People are often slightly suspicious of heatable soft toys the first time they meet one. A toy you put in the microwave sounds like something that should not be allowed. Then they try one on a cold evening and become converts within about four minutes.
Here is what is actually going on inside, and — more importantly — how to heat one without ruining it.
What is inside
A Warmies toy is a plush outer shell containing a sealed inner bag filled with two things: millet grain and dried French lavender.
Millet is a small, hard cereal grain. It is used because of a property called thermal mass: dense material absorbs a lot of heat energy and releases it slowly. Water is better still, which is why hot water bottles work, but water leaks and grain does not. Millet gives you most of the heat retention with none of the risk of a seam failing in a child's bed.
The grain also explains the weight. Our 33cm toys weigh around 900g, which is roughly the weight of a bag of sugar. That weight is not incidental — it is why a heated Warmies sits reassuringly across shoulders or on a stomach instead of sliding off.
Dried lavender is there for scent, and it is released by warmth. Lavender is the herb most consistently associated with relaxation and sleep, and whatever you make of the evidence, the practical effect is that a warmed Warmies smells distinctly of lavender for around an hour.
How long to heat one, precisely
This is the part people get wrong, and it matters, because over-heating is the only real way to damage one.
The times depend on the size, which is exactly why we now list both on the same product page rather than leaving you to guess:
- 23cm (Junior): 30 seconds in an 800W microwave, or 20 seconds at 850W and above.
- 33cm: 60 seconds in an 800W microwave, or 45 seconds at 850W and above.
These are the manufacturer's published figures, not ours. If your microwave is more powerful than 850W, err downwards and heat again rather than guessing upwards.
A few rules that come from Warmies themselves:
- Only an adult should do the heating. This is not a task to delegate to a child, however sensible.
- Never exceed the stated time. If it is not warm enough, let it rest for a minute and heat again in short bursts. Cumulative short bursts are safe; one long burst is not.
- Make sure the microwave is clean. Food residue on the turntable can scorch the plush.
- Let it rest for a moment before handing it over, and check the temperature yourself first. It should be comfortably warm, never hot.
Heated properly, a Warmies holds usable warmth for up to an hour, and can be reheated thousands of times.
They work cold, too
This is the feature almost nobody knows about. Put a Warmies in a sealed bag in the freezer for two to three hours and it becomes a cold compress that holds its temperature far better than a bag of peas.
That makes it genuinely useful for a child's bumped head, a sports injury, or a migraine — and considerably less frightening to a small child than an ice pack.
Washing: the rule that catches people out
Warmies are surface washable only. Never put one in a washing machine, and never immerse it in water.
The reason is straightforward: you cannot dry the grain. Water gets into the millet, the millet stays damp, and damp grain in a sealed bag goes mouldy. There is no recovering from it.
To clean one, sponge the outside with a barely damp cloth and a little mild detergent, then let it air dry completely before heating. That is it.
This is the single biggest difference between a heatable toy and an ordinary plush, and it is worth saying out loud when you give one as a gift — especially to a parent who is used to putting everything a child owns through a 40-degree wash.
Keeping the scent
Lavender fades over years, not months. When it eventually does, a few drops of lavender oil on the outside of the plush before warming brings the scent back. Do not open the inner bag.
Who they suit
We stock them from 23cm to 33cm across the heatable range, and they are one of the few toys that genuinely works for every age above three. Children use them at bedtime. Adults use them on sore necks and cold evenings. They are a standard gift for anyone recovering from something, and for anyone who feels the cold more than they used to.
If you are buying a first one, the Warmies Puppy and the Hedgehog are the two we are asked for most, and both come in either size.
One note on age: Warmies state their heatable toys are suitable for all ages, but because heating is involved and the grain filling is a small-parts consideration if a seam were ever breached, we recommend them from age three. That is our position, stated plainly on every product page.
