Aeyla’s Mela weighted blanket is a tonic for restless nights

Aeyla recommends choosing a weighted blanket that’s around 10 per cent of your body weight. Helpfully, the brand offers four different options (4kg, 5.5kg, 7kg and 9kg) as well as three sizes (single, double and king), making it easy to find the right blanket for you (take a look at the full range of sizes and weights at Aeyla.co.uk).

As well as giving a portion of sales to charity, the brand offers a 30-day trial, so, if you don’t get on with the blanket, you can return it for free (some unwanted blankets are donated to homeless charities). In terms of cost, Aeyla’s offer is cheaper than Simba’s pricey orbit blanket but a bit more than budget options such as those offered by Silentnight.

Design and features

Arriving neatly in a box, the removable cover and inner blanket come packed separately. You attach the two by tying the blanket to loops inside the cover, which is a little fiddly and time-consuming. However, once complete, we saw the benefits of such a system, as the blanket was securely prevented from bunching up, and remained flat despite the weight. There was also a useful brochure that gave us tips on how to get a better night’s slumber.

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The inner blanket is composed of anti-rustle glass pellets (a popular hypoallergenic material), which give the blanket weight and helps mould it to your shape. The pellets are evenly placed in fixed positions throughout the blanket, so the weight is distributed smoothly. The blanket’s 100 per cent cotton shell is designed to be extra breathable, too, allowing for plenty of airflow.

Some weighted blankets don’t come with a cover, making them harder to wash, but Aeyla’s has a handy removable layer that can go in the machine. One side of it is made from cotton and the other from soft, recycled polyester. This textured side has an almost velvet feel to it. Our only qualm is the aesthetic – some might not like the silvery-grey hue that has the potential to look a little plain and dull against your decor.

Comfort and performance

When it came to trying the blanket out in bed, we weren’t disappointed. Moulding to the contours of our body, we immediately felt cocooned by it. The pressure from the glass pellets gave us the feeling of sinking deeper into the mattress, and, while it took some getting used to, by the second week we felt a noticeable difference. We found we woke up fewer times throughout the night and felt more secure, relaxed and calm when nodding off. The blanket also proved to be a comforting godsend during a hungover sofa day.

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Of course, if you’re not the biggest fan of hugs, the blanket might not have the desired effect. We felt cuddled (verging on swaddled), and truly comforted. When our partner tried it out, however, they didn’t like the feeling of being so enveloped.

We also had no complaints about the glass-pellet design, which kept the blanket in shape and flat throughout the night with no bunching up. The fixed distribution meant the blanket’s weight spread completely evenly over our body.

Trying out the blanket both under and without our duvet, it does get a little hot when sleeping with the two layers during the warmer months. However, come winter, it’s a stellar way to get cosy and stay warm at night. We’ve even forgone turning on the central heating some evenings, thanks to Aeyla’s insulating layer.

During warmer nights, we slept with it as a single layer and benefited from its cooling design. There’s also a chill eucalyptus cover, made with eucalyptus silk and designed specifically for hot sleepers, available on the website.