Sunbeam XL Back Neck and Shoulder Heat Therapy 12 x 24 with Auto Shut Off 6 Settings Machine-Washable Comfortable Microplush Fabric - Burgundy

I've been a heavy heating pad user for probably a decade now, and I've gone through many which either died or failed to meet my needs for one reason or another. I use the pad for my bad back (or now sometimes my hip or knee), for my cramps (sorry! but it is true) and for my ridiculously cold feet (because oftentimes *just* my feet are cold - unbearably cold - and the pad is the most efficient fix). Like I said, I've gone through a ton of these guys, but so far - a month into ownership and usage - I very much like this one. Here are some reasons why:1. This one is fairly large. There are larger, but this combines other desirable features and this one is good enough for my needs. It gets nearly my whole back when needed, or can wrap a decent amount around my back, side and tummy when I need cramps relief. It's also big enough to make a nice tent for my feet when they are cold.2. It's got a lovely, soft cover! Both sides are great, extremely soft to the touch and I like that the fuzzy green side gives less heat and the thinner tan side gives more. When my feet are ice cubes I put them under the tan side and they thaw out. Then I can set my feet on top of the green to keep them warm without being too hot. Likewise with pain and my back (or whatever). To describe the fabric further, the top is but like a soft terry microfiber and the bottom is like a typical blue heating pad cover fabric.3. The cover is integrated INTO the pad. I've had a few like these now. You can't always find them in stores but they are so vastly superior that I've come to prefer them exclusively. The integrated cover doesn't shift about. The integrated pad cover doesn't slip off while in use and ruin the shape of the plastic pad as the cover is being held on by a plastic snap pulled tight to end of the pad as the cover slips off the other side. The integrated pad cover doesn't slip off, exposing the super hot plastic which can burn the skin. Since I sometimes sleep with my pad (I know it's supposed to be bad, but you tell my cramps or slipped disc that!) the integrated cover system is especially important for my comfort. This may mean washing is more of a hassle, and a risk for losing the pad sooner, but for me the softness and worry-free USE of the integrated pad cover greatly out-weighs the con of losing a pad sooner due to machine washing wear and tear.4. This guy heats up FAST and has an array of heating options. It has 6 heat settings and it can be put on a two hour timer, or a no-time-limit heat setting. The latter option is something I have never had in a pad before and I like it as it lets me put the pad on and set it at the end of my bed for keeping my toes warm all night. Or likewise, on and set up in the middle of my back for cramp relief.5. It's got a good, long cord. I haven't measured it but it has to be at least around 8 feet. It is plugged in at the head of my queen bed and it flops up to set across my feet at the very end of the bed, and there is quite a bit of loose cord under the bed to spare. Long cords eliminate hassle, allowing you to easily use this pad almost anywhere in a typical room.Cons or things to consider?1. It's a pricey pad. Though I've paid $25-30 for cruddy pads with the flimsy blue cover held on with a snap from Wal-Mart, so $36 for this awesome pad doesn't seem too shabby a deal.2. When you put the pad on unlimited timer it seems to waver, and not stay super hot, so people that want endless searing heat may not be happy with this. Though a remedy could be to keep it on 2hr and keep turning it back on again. This has not been a problem for me whatsoever, but seemed worth a mention.3. Both washability (in machine) and the no-limit timer on this pad may reduce it's lifespan. Time will have to tell, but I've not had any pad last more than a few years of regular use anyway.Bottom line: This is one of the better pads you can get your hands on with it's lovely integrated cover, good size and long cord. Since cheapest pads aren't a heck of a lot less expensive, if you use your pad on any sort of regular basis I recommend this as a good upgrade. I've added some photos to show general size and how the fabric looks up close. (Here is hoping Amazon posts them as lately it's been hit or miss with photo adds!) (Update 03/25/2016 - Trying to add the photos again since they didn't post when I initially wrote the review.)As usual, if anything goes wrong I will update my review immediately. Otherwise I will probably be back in a year or so just to say she's still kickin. Hope this review is helpful and that you find comfort in your heating pad! Best of luck!UPDATE 01/01/2017: So I have had this pad for about a year and wanted to say it still works GREAT! Best pad I have ever had - hands down. It's soft, comfy, heats really warm or low and slow. I love the "always on" feature as sometimes I use it as my "electric blanket" at night to keep my core warm, or my feet. Or when I am sick, or have an injury I want to warm for longer and not have to lean over to get the dial and heat it up again. Also, I have washed it a number of times. It washes great. I dry it in the dryer, too - on low even though it says to use medium, cause I just want it to stay nice. It still heats evenly and the fuzzy cover is nice looking for an oft-used and washed pad. I look forward to this product lasting a long time and when it goes the way of the other pads in the world - I hope to get another just like it. In fact... maybe I might get one to hold on hand for just in case, so I don't have to worry about them discontinuing or altering the product. I do very much like it, and I have had a ton of pads. I hope this helps and hope the pad helps you, too! Happy New Year!UPDATE 02/04/2017: When another shopper left a comment on my review I saw that the burgundy pad was up for about $10 off the normal price and since I use this pad so much, and prefer it so much over any other that I have used in the past - I snapped it up for a spare. When someone in the household needed a pad we gave the new one a try and they liked it the same as I love mine, as it is just as functional and comfortable as the first pad, with fast hot heat, 2hr/stay on shut-off options and the big soft washable fabric cover. I expect it to last as the other has, but will update if that changes. Very glad to get the second at such a good price, but again, these are absolutely worth it at the normal ~$35-40 range when compared to the other pads you will see at the store for $20-30.UPDATE 11/28/2017: It's been awhile since I updated, but since it's finally getting cold - after a long, hot summer and early/mid autumn - and I've begun to use these pads again to warm my feet and core, instead of just for pain. They are in perfect condition - even my older, well-loved green one that I got about 2 years ago and use constantly. Toasty as ever and looks and feel comfy. Washes well. No cold zones or too hot zones. No smells. No cover slippage. It's just all perfect and I hope they never stop making these cause I assume someday they will have to eventually go bad - but crossing my fingers that is a long, long time from now! Hope yours treat you as well as my two have and provide years of comfort! Happy holidays! :-)UPDATE 02/05/2019: Well, I have had these two pads for what seems practically forever now! Still work great. Have the original green one at the foot of my bed as I write this update. Keep the red one tucked away most of the time for just in case or if someone needs to borrow one, but mostly as a backup. They have washed well and are still at 100% capacity. Super investment. Love them!UPDATE 10/04/2019: Still have them both and use them near daily. Lately I use the oldest one, the green one, under where my pet lizards like to sit and watch out the window. I leave it on for hours at full heat, day after day, for the past year. Still works wonderfully. Now, I see all these posts of melted heating pads. I bought my green one before, and my red one after. They both are used constantly, have been washed repeatedly... and although I am sure some items have manufacturer's defects, with cautious use this should be a reasonably safe purchase despite all the scares you see below my review. Just take precautions: Don't leave heating appliances on unattended. It's just not safe. Don't bend the heating pad, gently roll it. Don't smash it. Inspect it regularly looking for frays, exposed wires, heat on the controller, etc. If you suspect it isn't in perfect shape anymore, discontinue use, for safety's sake. And although it goes without directly saying it... I still highly recommend this heating pad. Though my original two are still in perfect shape, endless non-stop hours of use and years later, I may grab another one this winter. This is the perfect heating pad, and as long-lasting as they have been for me, I think I will be heartbroken if/when they discontinue this model or "upgrade but make worse". Hope this helps and that you get comfort from this heating pad as well. Happy holidays!UPDATE 09/16/2020 I still use the first two pads near daily. I bought two more to keep in reserve and gifted one to my mom, who loves hers as well. About to get a couple more as I've found my bearded dragons love them to warm up as they sit by the window or watch tv with the family, and my mother's dog and cat love them, too. Best heating pads ever, approved by the whole fam now. Use them constantly, wash them often and they are all still working great. I hope they never change this model. It's a winner!UPDATE 09/2021 Still using the original heating pad daily for my many aches and pains. All other pads (I’ve bought a few backups) are used daily to near daily for other family member’s backs or cold feet, etc. as well as warm spots for much loved pets. (Side note: I did get a sunbeam branded heated wrap for shoulders, and use it for that purpose as the shape just makes it work better for neck/shoulder pain, but other than that we still reach for this original set of pads we’ve now been using heavily and daily for years.) As before, recommend this specific pad so highly and hope they never stop making these. I don’t expect them to last forever but flimsy products designed to be constantly replaced are bad for the planet and our pocketbooks. These pads are a winner I’ve bought repeatedly and for gifts I know will last for years of comfort. Hope this helps and good luck all!UPDATE: 05/2024: Well it’s been ages since I updated. Still have all the pads mentioned previously and still use them constantly for myself, my Chihuahua, my bearded dragon or for guests. They all are in good condition and all heat up same as they always have. I still use them on stay on cycle for long periods of time on a constant basis. One I put under my Chihuahua’s bed to gently radiate heat up through the padding to her little body, and when it’s cold I may leave it on during the day, too. She LOVES this and sometimes pouts when we don’t go to bed “on time”. Context: She has other beds, same style and everything all throughout the house but only the bed in bed has a heating pad unless it’s truly cold-cold. (Yes, she’s a spoiled princess cupcake rescue doggo and she deserves it.) Given some as gifts and they are similarly well-loved and also still in heavy use years later. I keep one at my mom’s for when I visit so I don’t have to tote one along. Coming back to get another “in case” and to replace the one I left at mom’s house! Love these things. Best heating pad. If they ever stop making them it will be a sad day, though clearly these babies are built to last and I’m really only getting more so I don’t have to bring them with me or move them around the house. A well made and durable product. Such a rarity these days. Good job, Sunbeam, bravo!

This heating pad is the best I've used, among a number of brands and models intended for home use and of this approximate size.This pad, as noted in the marketing text, heats up more quickly than others. That's very nice, but it's not a big deal to me and had nothing to do with why I bought it or why I love it so much. For me, all the heating pads I've ever used, including the cheapest models, heat up quickly enough to make it a non-issue. But given that you obviously want it hot or wouldn't be using it, I suppose the pad becoming hot more rapidly is better than waiting a couple minutes longer.ADVANTAGES. The primary reasons this pad is so clearly better than ones like Sunbeam's own more common and less expensive ones (I also currently own three of those cheaper models) are:(1) It has the option of being continuously on, rather than forcing you to deal with auto-shutoff. Most heating pads sold now that I've found have now changed to include this automatic shut-off feature so that after a certain amount of time, they turn off whether you like it or not. I found this Sunbeam Xpressheat pad because I was searching high and low for one that didn't have auto-shutoff. This one fits the bill, so if this is a feature that's important to you, it'll make this particular product desirable for you.(2) It is the most pliable pad I've found. Even when it's not heated (any pad is more pliable when hot in my experience), it is extremely easy to mold against a very curved area of skin. Most pads are too stiff to allow you to press them against your skin and have the entire pad surface touching you. This one is pliable and possible to press against your body's uneven surface areas or around a tight curve (like your neck) like a towel would be. I find it absolutely wonderful to be able to get it against my skin in ways that no other heating pad allows, mainly because it'll transfer heat to more of the surface area I want to heat and get into and around those areas hard to get another pad to contact, but also because of the following...(3) It is the softest and most pleasant-feeling material I've ever felt in a heating pad. Even without it being plugged in, it feels GREAT to the touch, and good against any part of your skin. It's much softer than the usual soft cloth surfaces of other pads. It's much softer than a towel, and just feel luxurious. I was extremely surprised by how great it felt the very instant I took it out of the box, and I still love to pick it up and feel how soft it is to my hands or to feel it against my skin anywhere. I don't experience the cloth surfaces of other pads to be anything but soft. I even thought the removable covers of other new heating pads I have (such as other Sunbeam models) were extremely soft, perhaps as soft as they could be (that is, until I felt THIS pad). But this one is VERY noticeably softer and more pleasurable to the touch, more than I would have thought possible. As noted, it feels great even not plugged in. But then when you do turn it on and get the heat from it, it's just that much more pleasurable. When you're in pain and reach for a heating pad, this is going to make you feel better than any other heating pad I've experienced.POSSIBLE DISADVANTAGES. The only potential drawbacks you might experience that I can imagine are:(1) While it is washable (either hand wash or machine wash warm/gentle cycle, machine dry medium heat), it is not as easy to clean as it is to clean the ones that have an inner plastic-surfaced pad with a removable cloth cover. This does not have a removable cover. When the cloth needs to be cleaned, you have to unplug the cord (it comes off at the pad's edge), and wash the entire pad. I don't know what effect this might have on the lifespan of the pad, or how soft the surface will remain after repeated washes. But it is a larger thing to wash, and takes longer to dry than the thin covers of the pads with removable cloth covers. For me, this isn't really any big problem, but just a very minor added inconvenience. You'd have to wash any pad's surface when dirty one way or another, though, so the ADDED inconvenience is minimal. The possibility of added wear due to washing the whole pad is just a speculation on my part. I haven't had it long enough to know if that'd be an issue. The same issue might apply to removable covers of other pads: they probably wouldn't last through a million washings either without being worn out and/or losing their softness.(2) Personally, I prefer a larger surface area. This Sunbeam Xpressheat pad is 12" by 24". There are pads sold as "King Size" (as this is sold) that are larger, namely the 14" x 27" ones, that work better for me due to the area I want them to heat. This may not be an issue for another person, depending on the specific surface area they intend to heat. Also, note that there are lots of other pads sold as King Size that are the same size as this Sunbeam Xpressheat pad. It's just that if I had a choice and could design the ideal heating pad, I'd keep this current pad as it is but make it larger. THEN, it'd be the best heating pad I could possibly imagine, unless it didn't require any electical cord or batteries and could be magically changed at any time into whatever exact shape you wanted it to be at that moment. But in the realm of the realistic, this is the only drawback for me that matters at all, and not being as large as I'd prefer is something I have to accept with most heating pads.(3) This pad costs more than the other pads (the ones that aren't nearly as soft or pliable, and that don't have continuous on capabilities). But if you're using this to relieve pain, then you know when you're in pain, a few dollars doesn't really matter to you at the time. Feeling better is why you buy ANY heating pad, presumably. This pad is likely to comfort you much more, and you'll appreciate that and not be thinking about how much it cost you. Also, you can amortize the total cost of the pad across the number of times you'll be able to use it over the years, and see additional cost of this pad, per use, is likely to be a matter of a negligible fraction of a dollar each time you use it (not enough to make any difference). Also, it seems to me so far that given the superior design and construction of this pad, it might last significantly longer than the cheaper ones. I've had lots of heating pads wear out over time, stop working, and need to be thrown away and replaced. If this one does last longer, as I suspect it might, that'd make it's per-use cost go down even more, and possibly even be less than cheaper models.CONCLUSIONS: CONSIDERING ALL THE PROS AND CONS...The drawbacks are, for me, not significant relative to the huge advantages of this pad (I just like to be thorough and thought I'd include the "cons" as well as the "pros," in case they matter more to you).I'd HIGHLY recommend this heating pad over others if the following matter to you: (1) softness and pleasure to the touch (comforting even before you turn it on!), (2) pliability (you can make the pad contact your skin, including in indentations and around curves/joints/etc., MUCH more than any other pad I've seen or used!), and/or (3) continuous on (lack of annoying auto-shutoff that takes your choice away!).The extra cost is not likely to deprive you of food or the ability to pay your bills, and is well worth it in my opinion when PAIN is an issue.If you're just using the pad to do something that doesn't contact your skin, such as heat sheets of a bed before getting into it in a very cold environment, then softness and pliability might not matter at all to you, but the continuous on feature might still be important.Sunbeam Xpressheat Microplush/Softtouch Heating Pad, King Size

I’m back to buy a new one because my original pad finally fizzled out. Checked my order history and couldn’t believe I bought it almost 10 years ago, in Nov 2015! I just had to write a review to say it made it 10 years of all-night use (on level 2 for the most part). I definitely got my money’s worth and gladly buying another one, even though it’s almost double what I originally paid. Won’t try anything else!