BSMAT Heated Shawl Wrap, 60 x 32 Inch Portable Electric Poncho Blanket with Adjustable Warmth, Soft Fleece Wearable Throw for Home Office or Travel, Wine Red

Some rooms are cold in a way a jumper does not fix: a desk by a window, a sofa before the heating comes on, a seat in a caravan on a wet morning. This heated shawl is shaped like a poncho, so it drapes over the shoulders and falls down the back and arms instead of sliding off the way a flat blanket does. Once it is around you, both hands stay free for a keyboard, a book or a cup of tea.

The warmth is spread through the shawl rather than concentrated in one pad, so the heat arrives across the shoulders and upper back where a chill is felt first. The control is set into the fabric at the front, within reach without taking the wrap off, and the setting can be changed from a light glow on a mild evening to the higher setting for a cold room. Because the poncho wraps rather than covers, the Wine Red shade reads as a piece of clothing rather than a piece of bedding left on a chair.

At about 60 x 32 inch it is long enough to cover the arms and to tuck under at the front when you sit down, and it weighs very little, so it does not press on the shoulders during a long afternoon. The fleece face is soft against the neck and does not crackle or stiffen, and the fabric is thin enough to wear under a coat for a walk or a cold wait on a platform.

Use it at a home desk, on a sofa, in a campervan, in a garden chair on a cool evening or as a warm layer for a guest who feels the cold. It folds down to about the size of a folded jumper and packs into a bag or a car boot without taking up the room a conventional blanket needs.

Care is straightforward. Remove the control before cleaning, wipe the surface with a damp cloth or wash on a gentle cycle according to the care label, and dry flat away from direct heat. Do not bleach, do not iron the fleece face and do not use the shawl folded tightly around the control.