Question on hand/pocket warmer fillers...

[Mary Of Exeter]

I just made my own hand warmer out of an old t-shirt and some instant rice (I know, I'm supposed to use uncooked, but it's all we had!).
My question is, what else holds heat well that I could use besides rice? We have some dried beans (pintos, etc.) in the pantry. Would those work? Nothing beats the feel of rice in these things, but we do eat quite a bit of rice....so we kind of need it...haha

Thanks!

 

[wombat]

I think the ones my mom has are filled with barley. That's what they smell like when they're heated. They're quite heavy, but you want a lot of thermal mass for them to stay hot longer. I'd think that minute rice would be rather light for the job. Probably any cheap feed mill grain (wheat, barley ... probably stay away from corn) would work.

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

Yeah, don't wanna be popping corn!

I will keep that in mind. Thanks

 

[NanaKat]

Try dried lentils or split peas.

 

[verthandi]

I tried beans, they smell like beans when you reheat them. Tried feed corn last year, they hold the heat well, but they do sometimes pop when heating them and they smell like sweaty feet. The barley worked well and it wasn't offensive, but rice still seems to work the best for me.

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

Hmmm. Beans smell fine to me, LOL. I guess rice or barley seems to be the best. Thanks for the suggestions/advice!

 

[AkTomboy]

You can mix in herbs such as lavender to make it smell better when you heat them

 

[wombat]

I like the barley filled ones my mom has, they smell like bread baking.

 

[ebwy]

I was told to use flax seeds (available in health food shops)

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

Quote:
Ooh! That's a good idea