Have never made anything to use the flax seed with. Where do I buy it? I want to make one of cathys scrap catchers.


Jeanette

In my area, we have some grocery stores that have bulk foods. If not there check out health food stores. BUT if you can not find any, rice (regular not instant) can be used in its place. I am assuming that this is for a "heating pad"?

Flax seed is more expensive than rice. When heated flax seed does not (I am told) have a oder, rice does, not a bad one (in fact DGD loves the smell of my rice filled heating pad), just a little different.

I have seen flax seed at our WalMart.

My two cents worth here :):) Go to your 'good food store' or whatever its called in your area. Buy RAW BUCKWHEAT GROATS.... buckwheat holds the heat better and longer, doesn't smell and lasts forever. If you get a wild hair for a certain scent (i.e. lavendar) the buckwheat will take the scent great. I make tons of these bags every winter. Can heat them in the microwave for 3-5 minutes and they are awesome.

Cathy have you used sscents in there? Where did you get the scents?

I have used scents in a bunch of mine. I've saved rose petals from our roses and added a bit of the rose oil to them and tossed them in the buckwheat bags. Also lavendar is very popular, so I use some dried lavendar flowers and also a bit of the oil. I've bought the oils from our health food store, from Michaels and Joanns. You can mix crushed cloves, nutmeg, cinammon, etc. or even cut up vanilla beans. Whatever makes you happy :) :):) Its one way to clean out your spice cupboard hahahaa.

I have looked in our Walmart & can't find any. What department did you find the flax seed in ? :)

Thank you,
Cheryl

It was near the flour area I think. At least I think it was flax seed. Is there such a thing as flx flour? Probably will go there tomorrow and I will check for sure. :)

Cathy what do you mean when you say that you can find buckwheat in your good food store? We have Ingles, Krogers, Publix and Walmart. We also have a few big farmers markets that sell from meat to all kinds of international foods and american of course. Do you think I need to go the farmers market?

Thank you for your information. I looked in the vitamins, but not the baking section!! :D I will check it out too.

Thank you,
Cheryl

No, I am pretty sure it was in the baking section. Like I said will check tomorrow.

Flax seed is also sold in our hot cereal aisle. I buy the organic & it's kept in the cooler at the smaller markets here. I have purchased both the ground & whole flax seed at Costco as well (I use it for making my granola & think it's kind of pricey to be putting into a bag that cheaper white rice will work in...but that's just me)

Yikes... I am such a dork.... our local organic health food store is called the Good Food Store.... let your fingers do the walking and call around for the buckwheat. I paid $2.30 a pound a few weeks ago and I use approx 2 pounds in each one. I just use 10 inch flannel squares and sew 3 sides and then part of the 4th, turn it right side out and fill the 'bag' approx 2/3 full. OH, AND DON'T LET THEM SELL YOU THE BUCKWHEAT HULLS..... NOT THE SAME THING....

Okay, the flax seed they have at WalMart is called milled flax seed. Not sure what that means. It is $1.87 for 12 ounces. So sort of pricy.

Thank you so much for checking it out. I will look for it when I go to the store. I would have used white rice, but Gchathie said not to :!:

Cheryl

I feed whole flax to my horses. :D At Tractor Supply it used to be $0.79 per lb, at Wegmans it was $2.00 per lb. It's more now. But for heat bags--try Tractor Supply. You have to ask for it at the horse feed/shavings counter. You can get it by the lb.

Just to let you all know I have a problem with ANY food product....just because it could bring moths or mice or who knows what else.....I used poly beads in my pin cushion ...but I would think maybe play sand or something like that

Micheals Crafts Store
Poly-Pellets
100% polypropylene weighted stuffing material adds the flexibility necessary to shape soft crafts into ‘lifelike’ positions. All pellets have a smooth edge with oval contour to create a uniform fill.... More

The poly-pellets probably wouldn't work if you were going to use the bags for heating and applying to aches and pains. But they would be most excellent for the crafts you described. :) :)

I believe they also have flax seed at our local farm supply store here so you could look in your area at one of those stores.

Thank you again gcathie.

quilterj.....you are welcome and good luck finding them...I forgot to mention I fill my flower with as much poly beads as it will take......I like it being heavy....so it don't fall off....:-)

This is found where they have the batting and stuffing isn't it?

i have been making heatable neck-wrap for christmas gifts this year and i use a ratio of white rice, buckwheat and unmilled flax seed (1:1 1/2:1 1/2).
I also add about a tablespoon of dried lavender to each bag and a few drops of lavender oil.

at first i was just using rice, but i found that it did not smell too pleasant when heated.

What a good idea to mix the three!! Thanks for the hint.

Thank you I found the poly pellets at Joanns. They were 4.99 for 2 lbs. I went there for other things so I thought that I would just check it out to see if they had some.

If you are near a feed or pet food store, shelled field corn will serve the same purpose and is lots less expensive, or at least it used to be.
Make the bags and fill with the shelled hard corn and then microwave them for 3-4 minutes and use for warming bags for your feet, back or wherever. My cats and little dog love them also when it is cold out :? !
Have used them for several years. When I heat them too long, it just smells like popcorn! :D

I store my rice filled neckbag in the deepfreeze, there's no chance of any bugs living in there (I hope!) When I want it heated it doesn't take much extra time in the microwave, I don't find the faint smell unpleasant, I'm so enjoying the heat on my neck.

Milled means that it was ground or hulled (had hulls removed) by a machine while at the mill. You are right, that does sound pricey for flaxseed. I buy mine from Fred Myers, a grocery store/department store all rolled up into one. They were doing the super store idea decades before it became popular. They have organic flaxseed in bulk. If I had to guess, I would say it isn't milled because I have to check it over pretty carefully. I pull out small bits of flaxseed stems and small (micro-small) rocks. I've heard Costco will sometimes carry it but ours just opened here and I haven't seen it yet. When I do, I plan to buy a lot! WinCo also carries flax seed in bulk. And I haven't tried it but I'm guessing if you Google 'flaxseed suppliers' you will find several on-line sites that will sell it to you.

I must admit I am curious. I've never heard of using flaxseed instead of rice. I am going to have to make one of these and I think I'll give the flaxseed a try, especially if there is no odor. I love the smell of rice but I work in a Chinese Restaurant and I eat rice almost every day of the week. I think a neckbag out of rice would only cause me to be hungry. :lol: The flaxseed might work better for me. Is there a difference in the comfort factor over the rice?
Piece ~ Tiffany

If any of you have sold these neck bags, how much have you sold them for?

I have made them and sold them for $2-$4 depending on size. They were filled with rice and I added wintergreen or orange scent on a cotton ball put inside the bag. I am going to try getting the flax and mixing with the rice and also going to look for the buckwheat. I did not make any this year as it seemed the market had been saturated where we sold them. If I used the flax exclusively I would charge a bit more as the flax costs more than the rice.