Years ago, I tried a heating pad for bad neck pain. I was fascinated by it because it was not the classic heating pad, but a completely natural one made only of cherry pits. I talked about it with my mother and this year, thanks also to the excellent year for the cultivation of cherries, the “DIY cherry pit heating pad” project started. To be completely honest, most of the work was done by my mother who pitted the cherries, cleaned and toasted the pits… practically all the work, hehe! In this post, I will show you how to make a 100% natural cherry pit heating pillow at home! This is a fantastic zero waste project, even cherry pits can be used to create something unique and ecological! Discover others here.
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Gabi
Cherry pit heating pad | neck pillow pain relief
The cherry pit heating pad can be used hot or cold thanks to the great versatility of cherry pits. The wood that makes up the pits is an excellent thermal conductor that allows the gradual release of heat over time. When heated, it is a perfect natural remedy to relax after a tiring day, to relieve cervical or muscle stiffening pain. Used cold is, instead, ideal to relieve pain due to bruises, sprains, and insect bites.
DIY Cherry Pit heating pad: How to Prepare Your Own heating Pillow
This is the best time to create your own thermal pad due to the availability of cherries for sale. This will give you time to enjoy this delicious fruit and arrive prepared for next autumn with your thermal pad ready to use. To prepare your DIY heating pad you’ll need cherries, of course. My mother stoned 8kg (282.2 Oz) of cherries to get 500g (17.637Oz) of pits. If you have to use such a large quantity of cherries you can also take advantage and make jam with the pulp obtained. However, stoning cherries can be a long process, if you don’t use appropriate tools. For example, my mother used a (convenient and affordable) cherry stoning machine which speeded up the process considerably.
DIY Cherry pit heating pad: Tips and Tricks
The step that requires the most effort is certainly cleaning the pits. Removing the pulp is the key step. It is important that the kernels are perfectly clean and have no pulp residue to prevent the formation of mould. To clean them in the best possible way, my mother tried everything. In the end, one method turned out to be the best. The trick was to use two microfibre cloths (like these). She laid the cherry pits between the two microfiber cloths and then rubbed them by moving them repeatedly. In this way, the microfiber tears the pulp residue from the pits. An effective time-saving trick. At this point, the kernels are toasted in the oven to remove water and moisture and finally put into a cushion of your preferred size.
My mother put the cherry pits in a cotton pillowcase, sewing all the edges. Then she created a second one (in the picture is the one with the checked pattern) in which she inserted the pillow with the cherry pits. In this way, it will be possible to wash the outermost pillowcase when necessary, without having to empty and removing the pits every time.
DIY Cherry pit heating pad: How to use it?
As already mentioned, the heating pad can be used hot or cold as required. But how to use it? It can be heated in the oven at 150C (302 F) for 5 minutes or in the microwave at 500W for 3 minutes. Used cold, it has to be left in the freezer for 4 hours possibly in a bag so that it doesn’t get wet.
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Conclusion
You don’t have enough time or only the possibility to prepare it? No problem, it is easily found online at reasonable prices. Here are some examples.
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Gabi