Homemade rice heating pad
A homemade rice heating pad is indispensable for relieving many forms of muscle pain and tension. This type of pad is heated in the microwave or cooled in the freezer for many different types of pain relief. To keep pads fresh and clean, store them in gallon-size plastic zipper bags.
Heating Pad Materials
Homemade heating pads can be as simple as a rice filled cotton sock with the end tied or as complex as a pad that can be draped around your shoulders like a shawl. You may choose to use fabrics such as fleece or flannel for added softness and durability versus standard cottons.
Other fillings besides rice to use in your heating pad are buckwheat, flax seed, and lavender which are all perennial favorites. Rice and buckwheat are commonly used because of their weight, heat retentive properties, and ability to provide moisture. Flax seed is more often used in cooling packs, and the scent of lavender is renowned for soothing the senses.
Square Hot Pack
The basic square homemade rice heating pad is the most versatile. You can use it for your back or other specific body part. It can be folded and used behind your neck to relieve tension. Start with two pieces of fabric approximately twelve inches by twelve inches. Sew together three and three-quarters of the sides, wrong side out. Turn the square right side out and sew three vertical lines in; one down the center, and one dividing each of the halves. Fill the heating pad with rice, leaving about two inches at each end of the stitches to allow fillers to move freely. Fill the pad to a point where it is firm yet still flexible. Shake the filling down to the unopened end and finish by turning in the unfinished edge and stitching the pad closed.
Neck Wrap
Make the neck wrap with two pieces of fabric, approximately twenty inches long by five inches wide. The sewing technique is the same as for the square pack, but make sure the opening for the rice is at one of the short ends. When turning the pack right side out to sew in the vertical lines, use eight shorter lines of stitching. Start and stop about three quarters of an inch from either end of each line of stitches for the heating pad filler to move around. The individual lines of stitching are important in all the heating pads, but more so in the neck wrap because it's important to be able to bend the pack to conform to the shape of your neck while keeping the rice filler in all the sections of the pad. Fill the pad with rice, and stitch the opening to finish.
Back Heating Pad
If you choose to make a back heating pad, design it so that it is larger than the square hot pack and is rectangular. Twelve by eighteen inches is a good size that will accommodate a number of different body sizes. Again, sewing directions are the same as for any other type of homemade rice heating pad. The only exception is that the back pad requires stitching in at least six lines of vertical stitching to section off the areas for the filler. Realize also that, because of its considerable size, that the back heating pad requires a much larger amount of filler material. You can microwave this pad, like any homemade rice pad, but note that it takes several minutes to heat it to the desired temperature.
Tags: homemade rice, back heating, fabric approximately, heating pads, lines stitching, neck wrap, pieces fabric