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Wash and dry the blanket fully, fold it into a tight rectangle, seal it in a plastic bag, and pack it in a box that fits without forcing the flaps shut. A blanket ships best when it cannot shift, cannot get wet, and is not crushed flat. Weigh the packed box before labelling, since a heavy wool blanket can surprise you.
Vacuum sealing saves a lot of space, and for a sturdy cotton or fleece blanket it is usually fine. It is a poor choice for down-filled blankets and for thick wool, though. Down clumps when it is compressed hard for days, and it needs time and shaking to loft again. Wool can hold a crease from a tight vacuum seal, and a crease pressed into wool for a week in transit may not fully relax.
A safer middle path is a compression bag that you roll to push air out by hand, rather than a vacuum-sealed bag pulled flat. You still cut the volume roughly in half, but the blanket is not crushed to a board. Whatever bag you use, seal it well: a blanket is one of the worst things to receive damp, because a wet blanket in a closed box starts to smell within a day.
Fold the blanket in half lengthwise, then in half again, then fold the long strip into a rectangle close to the size of your box. Rolling works too, and a rolled blanket fills a tall box well, but a folded rectangle stacks better if you are shipping more than one item. Either way, smooth each fold as you go so you are not trapping a thick wad of air in the middle, which is what makes a folded blanket spring open the moment you let go.
Choose the box around the folded blanket, not the other way around. A box much larger than the blanket lets it slide and unfold in transit, and loose packing material will work its way into the folds. Fill only the small gaps with crumpled paper. If the blanket is a gift, a paper band or a simple note on top of the bag reads better than wrapping the blanket itself in tissue that tears and sheds.
| Blanket type | Best method | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Fleece or cotton | Fold, bag, box | Vacuum sealing is fine but not required |
| Wool | Fold loosely, bag, box | Hard vacuum seals and tight compression |
| Down-filled | Roll gently, bag, box | Crushing flat for days |
| Weighted blanket | Fold, double-box if needed | A single-wall box; check the weight limit |
Weight is the real constraint with blankets. A weighted blanket can weigh several times what a fleece throw weighs, and the box, bag, and packing add more. Weigh the finished parcel on a bathroom scale if you have no parcel scale: weigh yourself holding it, then weigh yourself alone, and subtract. If the total is over 5 kg, a LetterAgent Xpresspost label will not cover it, so split the shipment or use a service rated for heavier parcels.
For any heavy blanket, use a double-wall box or reinforce a single-wall box with extra tape along the bottom seams in an H pattern. Tape fails under a heavy, shifting load before cardboard does, and a bottom blowout is the most common heavy-parcel failure. Carry the box from the bottom, not by the tape or a handle, and mark nothing on the outside about the contents beyond what the carrier requires.
Ask your AI assistant for a Canada Post Xpresspost shipping label through LetterAgent, approve the exact quoted price, and print the label PDF. LetterAgent labels are Canada-only, flat-rate Xpresspost, and cover parcels up to 5 kg. If the parcel is headed outside Canada, LetterAgent cannot provide the label, so use a carrier that serves that destination directly. Put the label flat on the largest side of the box, clear of seams, and photograph the sealed parcel before drop-off. That covers most throws and fleece blankets, but check a weighted or king-size wool blanket before you ask for the quote.
Ready to ship it? Get a shipping label with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and get your label.
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