Is Rice Or Wheat Better For Heat Packs?

There are so many options for heating pads out there right now.

It is hard to determine which one is really the best for you.

In this article, we are going to cover the differences between a rice of wheat heating pack.

According to our research, rice is better for your heating pack because it keeps the heat better, the overall smell is better, and the heating pad can conform to your body a lot better.

Read on to find out more what our research told us and why we actually prefer LavaBag heating pad over either of these options.

Why rice or wheat instead of electric?

The first question you might ask yourself is why would you want rice or wheat heating packs in the first place?  Why not get an electric heating pack instead?

Well, electric heating packs have a few things you need to worry about.

They don't turn off unless you specifically turn them off.

You plug in the electric heating pad and then if you fall asleep with it on, it will stay on until you wake up and turn it off.

This could lead to you getting overheated or getting a really bad rash.

It could also lead to starting a fire in your house if not monitored well enough.

Heating packs with food for fillers will not have the same problems.

One of the biggest complaints about these heating packs are also one of the greatest benefits.

These heating packs will eventually lose their heat, which means that you don't have to worry as much about rashes and don't have to worry at all about starting a fire (unless you keep it in the microwave for too long, so please don't do that).

So while it might not stay hot enough while you are trying to recover from an injury, at least it won't stay too hot to hurt you in other ways.

Keeping the heat

As mentioned above, one of the biggest concerns about having a heating pad is how long it is going to stay hot.  On the flip side, people want it to stay cold for awhile as well, depending on what exactly you are trying to use it for.

So you want a heating pad that is going to stay hot for awhile, but not enough that it is going to hurt anyone.

Most non-electric heating pads you will find on the market are going to be rice heating pads.

This is because the rice is pretty good at keeping the heat.

When heated for up to 3 minutes, a rice heating pad will keep the heat for over 25-30 minutes.

Not only that, but the rice will give you moist heat as well.

Moist heat is very beneficial because it provides a deeper penetration into the tissue than dry heat.

This means that it is going to provide a better healing to your muscles than dry heat.

It also has the ability to change the tissue temperature more rapidly, which helps your tissues to heal quicker.

The moist heat also increases blood flow to the area, which takes away the waste from the area and allows for greater pain relief.

A dry heat doesn't give you the same benefits as a moist heat, so it is better that you stick with the moist heat.

The wheat will heat up in 3 minutes for 20-25 minutes on time for heat on your body.

But the wheat is most likely to give you a dry heat, so it isn't going to be as beneficial as what the rice moist heat is going to give you.

Smell is better with rice

The next thing you might worry about with your heating pad is the smell.

This is because you are stuck with the smell of the heating pad while you are using it.

With food fillers, you aren't going to find many great options.

Food fillers are eventually going to rot and go bad.

Just try opening up one of your rice or wheat heating pads after you've used them for a few or two and see how the rice or wheat has held up.

Overall, the smell with the rice heating pad is a little bit better then wheat.

You can add things to your heating to help with the smell with the rice.

If you are willing to open up your heating pad, you can add some lavender leaves or essential oils to the heating pad to give it a nice smell.

The essential oils will be absorbed by the rice and then will release the smell whenever the heating pad is heated up.

The rice will do it a little bit better than the wheat will.

But be careful with whatever you add to your heating pad.

Those smells could be used to cover up other smells that the heating pad is giving off.

If the rice or wheat in the heating pad are burned or rotten, the lavender and essential oils are going to cover up the smell of this.

And rotten or burned rice and wheat are not going to keep heat as well as brand new rice or wheat.

Conformity

One of the last concerns you might have with heating pads is whether or not they are going to conform to your body.

If you can't get the heating pad to get the right shape, you might not be able to heal the parts of your body that you need to.

For example, if you want to apply the heat to your ankle after you've played a game of basketball, you will want the heating pad to lay flat on your ankle.

Or, if you have a cramp in the side of your body, you'll want to lay on your side and then place the heating pad on your wide to relieve the pain.

With rice and wheat, you aren't going to see a huge difference between the two.

But there will be a minor difference.

The rice and wheat grains are small enough that the difference is going to be quite negligible.

Because of the other reasons that a rice heating pad is better, the rice will win out on this one as well.

Washable

We didn't cover these before, but I thought it would be important it briefly here.

Sometimes when you are using your heating, you get some food or something else on it.

Then you feel like you need to wash it to get the food off.

With a rice or wheat heating pad, this isn't easy.

For most rice or wheat heating pads, you'll need to do a spot clean instead of an all out clean of the cleaning pad.

So you'll get a wet wash clothe or some wet wipes and spot clean the messes away.

This might not be the preferred method to clean the heating pads, but it is the best way without ruining the heating pad.

Why LavaBags are the best

In this article we've covered why a rice heating pad is better than a wheat heating pad.

And I think we came up with some pretty good evidence as to why the rice heating pad is the better one.

But in our opinion, the LavaBag heating pad are the best of all of them.

First off, you can heat up a LavaBag heating pad for up to 3 or 4 minutes and that will give you anywhere between 30 to 45 minutes of heating time.

This is more than the rice or wheat heating pads will give you.

Also, you don't have to worry about overheating your LavaBag heating pad.

You could warm it up in the microwave for 10 minutes and though it won't give you more heat time, it also won't ruin the filler.

If you were to heat up a rice or wheat heating pad for more than 4 minutes, you would burn the filler on the inside.

And because you can't burn the lava sand on the inside of the heating pad, you don't have to worry much about the smell.

You can add essential oils to your LavaBag heating pad and then get that smell each time you heat it up.

The LavaBag heating pad is also fully washable.  You can wash it in the sink with soap and water or put it in your dishwasher and let a cycle run.

Afterwards, you can throw it in the oven at 200 degrees and leave it in there for a few hours until it is completely dry.

Lastly, the LavaBag also does well conforming to your body as needed.

So wherever you need to place the LavaBag, it will conform to your body.

Overall, the LavaBag heating pad is better than both rice and wheat heating pads.

Summary

Overall, rice heating pads are a good option for your heating needs.

They are going to retain heat well, they conform to your body as needed and they smell a lot better than wheat heating pads.

We prefer the LavaBag heating pad, as it will do better in all of these things.