Homemade Heating Pad with Rice (make in minutes for less than $2)

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It’s always handy to have a homemade heating pad with rice around in your home, you can use it for; muscle aches, backaches, soreness, menstrual cramps or even to warm up your bed!

With this homemade heating pad I’ve been able to avoid using pain medication. The heat helps relieve pain by stimulating and interrupting the sensory nerve fibers that signal pain to the brain. Heat is very effective and you can feel a difference in just minutes. An added benefit of applying heat is that it helps speed up healing by increasing the flow of blood to the area.

Easy and cheap to make

The great thing about making your own homemade heating pad with rice is it is very inexpensive! Way cheaper than buying an electric or other types of heating pads. I had the extra piece of fabric lying around my house, so the only thing I had to buy was the bag of rice. The total cost was less than 2 dollars! Even if you don’t have a piece of fabric, you can pick up 1/2 a yard for under 50 cents at a local store or even use an old t-shirt, sheet or pillowcase.

The best part is this homemade heating pad is reusable for as many times as you need it! I made this one in the green Hawaiian pattern, just for this post and to have another on hand. But, I also have one I made about 6 months ago sitting my closet that I still use and it works just as good as when I made it.

Benefits of a Homemade Heating Pad with Rice

Before I made my first homemade heating pad, the only other kind of heating pad I had around my house was an electric one that I got as a gift. I used it occasionally as needed, but was always concerned about it producing radiation, even low levels. Sometimes when I was tired, I also worried that I would fall asleep with the electric heating pad on.

Also, another great advantage to making your own homemade heating pad is that you can make it any size and shape you want! I made mine a long rectangular shape because I most often use it on my abdomen for cramps. Since you can make it any size you want, they are also easy to take with you on a trip.

How to make a Homemade Heating Pad with Rice:

What you need:

• Piece of cloth (about 12inches by 12inches or any size you prefer)
• 1 Bag of rice
• Thread & needle

Directions:

1. Cut a piece of cloth/fabric to your desired size and fold it in half inside out, lining up the edges.

2. Sew two sides of the fabric together and leave the remaining side open.

3. Pour in the rice. I usually fill it about 3/4’s the way full with rice.

4. Sew the remaining open side.
5. You’re all done! Put it in your microwave for a minute or two.
*If you don’t have a microwave, I’ve read that some heat it in their crock pot, rice cooker, or in the oven inside of a pan with a lid. (I haven’t tried heating it these ways, yet)

Quicker DIY Homemade Heating Pad

If you don’t want to sew a heating pad you can make one to use in just minutes with this method.

What you Need:

• Sock
• Rice
• String/ribbon to tie top of sock with

Directions:

1. Take a sock and fill it about 3/4’s with rice.

2. Tie the top of the sock with a string or ribbon to prevent the rice from falling out.

3. That’s it! Just heat in microwave.

Here’s how the homemade heating pads with rice look when they’re done: