Sourcing blankets and throws from China

Duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 27 September 2026, blankets and travelling rugs of synthetic fibres, knitted or not, of wool or fine animal hair, and of other textile materials carried 12% duty on goods from China, as did knitted cotton blankets, while cotton blankets that are not knitted, such as woven cotton throws, carried 6%, and electric blankets 6%. No line carried an anti-dumping measure.

Duty is a real share of the landed price on a bulky, modest-value product, so quote landed and compress cartons where the fabric allows.

Fibre label

Article 14 of Regulation 1007/2011, as it applies in Great Britain, requires the fibre composition on a durable, legible label. Blankets sold as wool or cotton must match the claim, so check the composition against a fabric test at inspection.

An electric blanket is electrical equipment, so it needs electrical safety evidence, overheat protection and clear instructions, and brings WEEE obligations.

Weight, softness and pilling

Fleece and flannel blankets are sold by fabric weight in grams per square metre, finish and size. Specify all three, approve the hand on a physical sample, and ask for pilling and shrinkage tests, because a throw that pills after one wash comes back. For weighted blankets, see our weighted blanket sourcing guide. For outdoor blankets, see our picnic blanket sourcing guide. For cellular construction, see our cotton cellular blanket sourcing guide.

Printed and embroidered blankets are popular promotional items; agree print method and colour fastness for the design.

Worked duty example

For a made-up shipment of 8,000 polyester fleece blankets under 6301 40 90 99, add the £3,000 of freight and insurance to the £24,000 free-on-board price and customs sees £27,000. At 12%, duty on these fleece blankets is £3,240; import VAT of £6,048 is 20% of the value with duty added. Together that is £9,288, but a VAT-registered importer usually gets the VAT back. The duty and VAT guide walks through the calculation.

Inspection checklist

Fabric tests: mass per unit area measured to ISO 3801 against the stated weight, pilling to ISO 12945-2, fibre content to the ISO 1833 series against the label, and colour fastness to washing to ISO 105-C06 and to rubbing to ISO 105-X12 on printed and dark colourways.

Washing and construction: dimensional change after the care-label wash to ISO 6330 and ISO 5077 so sizes still fit the bed, shedding checked by the lint left after washing and tumble drying, sherpa or bonded layers checked for separation after the wash, and edge binding and seams pulled by hand for unravelling.

Electric blankets and packing: electric blankets covered by a test report for the exact model to BS EN 60335-2-17 with the overheat protection and controller checked on samples, labels checked for fibre content and care, vacuum-packed goods checked for recovery after opening, and cartons sampled to ISO 2859-1.

What goes wrong

Blankets fail on weight, shedding and shrinkage. Fleece lighter than the stated weight feels thin, poorly finished fleece sheds fibres and pills after one wash, and edges bound with weak stitching unravel. Printed blankets fade or bleed, sherpa backings separate from the face, and sizes shrink so a double-bed throw no longer fits.

Weigh fabric per square metre against the specification, wash-test for pilling, shedding and shrinkage, test colour fastness on prints, check edge binding stitch density and sherpa bonding, and measure finished sizes against the order. Vacuum-packed blankets should recover their loft after unpacking.

Packing and minimums

Minimums are per design and colour, lower for stock fabrics. Vacuum packing reduces carton volume on soft products and so freight. Cambridge China Bridge sources blankets, throws and fleece for retail, hotels and promotion, with fabric tests, labels and packing agreed before production. See how our sourcing service works.