When it comes to crafting hot pads (or pot holders, depending on what you like to call them) you’ll come to the point of asking yourself: What is the best yarn to use?
What Is The Best Yarn To Use To Make Hot Pads?
Cotton Yarn
Cotton yarn is ideal yarn to use when crocheting hot pads because it won’t melt and can easily wash it in a washing machine.
You want to use a 100% cotton yarn, not a cotton blended yarn. Also, make sure that it does not have a coating on the cotton to make it have a slick or shiny appearance. Lily’s Sugar and Cream or the Peaches and Cream cotton yarns are perfect choices in yarn that meet all these conditions.
However, it’s important to note that no matter what cotton yarn you pick it is flammable and will catch fire if exposed to open flames.
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Best Cotton Yarn for Making Hot Pads and Pot Holders
When I make my hot pads I always use 100% cotton yarns. My preferred choice for yarn brands to make these is either Lily’s Sugar and Cream or Peaches & Cream 100% cotton yarn.
Wool Yarn
Wool yarn is also a good option for making hot pads and potholders. Wool is a naturally flame-resistant fiber (not the superwash wool though). Superwash wool has the potential to be flammable due to the treatments used to make the wool “superwash”
One con of using wool is that it is not as washable as cotton. Machine washing a crochet project that is made with wool can potentially ruin the hot pad/potholder.
Yarns To NOT Use When Making Hot Pads and Pot Holders
Synthetic Fiber Yarn (Acrylic, Plarn, Polyester, Nylon)
Most other types of yarn are not recommended for potholders because they lack flame and heat resistance. Especially synthetic yarns.
Acrylic yarn, polyester yarn, nylon yarn, plarn (plastic bag yarn), and similar synthetic materials will melt when exposed to heat. This is a fire and safety hazard. Also, many of these synthetic yarns are made from a plastic/petroleum source, which could release fumes in the air that can be harmful when applied to high heat.
Blended Yarn
Blended yarns are also not a good choice to use to make anything that comes in contact with heat sources. Since these yarns contain synthetic fibers along with natural fibers, it makes for an unpredictable response to high heat due to the lack of flame and heat resistance in many of these synthetic fibers that are added.
What About Bamboo Yarn?
I don’t recommmend using bamboo yarn to make hot pads or pot holders. A blended yarn with bamboo and cotton is also not recommended. Heat can cause bamboo fibers to shrink and therefore is not a good choice when making hot pads.
