Unable to sleep under her duvet in her Maine home on a hot summer night, Sarah got up to check on her baby and toddler. Despite the humidity, her babies lay dreaming, cool and comfortable under their breathable swaddle blankets. She wondered why these lightweight blankets weren't made for adults. Scouring the internet the next day, she saw a gap in the marketplace.  Applying her love of tasteful colors, high standards for softness, and a deep concern for the environment and workers' welfare, she formed Gray Heron and the cotton seed was planted.

Craft Blankets: Our Gossamer Gauze is not your typical muslin. Weavers spend three months creating just a few thousand yards of this fabric. Our GOTS organic gauze is softer as a result. You may not be a baby anymore, but you can still sleep like one. 

Quality over Quantity: It took two years, but we finally found our fabric, two layers of GOTS certified organic quadruple layer cotton muslin. Every decision we make at Gray Heron, we do so with the utmost respect for the earth, for you the customer, and for all of the people who help grow, make and deliver our textiles. Although it means we will be small-scale and take less by the way of profits, it's just the way we have to do business.

Fabrics in our muslin blankets come in four and eight organic layers. 

Unique to Gray Heron, our organic fabric is woven in 4 layers.  Most muslin is woven in two layers, hence the nickname "double gauze." All of our products are made with buttery soft, breathable, 4 layer muslin or expertly sewn together to make an 8 layer blanket.
In 4 layers, we currently offer Baby, Oversized Throws, Twin and Full/Queen blankets. Our 8 layer blankets are offered in Baby, Oversized Throw, Full/Queen and King sizes.

Colors

Introducing three new colors in summer-weight and all-season weight into our latest Gray Heron color & print collection. We have more options for mini blankets (finally, in a subtle pink) and our popular sand dollar is now in slate.

 
Gray Heron's GOTS organic cotton vs. other brands "all natural" cotton.
Conventionally produced cotton is laden with pesticides and insecticides, using more toxins than almost any other crop.  When a brand says it uses "all natural cotton" what they mean is the cotton is from the cotton plant, but what they are not saying is the methods used to grow the cotton are far from natural. Pesticides poison farmers and the run-off seeps into drinking water, lakes and streams. Factory workers have to breathe in fumes from cotton chemicals when producing textiles and we feel the harmful effects of non-organic cotton. Headaches, rashes, irritated skin and a slow build up of carcinogens in our bodies can be the end-result. 

Each Gray Heron Product is Made of GOTS certified organic cotton muslin. Muslin is a cotton fabric named from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured in the 17th century. Muslin can be woven as a very thin, breathable fabric, and when layered, creates warmth while maintaining breathability. 
In order to obtain the GOTS organic certification, a fabric must:

• contain at least 95% organic fiber (organic fibers not labeled GOTS must contain at least 70% organic fiber)
• be dyed with nontoxic dyes
• be produced in a mill that enforces strict social and environmental standards

Sustained organic muslin blankets for babies and adults
From the time our organic cotton is planted, we are thinking about the impact Gray Heron has on the planet. 

GOTS Certified: Our cotton is not only organic, but GOTS certified organic, meaning we meet the highest environmental standards. We do not use any pesticides or toxic chemicals in the growing or production of our blankets that infiltrate soil, run off into drinking water or affect the health of the cotton farmers and the communities around the cotton farms. 

Fair Trade: Although a half a world away, we are committed to protecting the health of our growers in India and the environment in which they produce our cotton. Gray Heron considers the welfare of the people who work hard to create these blankets. All of our workers are paid a living wage, and our workers negotiate for perks like company provided lunches and appropriate breaks.

No Child Labor: All of our workers are adults (child labor is a huge issue in production).

Responsible Packaging: Gray Heron minimizes our carbon footprint along the global transport chain, all the way from Southern India to your home via Dover, Massachusetts. We use leftover fabric to create our cinch bags, never plastic bags. We pack our blankets in the most compact way we can (in our sweet cinch bags) reducing the amount of space and therefore the amount of fuel needed to transport our products, and we send out our blankets in recycled mailers that can be used again by you, with an extra strip of adhesive for easy re-use. Our mailers are immediately recyclable...not all are.

Lastly, we are mindful that these blankets will be touching your family's skin for years to come. How we grow and dye our cotton will directly impact you and your loved ones, and we will always do it the right way.