Review on Swiss Army Reproduction Wool Blanket by Janet Brown

Very disappointed with this blanket. I actually bought two - one for me and one for my sister. Our other sister and son-in-law live in Zurich and on the edge of their guest bed is an original from his time in the Swiss army. There's nothing quite like napping under a warm blanket after a long flight to snowy Switzerland. I thought it would be a fun keepsake and that's some rubbish. I expected it to smell and be hard as a rock, but it exceeded all of my expectations. I actually aired mine for a few days and tried a fabric freshener spray to see if the smell would dissipate. Vain. After all, I've washed mine a few times with a heavily scented detergent and it's still not quite right. I washed it on a gentle cycle in very cold water, but the wash still failed. Yes it says dry cleaning only but I'm Irish and our sheep are in the water all day, they can be washed! It pills horribly and the lint trap had to be emptied every few minutes while the air swelled without heat. The cross is sewn crooked, not woven like the original. Colors will fade even after washing in ice water. In the photo, the cross looks completely white, but has a slightly pink tint. The blanket is also not perfectly square, not a fancy handcrafted variant, but mass-produced with poor quality. However, it doesn't fold well as the corners don't line up, and it ends up looking weird when draped over a chair. It's still a sweet reminder of my family 5000 miles away, but I won't be using it for anything other than props and I'm a bit embarrassed that I gifted something that smells and looks lousy. I would buy authentic vintage models for over $100+ for two of them.