Trying to find a really good blanket solution

I recommend natural handmade alpaca wool blankets. You can get them used AKA vintage on eBay and a very reasonable price ( paid about $100, shipping included for mine), just be sure and make sure a that a picture is displayed showing the label containing a description of the materials it is made from. Most common is 80% alpaca, 20% acrylic, which I think is mainly used as stitching to help hold the blanket together. The one I got is from Peru, and as I understand it is/was made by the indigenous community in that area. The winters here can be extremely cold with high humidity, and I live with minimal heat in my home, for both economic reasons and also to allow my body to better adapt to the changing seasons. This blanket is extremely warm. I use it with cheap nylon and synthetic polyfill poncho liners and a similarly made camping blanket. I also have several regular sheep wool blankets as well, and while they are effective, the alpaca is in an entirely different league from sheep wool. The alpacas are small camelids that live above 12,000 ft in the Andes, so as you can imagine there wool is extremely effective. It's also very soft and not at all scratchy. I also have three dogs as bed warmers, and emotional support. However much it costs to maintain your dog, the rewards are priceless, and extend far beyond a natural source of heat in cold weather. That's my two cents.

This discussion brought to mind a wonderful quilt I slept under once many years ago, and hadn't thought about since.
I was visiting a friend. Her grandmother, an immigrant, had made it, back in the day when crafting skills and frugality skills were rather more common than they are today. I was young and it was old, and I had never seen anything like it.
I don't remember the quilt top or the backing, though in my mind it is a crazy quilt, the kind made of random scraps of leftover cloth.
But the unique thing was what my friend's grandmother had used for batting. Layers of worn-out woolen sweaters. It was thick and heavy and seriously warm. A little lumpy, but it didn't matter. The quilting stitches kept the sweaters from shifting around inside the outer layers.
That's serious re-use & very labor-intensive. It worked great.

I don't know if this would apply in your situation.  

For me, I find the order of the blankets has more effect on how warm or cool they are than the actual blankets.  My standard year 'round blankets are two cotton and two wool ones.  I sleep better with weight on my body, so I tend not to reduce the blankets much.  In the summer the bedroom is about 80F in the winter, I keep it at about 65F.  

In the summer I have the two cotton on the bottom and the two wool on top.  As the weather cools, the wool ones migrate down to the bottom layer.  If it's really cold, I'll put one wool blanket below me and one between me and the sheet, then the two cotton on top for weight.  Having the wool blanket underneath me warms me up so much and has a lot of the advantages of a sleeping bag.

A lot of the power in wool blankets is that they trap the air between the fibres.  By putting the cotton on top of the wool, we increase their insulating powers compared to when they are just hanging out on top of the cotton where the air can float through the fibres and exchange heat with the surroundings.  

I totally agree with having a down comforter and using a washable duvet cover. I don't wash my comforter..hang it out in the sun sometimes but I change the cover weekly. The down is breathable and I don't really get too hot. If it's still cold I bring a hot water bottle to bed. I have found that using only the comforter (with cover) and no sheets or anything else helps to regulate my body temperature the best. When it warms up in spring I store the comforter in the sturdy zip up plastic bag from the duvet cover so it is partially compressed like a stuff sack, but not so much that it can't be stored like that for a few months. The reused plastic bag keeps any mites and moths away.

Nothing beats a down comforter for heat retention.

You are opposite of me I love being under heavy weight blankets and the down comforter with a washable cover was always too light feeling … I have flannel sheets then a fuzzy low EM electric blanket that is used for 1 hour to pre-warm the bed … then a heavyweight merino wool “army blanket” then the down comforter (4 top layers)
When getting into bed I skim out of clothes (freezing that whole 10-15 seconds) but then hop in … and it’s super toasty warm under covers due to pre-heat and the wool & down heat retention.

I currently sleep in a room that is UNDER 50 F … but with the above setup I fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly … and in a room that is that cold it works extremely well … Extra Cold room sleeping is odd but for me it’s perfect.  The getting in to bed & getting out in morning is sort of gross but in bed under covers it is a dream.

You would omit the heavy weight wool army blanket for another option … you could use a felt or flannel lightweight layer imo fuzzy options are good with the layers because the soft fuzzy traps air in between layers.  The problem with many of the fuzzy options is that they are synthetic.

Lynne Cim wrote: Always on the lookout for DIY mattress ideas!  

Lynne, while you are waiting for what Susan used, here's another idea I used as a DIY mattress: Three, 2-in thick, natural talalay latex, mattress toppers inside of a zippered cover (6-in thick). We used drilled foam for breathability and varying densities for support. One medium-firm, one soft, and one medium-density. I think I ordered the mattress ticking cover from this site (https://www.foambymail.com/product/custom-gray-and-white-striped-cover.html) but if not, it was very similar. The mattress is on a platform bed. In hindsight, I wish it were thicker but it has held up well for almost 9 years. Still wasn't cheap (about $650 for a queen for cover + 3 toppers) but was way less than what I could find in natural latex at the time.

Helloo,
Socks, hot water bottles, cherry stones heated on misbehaving rmh(other post will be written elsewhere), had a lightbulb moment whilst looking for a futon to replace a tired mattress. As someone said, the prices were interesting and at the time, I was redoing roof insulation with hemp ‘tiles’. Well, they were fantastic to have a very comfortable nap, on the floor not on the roof!! They do compact with use but as they are about 1mx 0.6m x 10cm, in a double layer, they get shuffled around on the base, thus prolonging their useful life on the bed. After serving as mattress, more insulation is added somewhere or they find a use outside.
Recently, I went looking for replacements.
Hallelujah I came across hemp/wool/linen insulation, so currently sleeping on 1m x .60m x14cm  one layer pieces. It’s heavenly. It came to under 90 euros, don’t know what that is in other currencies but not heaps for a super new mattress.
So why am I adding to this thread about blankets not mattresses? Well, this particular cocktail of materials comes in different thicknesses. The thinnest in 10cm, If I remember correctly and is very pleasant to the touch, light, and in retrospect, I could have bought some to create a fabulous blanket arrangement. Temptation will possibly hold sway.
In the interim, I have to scratch my head to sort out the rmh.
Warm thoughts to those in extreme cold and those enduring nature’s comments and blessings to us all.

Off to pollard and chip.

Oh and confession: I smoked for a tremendously long time, stopped suddenly, even I was surprised and became hooked on potato chips. There goes my healthy life style BUT chip packets are wonderful insulation for blankets, hayboxes, curtains, vests and the list goes on.

I am a fan of German Feather beds.  I also have a weighted Blanket that works incredible.  some one mentioned mylar.  they hold in body heat so having it on the mattress under the sleeping sheet and on top of you with the blanket over top.  That should get you sandwiched in good