If you want to buy a "bean bag", you will surely ask yourself which is the best stuffing material. Which is the most comfortable? The most breathable? How to fill the ottoman if you need to restore it? In short, there are questions that it is good to ask yourself before buying a beanbag, and let's see some possible answers ...

Beanbag upholstery

In ancient times, in the first methods of antique poufs widespread in the Middle East, the poufs were filled with natural wool, sometimes mixed with straw, and then permanently sewn. Nowadays every bean bag pouf, in synthetic materials or in leather, has a zip to be easily filled and emptied.

In principle, a pouffe can be filled with many different materials, but each filling has its own characteristics. The choice depends on your preferences, but there are must undeniable advantages in modern materials, and let's see what they are. Traditional wool and straw stuffing is expensive today, and doesn't insure you from allergies – despite being breathable, wool is a receptacle for dust mites. It's also heavy compared to more modern bean bag filling materials such as foam rubber and EPS polystyrene beads . The beanbag could also be stuffed with textile scraps (clothes, sheets, linen, etc.) but in this case it would be a heavy pouf and the filling would be uneven. Foam rubber , which is elastic polyurethane foam, usually in ottomans is a material shredded from custom-cut blocks of polyether foam. It is solid and breathable, gives a round shape and resists many attacks. It is a thermal insulating material, which resists crushing. Memory foam, shredded foam, for bean bags is generally comfortable, very light, resistant. It ensures that the pouffe does not flatten but takes the desired shape. Another material is given by the mini expanded polystyrene beads, ideal for stuffing bean bag chairs. These micro-spheres are much softer, smoother and more comfortable than any filler material. They are also very light: a good filler for ottomans that will be moved around frequently. Many ottomans on the market are filled with expanded polystyrene or EPS . This material is very similar to polystyrene, but harder. EPS is also used for packing cushions, and is ideal for beanbag chairs, because EPS pellets are light but stiff, able to keep their shape for many years. They contain 98% air, are resistant to heat and humidity. In any case, the fundamental thing is to respect some rules of excellent padding, which you can recognize even when you see it: the secret of a robust and well-shaped pouf is to fill the pouf itself enough!

Filling the pouf, here are the main steps

• Choose the material and take the appropriate size for your padding.
• Find the zippered opening at the bottom of the ottoman.
• Fill the lower part (footrest) little by little, starting at the bottom and to the sides.
• Fill the center of the ottoman.
• Make sure the ottoman is filled evenly.
• Don't be afraid to overstuff it, the stitching is usually very strong as is the zipper, so you don't have to worry about tearing the ottoman.
• Close the ottoman, press it well
• Sit on it to try it out.
• If it's not compact enough, fill it again.
• Repeat several times until the ottoman has a nice round shape: it shouldn't bend too much when you sit down.

We recommend that you get help from one person: one holds the pouf cover open, the other fills in the stuffing! We remind you that our poufs have removable covers, to be washed, and have a double closure system with zip and Velcro strap. In this case the pouf stuffing operation will be safer, because in this way the polystyrene beads will not come out.