Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATE September 18, 2019: After 7 years, I’ve finally retired this blanket. The foil weakened over the years, so it became more fragile. It was also very dusty after so many years. Keep in mind that I’m up and down my attic stairs very often, and I got 7 years out of this very cost-effective and long-lived solution! UPDATE October 12, 2017: Four years now, going on five, and I still have no complaints about this blanket, with my modifications. I've poked holes in it (patched with foil tape) and repeatedly pushed it aside, pulled it back into place, completely removed it and mashed it out of the way in the attic, and it's still holding up. It's a great low-cost, simple solution for attic stair insulation. UPDATE August 31, 2014: After using this blanket since November 2012, I can still fully recommend it, with my mods. It has held up to all of my pushing and folding it out of the way as I climb in and out of the attic. And my mods mean no fiberglass in my face. I'm very happy with this inexpensive solution! As you've probably figured out, this is a shaped fiberglass blanket, wrapped in foil. What wasn't clear to me is that it's open at the bottom, so fiberglass is exposed all along the bottom edge where it is supposed to seal against the floor. This might be fine if you rarely use your attic. I, however, use my attic all the time, so I don't want fiberglass in my face whenever I have to move the tent away. And, like other reviewers, I found that the blanket didn't sit very well against my attic floor, leaving gaps. Here's how I solved both of these problems, and made the thing work great for me. You'll need two things: a roll of foil tape (like Scotch Aluminum Foil Tape 3311) and a roll of foil bubble insulation (like Reflectix BP48010). Cut the foil insulation into strips about 10" wide and as long as the sides of the tent. Use strips of the foil tape to attach the bubble insulation to the outside of the tent, loop the bubble insulation under the tent (covering the fiberglass) and tape the other edge inside the tent with more strips of foil tape. You can use short pieces of foil tape -- no need to cover the entire edge of the bubble insulation. Make sure you make loose loops, so there's 2" to 3" between the bottom of the fiberglass and the bottom of the loop if you were to press the loop flat. You're essentially extending the base of the tent with loops of bubble insulation. Don't tape the corners: leave them open so you end up with "flaps" of bubble insulation. And bite the bullet and use foil tape, not duct tape; duct tape won't stay put. The foil tape should last forever. Once you've taped your bubble insulation around the base of the tent, you can position the tent over your stair opening, and pull the edges of the bubble pack INSIDE the stair opening, making kind of a skirt. The bubble pack loops give you something to use to pull the tent into place, the skirt makes it possible to cover all of the gaps between the tent and the floor, adds insulation, and covers the exposed fiberglass. Also, you can push the bubble insulation flat. It's thin, so it doesn't interfere with the operation of the stairs. I also made a couple of handles using 8" x 4" strips of bubble pack insulation, foil taped inside the tent, to give me something to grab when repositioning the tent. That was my first attempt to improve the tent, when I was afraid that I might poke holes in it while trying to move it around. You might try this, too, but I find I don't use them very much now that I can just grab the bubble pack around the base and use that to pull the tent into position. Hope this helps!