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Are airline blankets sealed in plastic really clean?

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Are airline blankets sealed in plastic really clean?

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Old Jul 18, 2010 | 10:45 am
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Are airline blankets sealed in plastic really clean?

We have been in MD80 First via sticker upgrades a couple of times in the past week and I would have liked to use the red blanket, which was in plastic, but I didn't know whether that means they are clean. Can anyone verify that?

Thanks!
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Old Jul 18, 2010 | 12:20 pm
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Old Jul 18, 2010 | 12:33 pm
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Define

"Clean"

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Old Jul 18, 2010 | 12:38 pm
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I flew BOS-ORD on Wednesday and used one of the sealed, red blankets. It seemed clean, except for long, female hair on the blanket...(I'm a guy).

Matt
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Old Jul 18, 2010 | 12:45 pm
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Originally Posted by MGW2000
I flew BOS-ORD on Wednesday and used one of the sealed, red blankets. It seemed clean, except for long, female hair on the blanket...(I'm a guy).

Matt
Yeah, I also find hair on mine. Maybe the hair is cleaned?
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Old Jul 18, 2010 | 12:58 pm
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Originally Posted by MGW2000
I flew BOS-ORD on Wednesday and used one of the sealed, red blankets. It seemed clean, except for long, female hair on the blanket...(I'm a guy).

Matt
New rationale for an inexplicable hair or liptick mark after returning from a business trip- "I don't know, it might have come from the blanket on the plane."

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Old Jul 18, 2010 | 1:00 pm
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It's probably been cleaned more recently than the seat you're sitting on, or the overhead bin you might put your jacket in, if that's any encouragement.
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Old Jul 18, 2010 | 1:26 pm
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Originally Posted by MGW2000
I flew BOS-ORD on Wednesday and used one of the sealed, red blankets. It seemed clean, except for long, female hair on the blanket...(I'm a guy).

Matt
I'm just curious: how can you tell that a hair is female?
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Old Jul 18, 2010 | 1:30 pm
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Originally Posted by stheller
I'm just curious: how can you tell that a hair is female?
Several answers come to mind...not of which I can write here...

Cheers.
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Old Jul 18, 2010 | 1:32 pm
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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.
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Old Jul 18, 2010 | 1:41 pm
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It's probably cleaner than one that's not wrapped in plastic; which of course is not necessarily all that clean.

I don't usually worry about the blankets; if I'm cold, I use one. I'm so not a germaphobe though. My desk at the office is very possibly dirtier than the AA blankets. (Not that I'm a huge slob, but according to research, women's desks tend to be germy because we're apt to have snacks and makeup lying around).
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Old Jul 19, 2010 | 12:53 am
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Originally Posted by stheller
I'm just curious: how can you tell that a hair is female?
DNA testing.
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Old Jul 19, 2010 | 12:57 am
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Originally Posted by ESpen36
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.
How on earth did you cope with a Wooly Mammoth Seat.
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Old Jul 19, 2010 | 7:17 am
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I had one the other day (wrapped in plastic) that had some weird looking yellow in it. I will wrap by lower half (clothed) part with the blanet but that is about it. Most of those duvets have a really strange smell to them (like a mix of Clorox and cheap air freshner), probably too much laundering.
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Old Jul 19, 2010 | 8:07 am
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I once found dried up 'creamy' coloured baby sick on one once. I was not happy.
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