Wheelchair Seat Warmer - the Easy Way

Several years back I made a heated liner for my son. See the result of that here... (Carbon Fiber Heated Liner : 9 Steps - Instructables) Amazon has since made it so much easier to warm any creation. In this instructable I'll show you how to easily make a heated wheelchair seat cover, but you can use the concept to make anything heated that you want.

USB cloth heaters -- Amazon.com: Portable Cloth Heaters, Clothes Heating Pad with 5pcs Heating, USB Electric Heated Pad Adjustable Temperature Warmer for Outdoor Winter Clothes Seat Pet Dogs and Cats Warmer : Home & Kitchen

Chair covers -- Amazon.com: Genina Waterproof Seat Covers for Dining Room Chair Covers Waterproof Dining Chair Covers (2 PCS-Rear-Covered, Navy Blue) : Home & Kitchen

sewing machine, needle and thread, or fabric glue

I put the chair cover on the wheelchair, then laid out the heating pads. Amazon has a lot of different options for the number of heating pads you can get. Pick one that matches the project you want to work on. As you're laying out the heating pads keep in mind a couple things:

1. Where do you want the controller to be? Make sure you have it easily accessible.
2. Where do you want the battery to be? Again, align the wires and pads for battery placement.
3. Where do you want the heat to be? Make sure the pads are located where you want to be warmed :)
4. Spread the wires around - in my case, I didn't want to feel a bunch of wires when I sat down - so I tried to spread them out.

Now that the heating pads and wires were laid out the way I wanted them, I used tape just to hold them in place until I could secure them. Next, I used a sewing machine to sew the pads in place. But, there are other options here. Using a needle and thread you could hand sew a couple stitches in the corners of each pad. Or, you could even use a fabric glue and glue them in place.

I used a second seat cover to cover the seat cover with the heating pads.

And... done !!

It was remarkably easy to create a custom heated seat.