TIL those cheap welding blankets from Harbor Freight aren't worth the savings

Picked up a 6x8 welding blanket for $35 last spring thinking I was being smart. Used it for a repair job on a boiler in August and the thing caught sparks and started smoking after maybe 20 minutes. Had to toss the whole job and buy a real fiberglass blanket from a supply house for $90 the next day. The cheap one was way too thin and the stitching came apart at the edges. Has anyone else dealt with a blanket that just doesn't hold up to real work?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_daniel21d ago

Stick with name brand fiberglass. Harbor Freight stuff is just for drop cloths.

tessap9720d ago

Maybe it's just me but I think a lot of people miss that the cheap ones use a different kind of coating that breaks down from heat, not just the thickness issue. I tested a strip from a Harbor Freight blanket with a lighter once and it melted like plastic in maybe 10 seconds. Real fiberglass blankets have a silicone coating that chars but doesn't really melt or smoke the same way. @the_daniel's point about them being drop cloths is pretty spot on because they literally can't handle the constant high heat from a real welding job. The stitching coming apart is just the frosting on the cake with those things.

cora81320d ago

Small thing but the silicone coating thing isn't quite right. Most real welding blankets use a rubberized coating or a special reflective treatment, not silicone. Silicone can actually break down pretty fast under direct heat too, which is why proper ones use stuff like aluminized fiberglass or a PTFE coating. @the_daniel called it on the drop cloth thing though, the cheap ones don't even have real fire resistance ratings. The Harbor Freight ones straight-up smell like burning plastic within a few seconds of hitting them with a torch, which is a dead giveaway they're not built for actual welding.