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Choosing an Alpaca Blend Throw Blanket, a Practical Buyer's Guide
The problem with being cold indoors in a warm country
It sounds odd until you live it. The weather outside is warm and humid all year, and yet the coldest you feel all week is sitting at your own desk with the air conditioning running. Offices do the same thing. So do cinemas, restaurants and conference rooms. The temperature gets set for whoever runs the building, and the rest of us sit under the vent with cold shoulders and cold hands.
A heavy blanket is more than most people want in a humid room. A thin layer is usually enough to take the edge off a draught. That is the job a lightweight alpaca blend throw blanket is suited to.
The second place this kind of throw is useful is travel. Long flights are cold. So are trips to countries where the weather is cool. A throw that folds flat into a carry-on bag covers both with one purchase.
What an alpaca blend actually is
This throw is 50% alpaca and 50% acrylic, as the maker states. That is the first thing to understand before you buy, because the word alpaca gets used loosely.
Alpaca fibre comes from the alpaca, a relative of the llama farmed across the Andes. The maker describes this blanket as soft, lightweight and breathable, and says it is designed not to itch.
Acrylic is a synthetic fibre. Here it makes up half of the yarn, so half of what you are buying is not alpaca.
So a 50/50 blend is a trade. You are not getting pure alpaca, and the product should not be judged as if it were. For a piece that is going to live on a sofa and travel in a bag, a blend is a reasonable choice. If you want pure alpaca, buy pure alpaca.
Size, and why 216 x 165 cm matters
The throw measures roughly 216 x 165 cm, or about 85 by 65 inches. The maker calls this a queen-size throw.
That width is the number to pay attention to. At 165 cm across, two adults can sit under it on a sofa without a tug of war. Most smaller throws sit around 120 to 130 cm wide, which is a one-person blanket no matter how it is advertised. If you have ever shared a throw and ended up with a cold arm, you already know the difference.
On a bed, spread flat it covers the top of a double or queen mattress. It is not a bedspread and will not hang far down the sides, but folded in thirds across the foot of the bed it looks intentional and gives you an easy extra layer to pull up at night.
Because it is handmade, the finished size will vary slightly from piece to piece. A few centimetres either way is normal.
Weight and thickness
The maker gives the thickness as 2 mm and the approximate weight as 750 g, and describes the fabric warmth as lightweight. This is a thin throw.
Treat it as a layer, not a duvet. It suits a room with the air conditioning on, an aircraft cabin, or an early morning in a cooler country.
The maker describes the fabric as breathable. The other upside of thin is that it packs. Folded down it takes up little room in a bag, which is why a lightweight throw travels well.
The look
The maker calls the colourway White Blue Variegated. The photos show a white ground with bands of narrow stripes in turquoise, blue-grey, orange, red and tan, and a brown stitched edge. There is also a small brown patch with the maker's mark near one corner. The overall style sits in bohemian territory, relaxed rather than formal.
Practically, this is an easy pattern to live with. It works against neutral sofas, white bedding, pale timber and grey. If your furniture is already busy, a throw like this can still work as long as the other pattern is a different scale.
Handmade production means colour and stripe spacing vary a little between pieces. That is not a defect, it is how the item is made, and it is the same reason no two pieces look exactly alike.
How to choose between this and the alternatives
A few plain comparisons.
Against a pure alpaca throw: this is a blend, half alpaca and half acrylic. If the fibre content is what you care about most, pure alpaca is the other product to look at.
Against a cashmere wrap: a wrap is a personal item for wearing around the shoulders. This throw is a household one, big enough for a sofa or a bed.
Against a cotton throw: cotton throws are easy to wash and come in every colour. Choose on feel and on whether you want alpaca in the mix.
Against a fleece throw: fleece is fully synthetic. This throw is half alpaca and, as the maker states, made by hand in Ecuador.
Looking after it
Care is simple if you remember one rule, which is that heat and agitation are the enemies of blended wool fibres.
Hand wash in cool water with a mild wool-safe detergent, or use a delicate machine cycle. Do not wring or twist it, because that can distort the fabric. Press the water out gently, reshape it while it is damp, and dry it flat and out of direct sunlight. The maker also gives dry cleaning as an option, which is reasonable if you would rather not handle a large wet throw at home.
Skip the tumble dryer entirely. Heat causes shrinkage and matting, and once a blended wool fabric has matted there is no fixing it.
Between washes, airing does most of the work. Hang the throw somewhere with moving air for a few hours and it freshens up. An occasional wash is plenty for normal use.
If small pills appear where the fabric rubs against a sofa arm, a fabric comb or a gentle shaver removes them in a few minutes. This is common on any soft fabric.
For storage, fold it into a breathable cotton bag or leave it on an open shelf. Avoid sealed plastic in a humid climate, because trapped moisture against natural fibre is how problems start.
Who it suits
This is a good buy if you work in a cold office, if you sit under the air conditioning at home in the evenings, if you fly regularly, or if you travel to cooler countries and want one piece that handles the plane and the hotel room.
It is also an easy gift. There is no sizing to get wrong, the pattern is easy to live with, and the handmade story gives it something to talk about.
It is a poor fit if you want a true bedspread, if you need deep cold-weather warmth, or if your heart is set on pure alpaca.
The short version
A large handmade throw at roughly 216 x 165 cm, made from 50% alpaca and 50% acrylic. Thin and light enough to pack, in a white ground with bands of coloured stripes. It is a blend, not pure alpaca. Wash it gently, dry it flat, and keep it for cold rooms and cold flights.