Daft question: Can I microwave polyester toy stuffing?

[NotADragonOfSoup]

I'm making a rice had warmer. It is in the shape of a fat owl and really needs the top stuffed to keep its shape. Will stuffing it with polyester toy/cushion stuffing cause problems when it's microwaved to heat the rice??

I can't make it with a removable rice pad.

Don't know for sure but won't it melt? I would stuff with old bits of cotton fabric shredded up or something.

I'm glad I'm not alone in a) not knowing and b) feeling wary. :)

I may well stuff it with shredded cotton - that's a good idea. I had it set in my head that it needed to be stuffed with stuffing (which is nuts given I stuffed some crochet bear badged with ends of wool - doh!)

Don't know for sure either but am also inclined to think it would melt

I"ve gone with strips of cotton fabric, although at a later date I may try microwaving a piece of stuffing for research purposes!

I think I'd use wool roving or sheep fleece. Even if polyester doesn't melt it might smell 'funny' like that burnt plastic smell if you scorch a man-made fibre with the iron.

Let us know the outcome of your experiment . I don't have a microwave so can the handwarmer be warmed up in an oven? How long does it keep warm? Thinking of DH when he's working outside on a cold day.

I don't know about warming it in the oven - I think it is only practical as it takes 2 minutes in the microwave. It was warm for over 30 minutes so on a par with those clickable gel heat pads.

I have an old microwave waiting to go to the dump so I may microwave some polyester stuffing in that. Or I may just accept that shredded cotton fabric is the way to go! :o

I"ve not got an fleece/roving so that option is out.

No, it will melt/burn, perhaps slowly so is not obvious & will be a fire hazard, - same as if you,over heat a heat pad - you need to stick to cotton based fabrics & stuffing to keep it safe

HTH

PS, Barley is a better filling for heat pads, holds its heat better than rice & is cheaper

Waitrose only had rice :)

I accidentally microwaved the owl on high instead of medium yesterday. It was smoking steaming.

Sorry soup, I was having a brain dead moment & missed it was your thread - doh!!

I've never used rice to make them, so I don't know if there's a difference, but with wheat or barley I always nuke them on high, though they would smoke/steam if I nuked for too long - I had one catch fire once, as I stupidly hit the 10 min button & walked off - it was quite scary as even put in the sink & wet, it still smouldered for hours - I treat them with a lot more respect now, can you imagine if that was in a bed - eek!!

This was only 2 minutes on high. Thankfully it just steamed. Or smoked.

Not sure I'll nuke it again - this one can just sit on the radiator I think!

And I'll see if I can tweak the pattern to make a removable rice pad.

The rice worked fine BTW. The first time I nuked it on a medium setting, as instructed!

I teach textile science. It will melt....

Mind you, it could be steam - rice absorbs moisture from the air, thats why I stick it in my biscuit tin - so in theory it could easily be slightly damp without looking so & would let off steam if heated - @ 2 min on high, I cant see it actually burning -

I've made a lot of these & experimented a lot with time etc, as they were personalised ones for gifts, a lot for kids, so I wanted to be sure they were 100% safe, I found out that heating time does depend on the size, but even the smallest - (aprox 4") denim heart one I made DD is fine at 2 min, so I wouldn't worry too much - my bigger ones are 3 or 4 min on high

I told myself it was steam. But it didn't smell like it :o

Another issue was that it expanded - I guess because steam couldn't escape quickly enough through the fabric and the rice bag was too big for the owl. The owl was very hard when it came out.

In the dim and distant past I once tried to dry a pair of socks in the microwave. There was definite meltage and a touch of flame.

HTH!

Ooo, I wonder if the rice actually puffed up like popcorn does, you know like rice crispies or those puffed rice sweets, that might explain why is was hard ??

I wondered that too but it deflated again!

It is very tempting to open it up and investigate :o