What do you fill a homemade bean bag chair with at home?

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A bean bag or pear chair is very popular, but when choosing, potential users often pay attention only to the appearance and size of the product, ignoring the filling. Meanwhile, the durability of frameless furniture depends on the density of the latter. Moreover, just a high-quality filler for a bean bag chair guarantees the comfort of using the “pear”: relieving muscle tension and the proper relaxing effect after a hard day. That is why, when choosing this popular piece of furniture, it is important to take into account not only its appearance, but also the properties and characteristics of the internal component.

What materials are needed to make an upholstered chair?

So, you prefer frameless furniture and decided to make an ottoman chair with your own hands? Then you will need the following basic materials:

1. Upholstery fabric for sewing the outer cover.

For a bag chair cover, you should choose a fabric with a dense texture, for example, the kind that is used to make armchairs and sofas in furniture production - tapestry, linen, velor, capitonné, eco-leather, vinyl, etc. Such fabrics hold the shape of the bag better and are the most resistant to wear.

Upholstery fabric for outer cover

1. Fabric for outer bag with filling.

Choosing a smooth and sliding fabric will facilitate the smooth movement of the filling throughout the bag, shaping it to the shape of the person sitting in the chair. In addition, you should use a plain fabric so that its pattern does not show through the outer cover.

Fabric for inner bag

1. Chair filler. We will talk about it in more detail.

Chair filler

How to choose the right filler

At first glance, this may seem like a fairly easy task - buy polystyrene foam, put it in a bag and use it with pleasure. However, this is not entirely true - there are many points of choice that require a special approach. After all, not only its convenience and comfort, but also its environmental friendliness and durability depend on what filler is used as the base of the chair. As a rule, granulated polystyrene foam is used together with various softening materials to fill a frameless chair.

Granules with a diameter of 5-6 mm

The bag chair can be filled with granules of primary and secondary polystyrene foam. The first group has a perfectly round shape. Such granules are made by foaming polystyrene. Recycled foam granules are obtained as a result of processing defective products and have a broken granule shape. It is not recommended to use them to fill a pear chair, as they will crumble too quickly during use and the pouf will shrink.

For padding frameless furniture, primary polystyrene foam balls are usually used, the advantages of which are:

• affordable price.
• low shrinkage.
• soft and comfortable balls.
• sufficient bulk density.
• Availability - sold in all hardware stores.

Primary polystyrene foam

How to calculate the required quantity

The standard size is considered to be a bean bag with a volume of 300-350 liters. To add polystyrene foam to settled frameless furniture, 100 liters is enough. This is the volume of a standard filler package, which can be purchased in specialized stores; it will be enough to return the pear chair to its original characteristics and properties.

As for children's models, their volume is much smaller - 200 liters. To update such furniture, it is enough to fill in about a third of the total volume of “balls”. Renewing the filling of a children's pouf is done very rarely, since shrinkage occurs slowly due to the small weight of the child.

Filling with polystyrene foam balls is carried out gradually until the chair returns to its original shape.

Filler for filling

Selecting a softening filler

The bag, which is filled only with foam balls, holds its shape well, but under the weight of the human body the foam compresses and the chair becomes rigid. To avoid this effect, a softening additive is additionally used, for example, foam rubber crumbs or holofiber, which completely fills all the gaps between the polystyrene foam granules. It is much more convenient to use frameless furniture with combined filling. Each of these softening materials has its own advantages and disadvantages. Foam rubber has a lower cost, but it is short-lived and crumbles over time.

Foam rubber crumbs

Holofiber, on the contrary, has many undeniable advantages. It is hypoallergenic, moisture-resistant, breathable, quite durable and resistant to the absorption of foreign odors.

Holofiber

Let's take a thorough look at the most important and most frequently asked questions in this article:

• Cost and Quality
• What are the quality guarantees?
• Wrinkles over time
• Toxicity and Environmental Friendly

How much does a quality filler cost?

Don’t be fooled by cheaper offers from dubious sellers, be it a beanbag chair for two or three thousand rubles or a pear chair filler for one hundred or two hundred rubles - they will last you for several months, at most.

Firstly, when you see that a bean bag chair costs 2000 or 4000 rubles, rest assured that it is made of cheap fabrics and materials that will not last long. WHY? Because otherwise such a chair will be unprofitable for the seller, since one chair takes at least four meters of fabric and about 300 liters of filling, and at the same time, “the seller is also a person” and must make a profit! If so, it means that such a chair will be filled with low-quality and cheap filling.

Secondly, look at what volume of filler they offer you for the specified price. As you have already read, for the average person (height 170 cm), the volume of the chair cannot be less than 250-350 liters. Many stores of cheap bean bags or private sellers of filling on Avito deliberately mislead customers, offering to buy filling for 200, 100 or even 50 rubles, but the volume is either not indicated or is written in the smallest font. For information: polystyrene foam is produced in cubic meters (1 cubic meter = 1000 liters) and the average retail price of high-quality certified polystyrene foam starts at 4,000 rubles, which means the minimum price for 100 liters cannot be lower than 400 rubles.

Conclusion No. 1: The cost of 100 liters of filling for a beanbag chair should be at least 400 rubles.

Select filler

What filler is high quality?

A high-quality filler should be:

• Certified by the manufacturer and the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare;
• Diameter from 1 to 2 mm
• Density not lower than 13 g/l

Certification - here it is worth focusing on two points: What was certified? and To what extent do the data obtained during the examination comply with the standards for use in furniture? The integrity of the seller and manufacturer is verified very quickly and simply: request a certificate. Here is the certificate of the filler used in the ambient lounge®:

— Certified specifically for frameless furniture ( NOT! for construction or thermal insulation )

— Full compliance with standards: SanPin, MRL, MPC, etc.

Diameter of polystyrene foam ball or filler

The larger the granule size, the lower the quality for the consumer! It's very simple - the larger the ball, the more air it contains, and paying for air is not reasonable! The more air -> the faster the granules will begin to compress under the weight of your body -> the chair will become unusable (deflate) -> and you will have to fill it more often. The diameter of a low-quality filler starts from 4mm or more, the most common is about 5-7mm. This filler is suitable only for the cheapest bean bag chairs and pears, where shape and comfort are not important. This filler can be used for short-term events.

The ambient lounge® uses the smallest filler (only the filler for anti-stress pillows is smaller) and this is visible to the naked eye. It lasts five times longer and is why our furniture lasts for years. The color of the granules should be white, the correct shape of the balls is round!

If you buy filler for yourself, proceed from the truest principle: value for money.

Granule density - what does it give?

The denser the ball, the longer it lasts and the less it compresses, but at the same time it should remain soft so that you feel comfortable in the chair. The filler used in the ambient lounge® is 50% higher in density, more than 15 g/l, than its analogues, the density of which rarely reaches 7 g/l.

Therefore, ambient lounge® furniture feels softer, deforms less and lasts much longer. Instead of a huge bag of filler, which you will need in a couple of months, a small handbag of high-quality filler will be enough for you

Conclusion No. 2: a high-quality filler, when used for a year or more, is more profitable than a cheap analogue!

Select filler

Doesn't your filler squeak?

Due to their low density and large diameter, cheap filler granules really emit an uncharacteristic thin sound... Just don’t buy a cheap one if you love yourself and those around you even a little.

The filler is DANGEROUS! this is POISON! TOXIC SMELL! and so on…

Now we know how to choose a quality filler, and therefore below we will talk about how harmful or not a certified filler is harmful. Let's look at this issue in more detail, since frameless furniture is very often purchased for children. Regarding the environmental friendliness of polystyrene derivatives, battles have not subsided since the start of production to this day: some consider the material to be absolutely harmless and environmentally friendly, while others consider it a real time bomb.

Expanded polystyrene or extruded polystyrene foam is one of the most popular fillers in the private sector, and frameless furniture is no exception. Its popularity is explained by both high technical characteristics and accessibility. It is quite difficult for a person who is far from the technology of producing polystyrene to figure out which of the properties of polystyrene are real and which are from the category of “horror stories”.

Briefly about the main thing : what is polystyrene foam? Often, expanded polystyrene (EPS) is called polystyrene foam, which is quite justified, since polystyrene foam is a general concept that unites a group of foamed plastics (polymers), to which EPS belongs.

Firstly, it is important to understand that what is important here is not “WHAT?”, but “HOW MUCH?”. Polystyrene granules do contain a toxic substance called styrene. But its concentration is certified! polystyrene foam is extremely small (less than 0.002 mg per 1 cubic meter - let us remember that the volume of a chair is usually 0.3 cubic meters), because modern technologies and world-class equipment complete the polymerization process on 100% of the molecules and during the drying process all non-containing substances are removed styrene molecules linked in chains. During operation, if it emits something, then, of course, within the limits permitted by sanitary standards (MPC).

FACT - Not many people know, but styrene is found in common foods like nuts and strawberries. Expanded polystyrene packaging (hereinafter referred to as EPS) is in great demand all over the world - fish boxes, hot cups, meat trays, etc.

MYTH - therefore, you can use certified polystyrene foam with complete peace of mind for your own health and the health of others. By the way, formaldehyde, which is contained in laminated chipboard, that is, in most mass-produced frame furniture, is also poisonous. But the point here is the concentration of these substances!

Is the filler allergic?

Expanded polystyrene is biologically neutral and a hypoallergenic filler - this means that no microorganisms, mold, mildew or other irritants will grow in it, which has been proven by numerous studies.

Toxic smell?

If you smell a synthetic smell and the filler has a certificate, this means only one thing: the filler has literally just been produced and it needs several days for the smell, after the process of producing polystyrene foam, to simply disappear. Everything new should have a smell!

Previously, it was believed that all polymers emit harmful substances throughout their entire life cycle, since the polymerization process cannot be completed on 100% of the molecules - but we have already written above that this is a myth and explained why!

What if you set it on fire? or fire?

If it’s normal for you to burn your own furniture, then “you should continue along the corridor”...

Fire? Anything can happen and no one is immune, so let’s say a few words about one of the most important parameters – flammability! The concern is not so much the flammability of polystyrene itself, but the smoke and its toxicity. PPS is a flammable material (G3), BUT! it does not support combustion, as it contains fire retardants.

By the way, metal also burns - remember the fire like at the ZIL plant, where metal was burning and the temperature went off scale over 1000⁰C, in such conditions absolutely everything will burn. That is, if you bring the burner up and remove it, then in a maximum of 4 seconds the polystyrene granule will go out. This is during testing. When burning EPS, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are released, the same as when burning wood. The point is that this amount of smoke is much less, since the density of EPP is on average 15 kg/m³, which is less than that of other materials.

That is why this filler is used for frameless furniture, various shapes of pillows, including for pregnant women!

And finally, let's finish with humor :) If someone, somewhere, once told you that frameless furniture due to the use of polystyrene foam (deputy editor - certified! ) poses a health hazard, then advise them - then, there, then, do not use disposable tableware (including coffee from fast food stores), and also throw away all computer equipment and television, since polystyrene is also used to make their cases... and children's toys, including famous ones brands such as LEGO :)

How to sew an upholstered pear chair?

Fusion style bean bag chair

Once the choice of materials for frameless furniture has been made, you can begin to manufacture it. Having made patterns for the inner and outer bags, the patterns for which can be easily found on the World Wide Web of the RuNet, you need to sew all the parts and sharpen the zipper.

Examples of patterns for making a bean bag chair:

Pattern for a large pear chair

Ball chair patterns

Pouf patterns

Bean bag chair pattern

Keep in mind that the zipper on the outer cover should be of a size that allows you to easily slide the cover over the bag of filler. It is also worth considering that for the same purpose, the size of the outer bag should be slightly larger than the size of the inner one.

When both bags are sewn, you need to fill one of them with filler.

If you start pouring polystyrene foam granules directly into a bag, you won’t succeed - the filler has very little weight and scatters quite quickly in different directions.

Homemade paper funnel for pouring polystyrene foam

We offer you one of the simplest and safest ways to put filler into a bag, for which you will need the neck and middle (the second part without the bottom) of a plastic water or carbonated drink bottle.

Place the top of the bottle in a bag with purchased filler so that the neck itself is on the outside and secure with rope or tape. Place the second part in a sewn filler case and secure it too. Place one side of the bottle inside the other and gradually fill the inner bag with Styrofoam beads.

Option for using the middle part of a plastic bottle to fill the filler

Thanks to this method, your chair bag will be assembled relatively quickly, while all the granules will end up at their destination, and not scatter throughout the room. The same method can be used when adding filler in case of shrinkage and loss of shape of a bean bag chair that has been in use for some time.

Tips for filling

Regardless of whether the cover is made according to an individual sketch or purchased ready-made, you need to know how the bean bag chair is filled. It is extremely difficult to fill poufs well; it is important to follow the sequence of steps, otherwise small plastic filler balls can easily scatter around the room. The algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. Prepare an empty plastic bottle with a narrow neck.
2. Conventionally, divide it into three parts, cut it so that the top one remains in your hands, resembling a standard plastic watering can-funnel.
3. Insert the prepared bottle, neck down, into the bean bag cover, securing it with tape or rope.
4. Feel free to pour the balls, little by little filling the wide part of the plastic container with them.

By analogy, you can use a paper funnel or a large plastic watering can, if you have one at home.

You can fill the material in another way. The method involves using a vacuum cleaner and a nylon stocking:

1. Take the tube from the vacuum cleaner and pull a nylon stocking over it.
2. Open the bag with the filling and the inner cover of the chair.
3. Hold the handset with one hand and turn on the device with the other.
4. Without ceasing to hold the pipe, lower it into a container with balls - the bean bag filler will stick to the stocking.
5. Turn off the vacuum cleaner, place the tube in the case - just shake it a little and all the balls will be inside.

With this method, not a single granule will end up outside the bag. But it’s easier to add settled filler to the chair with two people, making sure that there are no small children or pets nearby. It would be a good idea to prepare a container of water so that the electrified balls can be easily collected.

Caring for a frameless chair

Sooner or later, every owner of a bean bag has a desire to wash it. This is an integral part of caring for upholstered furniture, which is constantly in contact with the human body, as well as with the surface of the floor, as it is located directly on it, without any stands or rollers.

What does a bean bag chair consist of?

In order not to disturb the structure of the filler, its softness and friability properties, it is not recommended to wash the chair together with the filler.

Thanks to the zipper sewn into the bag, you can remove the cover and put it back on after washing. If you also want to refresh the filler case, you will have to empty it of its contents.

Knowing how to fill a chair bag yourself at home, you can easily pour polystyrene foam granules into a plastic bag of the appropriate size, wash the inner bag and fill it again with balls.

Comparative table of bean bag effectiveness