Let me start off by saying that being a nerd, watching the chemical reaction is my favorite part of this product. To produce heat all you have to do is flex the little dime sized disc floating in the liquid and instantly the fluid starts to crystallize and warm up. If needed, just knead the pack a bit and it will both soften up and distribute the crystals better. Be careful because the warmer can reach a maximum temperature of 129 degrees Fahrenheit, which was about perfect for me but for others a cloth or towel may be needed to decrease to prevent the warmer from feeling too hot against your skin.

At first, the texture is similar to a bag full of sand, but the longer it goes the more solid it feels and the less heat is produced. It goes strong for about 25 to 30 minutes, and after that the amount of heat produced drops but it stays warm up to an hour. This product is extremely versatile as it can be used as a massager, (what it's technically sold for), A hand warmer for cold months, A heating pad for cramps or as a bean bag for backyard games. With winter starting to roll around I will defiantly get a couple more to keep my hands and feet nice and toasty.

Once the heat is done, all you have to place the warmer in a pot of boiling water with a washcloth in the bottom (which protects the heart warmer from melting to the bottom of the pot.) After boiling for ten minutes or so all the crystals will have dissolved and its ready to go again after being cooled to room temperature. It's probably best to use tongs to take the warmer out of the pot to keep hands away from boiling water. The material is pretty thick so there shouldn't be any worries about popping it. Once taken out of the pot just place it on a towel to dry and cool off. Make sure that all the crystals are dissolved otherwise the warmer will start over again without the disk being flexed, and you will need to boil it again without all the fun of using it. We had this problem once where we missed some crystals and the warmer just heated up again.

The massager is shaped like a heart that is approximately 5 inches in both height and width. This is just big enough for me to wrap my hands around, but not quite small enough to comfortably fit in my palm. Its made of a silky textured PVC. Because of the silky texture when used as a massager some drag may be experienced. So, if you wanted to use a lubricant of some sort, oil based ones might want to be avoided as they may not interact nicely with the PVC. If any cleaning is needed, simple soap and water can be used or the massager can be washed off during boiling. Fresh out of the box my brand new hand warmer had a smell reminiscent of pool toys, but after a few uses and boilings the smell is completely gone.

It came in box a little bigger than the massager with a picture of the product on the front and a hang tab for displaying in stores. The box proclaims that inside is a Heart Warmer Massager, and "You Can Feel The Love." On the back are instructions for both how to use the massager as well as how the boil the warmer to reuse it. There is also a warning stating that the heat pack can reach 129 degrees, not to swallow the liquid and to not microwave. Inside the box the heart warmer comes wrapped in a plastic bag with instructions printed on it. Nothing about the packaging would be offensive if given as a gift, unless the receiver was familiar with Pipedream products. The Heart warmer is a bit darker than shown online and is also larger than the picture in the actual size widget.

Our heart warmer is still as fun and magical as ever. Once we got over the difficulty we had of getting some of the crystals to dissolve, it works great. The only down side is that it would get much more use from us if the heat lasted a bit longer.