Every time I test bed blankets and throws, all of my family seems to appear out of thin air to participate. They all have specific tastes—my husband likes a tassle-free wool or cashmere, my daughter wants the softest and lightest fleece, and my dog goes for anything he can discreetly nibble without getting in trouble.
But they are all unified when it comes to the Garnet Hill Plush-Loft blankets, which are fluffy-soft polyester plush on one side and smooth quilted cotton sateen on the other. These blankets are hands-down the family favorite.
Our pick
This fluffy, quilted plush throw is super-warm, can take a beating, and is the favorite of our picks with kids and pets.
The Plush-Loft debuted in fall of 2015, from a company that makes bedding that we test all the time at Wirecutter (Garnet Hill makes durable pillows and classic-looking sheets and towels, but their blankets are consistently some of the best that we test).
Since the Plush-Loft’s launch, a Garnet Hill representative told us, “It has always ranked in our top three blankets.” The Plush-Loft was designed to have a weight somewhere between a lofty comforter and a more-traditional blanket, which it achieves because it has a layer of polyester (thin but dense, to help trap air) sandwiched between a shell of smooth cotton sateen on one side and polyester plush (like a stuffed animal) on the other.
I started testing the bed-size Plush-Loft blanket in early 2018, and I’ve bought several more since. So have many other Wirecutter staffers, including one senior editor who bought the Plush-Loft for her two sons to get through Maine winters.
