Problem with Rice Bag
I made a set of rice bags for a gift basket for Christmas . I made a long one to go around the neck or shoulders and two small hand-warmers. I used prewashed muslin for the liners and homespun for the covers (to come off for washing). When they were heated in the microwave, the long one and one of the hand warmers worked just fine, as they should. But the rice in the remaining one, swelled and puffed--like styrofoam or popcorn--and filled up the liner. The rice came from the same batch and was a well-known brand (I meant to use generic rice because it is cheaper, but forgot to get it, so I used what I had in the pantry!). I was told the bad one didn't get wet. So, I"m wondering what happened. Have any of you had this problem? I think I will take the errant one back and try it with the generic rice I finally remembered to buy, and see if that works. I suppose I should have tried them out before gifting them, but I didn't.
Any thoughts??