The 3 Best Heating Pads of 2025
Top pick
With four heating levels and a maximum temperature of 140 °F, this pad is covered in super-soft microplush fabric on both sides.
This is a larger version of our top pick, and it has all of the same features. But it’s three times the size and roughly 3 pounds heavier, so it creates a weightier feeling on the body that some find pleasing.
The Pure Enrichment PureRelief Pro Far Infrared XL Heating Pad heats quickly and fairly evenly. It comes in multiple sizes, including a roughly standard 24-by-12-inch size and a much larger (and heavier) 35-by-27 inch size.
It quickly gets hot and stays hot. When it was informally tested with a heat laser infrared thermometer, the PureRelief Pro Far Infrared pads were the only heating pads we tested that actually overdelivered in terms of maximum temperature. We found that at level four, the highest temperature setting, this heating pad can run a few degrees hotter than the advertised 140 °F; some may even find it to be too hot.
It’s safety-certified. All Pure Enrichment heating pads are certified by UL. In its safety testing, UL looks for auto shutoff (this pad shuts off after two hours), a long-enough power cable to avoid extension-cord use (this cable is 8 feet, longer than the industry standard of 6 feet), and maximum temperatures of no more than 176 °F (to prevent burns).
It automatically shuts off after two hours. Two hours is a generous amount of time to keep a heating pad on, considering that even at lower temperatures, a forgotten heating pad can cause burns, “toasted skin syndrome,” and even fires. It can be frustrating when heating pads automatically shut off after only 20 minutes, though.
It’s very soft (but not sweaty). This pad is covered in soft microplush on both sides, but the fabric itself doesn’t induce sweating (the heat can, however, especially when the pad is moistened).
The controller is simple to use. There’s just one button, which turns the pad on, cycles through four heat levels, and turns the pad off.
It has a five-year warranty. Pure Enrichment’s five-year warranty is superlative compared with the competition’s. Note, though, that several actions, such as sitting on the pad, void most heating-pad warranties, including the one for this pad.
There are multiple size options. Aside from the 12-by-24-inch XL pad, there are various options in Pure Enrichment’s Pro Far Infrared line, the largest one being the 35-by-27-inch Oversized Body Wrap, which is heavier than the average pad. There’s also an in-between 20-by-24-inch size, as well as a wearable version (a pad with a belt attachment) and a version shaped to be worn around the neck and back.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
The automatic-shutoff blinker is confusing. The auto-off blinker turns on after two hours, at which time it blinks red for a few minutes after the pad shuts off and completely cools down. This is very different from our runner-up pad and many others, which have a light that stays on to indicate the pad will shut off after two hours.
It takes a long time to fully dry. Compared with our runner-up pick, this pad is twice as soft, but it also takes more than twice as long to dry. To be on the safe side, before we plugged this pad back in, we felt the pad needed to air-dry another 12 hours or so after we tumble-dryed it on low.
