It's a good thing Sew4Home doesn't feature any audio feeds or you'd have to put up with me singing Katy Perry's Hot N Cold while you read this article. Lucky for you ... and most of the planet, we'll skip the singing and instead concentrate on a few facts about the available thermal material options for home décor.

There are quite a few home décor projects that call for insulating fabrics to keep hot stuff hot and cold stuff cold, such as: pot holders and oven mitts, table pads, lunch carriers, shopping totes, ironing board pads, outdoor stadium cushions, tea cozies, and lots of other things that have slipped my mind I'm sure.

Thermal Batting

Insul-Bright

The most versatile material we found is Insul-Bright from The Warm Company, which describes its manufacture as: 'consisting of hollow, polyester fibers needle-punched through a nonwoven substrate and through a reflective metalized poly film. The needled material is breathable and won't break down with washing. The hollow fibers resist conduction while the reflective metalized poly film resists radiant energy. The energy, hot or cold, is reflected back to its source.'

Insul-Bright is machine washable, easy to cut to size, and apart from being just a bit slippery, is quite nice to work with. Most sources offer it by the yard in 22" and 45" widths, and a few outlets offer 36" x 45" pre-cuts. Because there is a metallic component, you can not use Insul-Bright in the microwave.

Even though we've listed this material in the 'batting' category, The Warm Company does suggest you layer Insul-Bright with a standard cotton batting if you are using it for a high-heat application.

A number of sources offer Insul-Bright online, including Jo-Ann and Fabric.com. It's also readily available at many local fabric and craft stores.

Thermal Fabric

Iron Quick

Iron Quick is a specialty fabric made of 100% aluminum with 100% cotton backing. It's designed to protect from heat, but does not have any insulating properties. Sold by the yard, it's 45" wide and machine washable.

When you need insulating and well as heat protection, Iron Quick also comes as a quilted material. This is simply the regular Iron Quick fabric with polyester batting sandwiched in between. It is only 42" wide.

Neither Iron Quick products can be used in the microwave.

Nancy's Notions carries both types of Iron Quick products by the yard.

Therma Flec

Therma Flec is a lightweight, heat resistant cloth similar to the Iron Quick. It is scorch-proof to 390˚, but like the Iron Quick cloth, does not provide insulation. You would need to use it in combination with a heavy cotton batting for items such as hot pads, oven mitts or ironing board pads. Two colors are available, silver and light gold, in 44" width. Again, don't put this product in the microwave.

We found Therma Flec several places online on huge bolts, which is a little ridiculous unless you're going into the oven mitt business. But Craft & Fabric Links, an online-only source, offers it by the yard.

Thermal Interfacing

Thermolam

Pellon makes a 100% polyester interfacing called Thermolam, which is a needle-punched, sew-in fleece with a protective scrim that can provide some warmth. It's available by the yard at a 45" width and is machine washable. It's considered a heavy-weight in the general world of interfacing, however, it doesn't have any loft, so it isn't a choice for projects that call for true insulating and/or padded properties.

There's no microwave warning for this fabric, but then again, I couldn't find anything that said it was okay to use either. Maybe you should just forget the microwave, huh?

Fabric.com offers a good price on Thermolam by the yard.

Comments (14)

Liz Johnson, Editor, Sew4Home said:

... @ K-koira - You are referring to this pet bed tutorial, correct? http://sew4home.com/projects/pillows-cushions/506-nature-brights-kitchen-pet-mat Our S4H team makes all our own samples, so yes, we designed and made this bed. However, it is quite different than the bed you are describing - so you'd need to adapt it to best fit your needs. As I mentioned, I think the Insul-Bright would work for what you want to do, but I've never tried it, so don't consider myself the definitive expert. Regarding right versus wrong side on the Insul-Bright, I don't have a piece in front of me at this very moment, but I believe one side is kind of sparkly and the other side is plain. The sparkly side is the "shiny side" - or the reflective side. You can also carefully peel apart the layers at one corner to help you see at well.

November 19, 2011

Cat-beds said:

... K-koira Have you made your cat bed? I am looking into the exact same thing. My beds are basically a layer of polyester batting inbetween the fleece, so now a friend asked me to try and recreate the reflective beds avl via retail. I'm not sure if the Insul-Bright has a right or wrong side (the instructions with the fabric says there is, but I see no difference in shininess that supposedly determines right side). So I was wondering if you made it and whether it's working the way you thought it would. I would just add the layer of Insul-Bright to my 3 original layers, so not sure which side would be the most effective side.

November 18, 2011

Liz Johnson, Editor, Sew4Home said:

... @ moore0530 - we just so happen to have a lunch bag tutorial on the site and we did use the Insul-Bright, sandwiching it between a layer of laminated cotton for the exterior and PUL for the interior. Here is the project: http://sew4home.com/projects/storage-solutions/960-an-insulated-a-laminated-lunch-bag-goes-back-to-school

November 16, 2011

moore0530 said:

... Just wondering if this would be used for lining a lunch bag? Thinking about making each of the kids their own or lining the one they already have

November 16, 2011

Liz Johnson, Editor, Sew4Home said:

... @ Linda C - as I mention in the review above, I couldn't find a "no-microwave" warning on the Thermolam, but neither could I find anything that said "okay to use" -- I'd err on the safe side and say no microwave. Have you seen Warm & Natural's product made just for this? It's called "Warm Tater". Fabric.com carries it: http://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=942b95ce-fb72-43ed-aaa4-85bc7367aac1

November 08, 2011

Linda C said:

... can you use thermolam in the construction of potato bags for the microwave?

November 07, 2011

k-koira said:

... Thanks, Liz. I picked up some of the Insul-Bright at the local sports fabric shop (super lucky to have an outdoors related sewing and fabric store right here in town, with awesome high quality stuff available). I'm going to do the sewing tomorrow, sandwiching the piece between some fleece, then let the cat try it out. I'll report back on how she likes it!

October 29, 2011

Liz Johnson, Editor, Sew4Home said:

... @ k-koira -- wow, you got me on that one. I haven't seen the beds you describe, but the properties you describe sound the closet to what you might get from the Insul-Bright. It is a washable product, so you could certainly sandwich it between fleece. I'm always one to vote for trying to make it yourself before buying

October 28, 2011

k-koira said:

... Hey, I might be a bit late to the party for commenting, but have a question and figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. I want to make a cat bed that reflects back the cat's own body heat to help keep them warmer. A number of commercial sites now sell beds with a thermo-reflective material inside them that increases the heat, making it an electricity free, heated bed. Would any of these fabrics work for that? Which would be recommended? Would it work if inside of a fleece cover (so it is comfy and can be washed)? Or do I need to give up and buy the specialty cat bed instead of making one myself?

October 28, 2011

alicia.thommas said:

... V Willis, Insul-Bright is washable. You can visit their site from the link above to read about it. You don't need to quilt such a small piece; although you can if you like. I wouldn't use bleach on Insul-Bright. When I wash pot holders, I use cool or warm water and a more gentle cycle. They'll last longer and come out looking better. We've use Insul-Bright for many, many projects without a problem. I'm not sure what happened in your crafter-friend's experience, but it I'm unaware of any problem like that.

September 03, 2011

V Willis said:

... I plan on making some two-handed pot holders for gifts and wonder if it is necessary to quilt the pot holder after it is sewn? Or should I just quilt the batting and Insul-Bright? A crafter I know told me the Insul-Bright will come apart when washed even though blogs I have read don't indicate that it will seperate. Thanks

September 03, 2011

Liz Johnson, Editor, Sew4Home said:

... The aluminum side is designed go towards the heat source as it reflects the heat, for example the inside of an oven mitt. I guess in the case of a cozy the heat source would be the tea pot itself. So, toward the tea pot

February 24, 2011

carol acharya said:

... when making a tea cozy ...is the Iron Quick alum. installed with alum facing toward or away from the tea pot?

February 24, 2011

Toni Cardoso said:

... Thanks for this valuable information.

July 02, 2010

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