different from bed bedding. Bed sizes don't apply. Fabric matters more than anything else, because you'll touch it every day and wash it often.

Here's how the duplex settled the thermostat. I keep it at 66°F. Dev wants 72°F. The treaty, signed over Thursday soup, says 68°F and a throw on every chair. I've kept my side. Dev still checks the thermostat on his way down the back stairs, like it might have changed its mind.

What to look at in the table

Every row comes from the maker's listing or the maker's own page. Blank cells mean the maker doesn't state it.

Blanket type: throw, oversized throw or bed blanket

The first column tells you what the maker calls it. A throw is couch-sized. An oversized throw is the maker's word for a bigger throw. A bed blanket is sized to a mattress, twin through king. If you're shopping for the couch, the first two are your list.

Fabric decides almost everything

The fabric row names the type of fabric, as stated: fleece, sherpa, faux fur, minky, knit, chunky knit, wool, cashmere, woven cotton, waffle or muslin, or a cooling fabric the maker explains. Fabric decides how warm it feels, how heavy it is and how fussy it is to wash.

Fiber content is the honest line on the label

Fabric and fiber aren't the same thing. "Fleece" is a fabric. "100% polyester" is the fiber it's made of. Under the Textile Act, blankets and throws must list fiber by its generic name and percentage by weight, from the most to the least. Wool must always be named with its percentage. So a "wool blend" throw tells you exactly how much wool on the fiber line. The table copies that line as the maker states it, never rounded.

Sherpa side

Sherpa is a fleece that looks like sheep's wool. Many throws pair a smooth face with a sherpa back. The sherpa row shows when one side is sherpa, as the listing says. Sherpa adds thickness, so a sherpa-backed throw is puffier than the same face fabric alone.

Size and dimensions

Size is the maker's size name. Dimensions are the blanket's width and length in inches. US labeling rules require blankets and throws to state the finished length and width on the package, and the length of any ornamentation, like fringe. We don't use package measurements for this. Store fields sometimes list the box instead of the blanket, and a folded throw in a box is a lot smaller than a throw on a couch.

Weight and GSM

Weight is the blanket's weight as the maker states it. GSM means grams per square meter, a fabric weight. Higher GSM means denser fabric of the same kind. GSM only compares like with like: a 260 GSM flannel and a faux fur listing with a much higher number aren't on the same scale. When a listing gives no GSM, the table leaves it blank.

Care

The care row shows the maker's care text: machine wash, machine wash cold and tumble dry low, hand wash, spot clean or dry clean. My opinion, and the reason you can check: read the care tag before the price tag. A throw you can't put in a home washer costs you a trip to the cleaner every time someone spills cocoa on it. The care row tells you which throws those are.

OEKO-TEX and cooling, only as stated

OEKO-TEX Standard 100 is a label for textiles tested for harmful substances, and each label has a number you can check online. We show it only when the maker states it for that specific throw. "Cooling" shows only when the maker says how: a cooling yarn, bamboo viscose or a similar named material. A store tag alone doesn't count.

Throw sizes: measure what you want to cover

Throws don't come in standard sizes. Labels you'll see include 50 x 60 inches, 50 x 70 inches and oversized throws around 60 x 72 or 60 x 80 inches, plus others.

Pick by what the throw will cover:

• A couch seat or lap. Measure from your shoulders to your toes while sitting. That's your length.
• Two people on one couch. Measure the seat width. An oversized throw is the usual answer.
• The foot of a bed. Use the mattress width, plus a little to hang over.
• A guest bed. An oversized throw can cover the top of a twin. Check with the bedding size guide.

Then compare with the finished size on the label. If the throw has fringe, the label states that length too.

Which fabric suits which room

Each fabric has its own page. Here's the short version.

• Fleece and microplush. Light, warm, easy to wash. The everyday couch throw.
• Sherpa. Fleecy and thick, often used as a backing.
• Faux fur. Long pile, often sherpa-backed. Heavier and more decorative.
• Knit and chunky knit. Open stitches, good drape over a chair. Care varies a lot.
• Wool and cashmere. Natural fibers with stricter care. Check the wool percentage.
• Cotton, waffle and muslin. Lighter, for warm rooms and warm sleepers.
• Cooling. Only where the maker names the fabric.

A living room that's 68°F (treaty terms) does fine with fleece or sherpa. A bedroom that runs warm wants cotton. A drafty reading chair by a window wants the heaviest thing you own.

Plaid, boho and holiday prints

Pattern is the last choice, but it's the one people see. Plaid throw blankets and boho throw blankets are two of the styles shoppers ask about most. Plaid is a woven or printed check. Boho usually means fringe, tassels, geometric patterns or a woven texture. Both come in every fabric, so pick the fabric first and the pattern second.

Seasonal prints have their own pages: Christmas throw blankets and fall throw blankets. (Dev wanted a Christmas throw on the armchair in July. The treaty doesn't cover décor. It probably should.)

A note on fringe: it's ornamentation, and the label states its length separately. It also catches in vacuum brushes. I learned that at the hotel, and I learned it more than once.

A throw blanket for the couch, folded properly

A throw blanket for the couch has two jobs: keeping someone warm, and looking tidy when nobody's under it. The second job is about the fold.

Here's the proper fold I used at the hotel for a throw at the foot of a bed, and it works on a couch arm too:

1. Fold it in half lengthwise, then in half again, so you have a long strip.
2. Fold the strip in thirds for a couch arm, or lay it flat across the foot of a bed.
3. Put the folded edge out, facing the room. Loose edges go to the back.
4. Drape, don't stuff. A throw jammed into a couch corner looks like laundry.

For a casual look, hold the throw at one corner and let it fall over the back corner of the couch. That's the whole trick. (Dev calls this "staging". I call it putting things where they go.)

Color is the other choice. A throw that matches the couch disappears. A throw one shade darker hides cocoa and dog hair better than a light one. Biscuit, Rosa's beagle, visits on Thursdays, and he has opinions about every throw in my living room. He picks the warmest spot, not the prettiest throw.

Throws as gifts

Throws are one of the easiest gifts to get right, because nobody needs to know a bed size. A few checks before you wrap one:

• Machine washable. Read the care row. A gift that needs dry cleaning is a gift with a chore attached.
• The fiber line. If the person avoids wool, the fiber content on the label says whether there's any.
• Size for the person. A tall person wants a longer throw. Check the finished length.
• Fabric for the house. A warm apartment wants cotton; a drafty farmhouse wants sherpa.

For more ideas, see cozy gifts and gifts for elderly, where throws sit alongside other bedding.

Washing and storing throws

First, read the care tag. The FTC's Care Labeling Rule covers clothing and fabric sold for making clothes. It doesn't list blankets, so a throw's care instructions are the maker's own. That's one more reason to read them before you buy.

General habits that work across fabrics:

1. Wash before first use if the maker suggests it.
2. Use the temperature and dryer setting the tag gives. Not one notch hotter to save time.
3. Wash pile fabrics apart from towels. Fleece and faux fur pick up lint.
4. Shake out pile fabrics after drying to fluff them back up.
5. Fold, don't stuff. A throw on a shelf in the archive stays neater than one shoved in a basket.

Who should skip a throw blanket

• Someone looking to cover a bed. A comforter or bed blanket sized to the mattress fits better. See comforters.
• Anyone who needs real warmth all night in a cold room. A throw is for sitting, not for a full night under it.
• Shoppers who won't hand wash and are eyeing wool or chunky knit. Read the care row first.

If you want a throw with a plug, read heated throws. If you want a throw with weight, read weighted blankets.

Brands and related pages

The brands in the table link to their own pages, and the brand catalog lists every bedding brand we cover. The table's order follows the data, and every brand is treated the same.

• Best throw blankets — throws with a stated fabric, at most two per fabric, so several fabrics show up
• Oversized blankets and soft blankets
• Wearable blankets, a throw with sleeves
• Bedding & Throws, the whole section

Tuck it in.