Qualities of Good Muslin Blankets

If you’re having trouble sleeping every night, then you know how annoying it feels like to lay in bed for hours and not being able to sleep. No matter how you toss and turn, you just can’t get yourself to fall asleep as fast as you want to. You can take medication to help you fall asleep, but some experts believe that getting the right blanket can make a difference. To help give you better and a more comfortable sleeping experience, you might want to give muslin blankets a try. 

According to experts, there is a scientific reason why we need blankets to sleep—even when it’s hot. To put it simply, using a blanket helps you deal with our body’s lower nightly core temperatures. It also increases our brain’s serotonin and melatonin levels, helping us relax and fall asleep in the process. 

Our body’s natural temperature will continue to drop as the night progresses. For night owls, this happens a lot later. The problem, however, is that this drop in temperature can make people feel too cold. This is why it makes sense to have a nice warm blanket around. Good quality muslin blankets can help warm our bodies throughout the night. 

The firm pressure of the blankets also triggers the nervous system and releases serotonin—a chemical in our body that’s responsible for helping us feel calm. Serotonin also helps to release melatonin, our body’s natural sleep hormone that helps prepare us to sleep. 

Adding Blankets to Our Nighttime Routine

Humans are creatures of habit, so there’s a huge connection to when most of us used blankets when we were kids. It’s like we are sending a signal to our body and our brain that it’s time to go to sleep because you have the blanket on. 

According to experts, we sleep better when it’s cooler and that the perfect room temperature is between 19 to 23 Celsius. It is recommended that hot sleepers, or those who sweat through the night, should not sleep naked but invest blankets made of lighter, breathable fabrics. It also helps to invest in bed sheets, pajamas and/or clothing made from breathable fabrics such as cotton, flax, or even bamboo. 

It is also a lot better to use lighter-colored blankets as they absorb less light, and that hot sleepers should invest in cooling pads or blankets. This might seem a lot of work, but everyone needs experiment until they find what works best for them to get a good night’s sleep. 

Muslin Blankets for Better Sleep

Muslin is a fabric that is woven rather than knitted. Muslin is made by weaving a single weft thread horizontally through vertical warp threads. In muslin fabrics, the weft weaves though each warp thread one at a time. This makes the fabric light and breezy. 

Types of Muslin Fabric

There are four main categories of muslin. Each category is further divided into additional types, depending on the intended use for the fabric and manufacturer. There are also historical types of muslin that pertain to how and where the cloth was woven. 

The four main categories of muslin are:

• Gauze –this is the lightest type of muslin. Examples include medical gauze, cheesecloth, and clothing. Gauze muslin is usually sheer (even almost transparent). This type of muslin is perfect as a press cloth for sewing and ironing. 
• Mull –this is common type of muslin. It’s a bit heavier compared to gauze and is mainly used for pattern drafting or as lining in garments that have more structure. Some mull muslins use silk and/or viscose mixed with cotton to give the fabric more shape. 
• Swiss Muslin –this is characterized by the raised bumps or dots on the surface of the fabric. This type of muslin is a lot denser compared to mull but it’s still breathable. It’s ideally used for summer or warm-weather clothing. 
• Sheeting –this type of muslin is the heaviest of them all. It’s a lot more useful compared to other types of muslin because it is more durable. Sheeting muslin is often used in making furniture upholstery, theatrical backdrops, home décor, and blankets. 

Qualities of a Good Muslin Blanket

If you’re still undecided on buying muslin blankets, you might want to take a look at some of the qualities of a good muslin blanket. These might just convince you to go ahead and buy one. 

Durable

Muslin fabric has stayed popular over the years due to its durability. It uses the plain weave technique which limits the tension between individual threads. This means that when you invest in a muslin blanket, you’re sure that it is durable enough to withstand wear and tear and will last for years. 

Texture

Muslin blankets have a soft texture. Due to its plain weave, high-thread count, and super fine threads, it has a smooth surface on both sides of the fabric. The higher the thread count, the softer the muslin blanket is. 

Weather-resistant

Muslin’s ability to resist weather conditions depends on what its fiber content is. The more cotton fiber is in the fabric, the more weather-resistant it is. Cotton muslin is water absorbent and can resist exposure to the sun better than cotton/polyester, cotton/viscose, and cotton/silk fabric blends. 

Moisture-wicking

Although muslin blankets are highly absorbent and quick drying, it is too thin to properly wick moisture. It will absorb moisture from the skin, but due to the fabric being too fine, you will still feel the moisture. 

Wrinkle-resistant

Muslin fabric wrinkles easily. It is wrinkles after washing or drying or after prolonged use. The loose weaves in muslin fabric means there is plenty of space in the fabric for fibers to move around, which is what causes wrinkles. 

However, blankets made of muslin fiber are resistant to high heat, which means they iron easily. So, even though it gets wrinkled easily, it is also easy to smooth it out by ironing. Muslin fabric also responds well to steaming. 

Comfort

Muslin fabric is ideal for warm-weather climates. Not only is it light and breathable but it is also easy to layer it without running the risk of overheating it. It dries quickly which is great when you get sweatier than usual 

Cost

Due to industrial fabric production, muslin is now an incredibly affordable fabric. It’s easy to weave and manufacture and different fiber blends make the materials even more affordable as well.