It keeps the homeless warm… and doesn’t cost a packet! Man makes blankets out of CRISP packs

As a former rough sleeper, Miley Porritt knew how his ironing business could help the homeless – and the environment.

The 23-year-old began turning empty crisp packets into foil blankets for use as the weather turns wintry. 

He seals the crisp packets together using the heat of an iron to make the blankets, which can then be used to line sleeping bags.

The foil lining reflects the user’s body heat to keep them warm. Each blanket contains 77 packets that would otherwise probably have ended up in landfill.

Mr Porritt, from Frome, Somerset, spent five years ‘sofa surfing’, living in hostels and occasionally on the streets before getting a flat of his own in October. 

He spends up to six hours a day making the blankets, having started an ironing business during lockdown which now employs two staff.

Following an online appeal, he has been sent 20,000 crisp packets – enough for hundreds of blankets. 

‘When you’re on the street, staying warm and dry is really hard, so these liners will make a difference and I want to give something back to the people who helped me,’ he said.

Mr Porritt said he was adopted at a young age and left his adopted family at 15. 

After leaving school, he worked as a restaurant manager at a supermarket and did bar work before studying for a diploma at college.

He said he has ‘got myself straightened out’ and is putting his skills good use after reading about how crisp packets could be made into ‘survival blankets’ for the homeless.

‘They help keep you warm and dry, they can line sleeping bags or [you can] sit on them or put over yourself to keep warm,’ he said. ‘They are a great idea and I am just trying to help out.’