An old friend heated some bricks on his wood stove, wrapped them in a towel and used them to keep my 'always cold' feet warm in bed during a bad cold snap. It worked wonderfully. Now I want to refine the process and am looking for information.
Could I use ceramic tiles and get the same results? If so, what kind of things do I need to look for in the tile? Anything that will help keep my feet warm is something that merits further investigation.
By elaine from Ontario, Canada
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We use the heating pads that are heated in the microwave. They are wonderful for foot warmers, bed warmers, as well as for aches and pains.
I have Raynaud's which is a condition of cold feet. I always had trouble sleeping at night. I would wear socks to bed but I found after a couple of hours my feet were too hot and my feet felt constricted. So I would kick off my socks and then after a few minutes my feet would become cold again. So I decided to design a product to help people like myself suffering with cold feet in bed. I came up with a product called "footjammies". Below is information about footjammies...
what are footjammies?
footjammies are warm, soft and cozy jammies for your feet. This sleepwear and casual wear product is made in Canada with 100% brushed cotton flannel. footjammies are the perfect way to keep your feet warm and comfortable, without the constricting feeling of wearing socks. Give your feet a break by wearing warm, loose and airy footjammies
footjammies can help people who suffer from cold feet or who may have Raynauds Syndrome to get a good nights sleep!
footjammies are great for lounging on the couch and watching TV, working on the computer, or just laying around and reading a book. You can also take your footjammies on the airplane to kick off your shoes and relax, apres ski, or camping for those cold chilly nights.
You can visit www.footjammies.com to get more information.
I make rice bags. Just take some plain old cotton cloth (think muslin, or something similar) and sew a small, long pillow, filling with regular rice (I use the cheapest long grain rice I can find). It can be microwaved to use as a heating pad, or left in the freezer as a cool pack for boo-boos. I've also heard where people will do the same thing with a sock -- just fill the sock with rice & tie it off.
How long you heat depends on your microwave. I'd heat for 3 minutes with my old microwave, but with my new one only 1 to 1-1/2 minutes. I just toss one under the sheets at the foot of my bed while I clean up for the night, and it does the trick!
Plain old-fashioned hot water bottles do the trick. Some you can buy even come with their own snuggly covers. I fill mine with hot tap water and stick it under the sheets a little while before bed; by the time we crawl in we have a warm space for cold feet!
I tried the hot water bottle and it leaked. Then I was miserable in a wet (end of the) bed! I tried the brick in the oven and when I got in bed, it was like heaven! I love it!
Thanks to all who responded so far. I have used both hot water bottles and the microwave bags and while they were definitively good in the short term, the bricks were still definitely warm 5 hours later which is why I was wanting to figure out a usable everyday solution. I hate cold and something like this is a god send. elaine
I have a heating pad that is inside a quilted thick pillow case. I turn it on about 10 minutes before I go to bed, and then shut it off when I go to bed. It warms my feet, then stays warm inside of the pillow-case as long as I keep my feet in there. As long as all night!
The bricks are the best as they last a long time and they have been around for years. I did that when I lived at home in England back in the late 40's and early 50's. We lived in a 4 story house and no heat up on the 4th were I slept so I would take the brick up first and put it in the middle of the bed, then move it down to the feet. I would stay warm all night long.
Hey, this gave me the idea to warm bricks for my feet, when I'm sitting at the computer this winter in a cool room.
We just installed a wood stove and part of putting it together is lining up the fire bricks that line the stove. They are really cheap and available at your local block and brick dealer. They come in 2 or 3 different sizes.
Ceramic tiles would work just as well as bricks, and are certainly easy to get. Any tile would do, as all ceramic are heated to extremely high temps in the manufacturing process, so you can heat them in an oven without any problems. I expect that the larger and thicker the tile the longer it will hold heat. Go ahead and give it a try. I expect people used to use bricks because they had them handy. Stones were also used, but stones can sometimes crack with the heat, so you are better off with brick or tile.
All good ideas, but, I like my heated waterbed=+).
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