Supposedly, if you have a red blanket in a sealed plastic wrapper, it is considered freshly laundered. I still wouldn't use it on or around my face.

The ones not in plastic, just refolded and jammed in the seatback pockets after a few flights on any given day, are disgusting. There have been reports of pax blowing their noses in those red blankets. Don't go near them unless they are in sealed plastic. I've gotten so I don't even sit on the blankets to even out the seat padding (which is awful on the S80, in my opinion) unless they were sealed when I received them.


Same goes for the duvets on 767/777 equipment. If the duvets were just refolded and placed on the seats, as often is the case for flights returning FROM Europe/South Am to the USA, I don't use them except to prop up my legs on the NGBC footrest a bit higher.

As far as pillows, what I often do is to wrap my pillow in linen napkins or tablecloths (I save them from my meal setup trays) so that my head/face are not touching the used pillowcase. Of course, if I open the plastic wrap myself, then this precaution is not necessary.