If you're thinking about buying a bean bag, you're probably wondering what the best filling material is. Which is the most comfortable? The most breathable? How can you fill the bean bag if you need to restore it? In short, there are some questions you should ask yourself before purchasing a bean bag, and let's look at some possible answers...

Bean bag padding

In ancient times, the first types of beanbags popular in the Middle East were filled with natural wool, sometimes mixed with straw, and then sewn together. Nowadays, every beanbag, whether made of synthetic materials or leather, has a zipper for easy filling and emptying.

In principle, a beanbag can be filled with many different materials, but each filling has its own characteristics. The choice depends on your preferences, but there are undeniable advantages to modern materials, and let's see what they are. Traditional wool and straw filling is expensive today, and it doesn't protect you from allergies—despite being breathable, wool harbors mites. It's also heavy compared to more modern beanbag filling materials like foam rubber and EPS polystyrene beads . You could also fill the beanbag with textile scraps (clothes, sheets, underwear, etc.), but in this case it would be a heavy beanbag and the filling would be uneven. Foam rubber , or elastic polyurethane foam, is usually used in beanbags, a material ground from blocks of polyether foam cut to size. It's firm and breathable, provides a round shape, and resists many impacts. It's a heat-insulating material that resists crushing. Memory foam, or shredded foam, for bean bag chairs is generally comfortable, very lightweight, and durable. It ensures the bean bag doesn't flatten, but rather takes on the desired shape. Another material is mini expanded polystyrene beads, ideal for stuffing bean bag chairs. These microspheres are much softer, smoother, and more comfortable than any other filling material. They're also very lightweight, making them a good filler for bean bag chairs that will be moved frequently. Many commercially available bean bag chairs are filled with expanded polystyrene, or EPS . This material is very similar to Styrofoam, but harder. EPS is also used for packing cushions and is ideal for bean bag chairs because EPS beads are lightweight yet rigid, able to retain their shape for many years. They contain 98% air and are resistant to heat and humidity. The key, in any case, is to follow some rules for excellent padding, which you can recognize even when you see it: the secret to a sturdy and well-shaped pouf is to fill the pouf itself enough!

Filling the pouf, here are the main steps

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

We recommend having a person help you: one holds the pouf cover open, while the other fills it with stuffing! Remember, our pouf covers are removable for washing and feature a double closure system with a zipper and Velcro strap. This will make stuffing the pouf safer, as it prevents the polystyrene beads from leaking out.