Homemade Beanbag CHAIRS...

[AnnaReilly]

I love bean bag chairs but I'm not a huge fan of the polystyrene filling and the other bean bag thread got me thinking...

Have any of you ever made a bean bag chair? Do you think it would work to fill it with dried beans??? I'd have to buy a whole grocery cart of beans though! LOL Can you guys think of anything else that would work on a large scale?

[oncewerewise]

No suggestion, but I'm going to be watching this thread because I love bean bag chairs too!!!


Peace.

[Sandra Dee]

Maybe eco foam?

Those little peanuts that come in packages, but are made of corn and dissolve easily?

DARN - I just threw away two HUGE boxes of them before we moved!!! Why didn't I think of that?

[khrisday]

Yeah, regular beans would be WAY too heavy IMHO.

[Clarity]

Those eco foam - that's a good idea...I suspect they will compress very very fast...so you'd need to make it easily refillable. I have a poof chair right now, and they use foam crumbles rather than polystyrene beads...not much better, but poofier, yk?

[AnnaReilly]

Eco foam would work, but what if you spilled water on it? LOL

You're right, Khrisday, regular beans would be really heavy.

I'm trying to think of something I could mix with beans... so it's not too heavy, but is durable enough... hmmmm.....

[princess buttercup]

I have added plastic grocery bags to a limp beanbag to fluff it out.
maybe they could work partially with the beans to fluff without so much weight. (I can't believe how expensive the formed bean bag chairs cost!)

[Bladestar5]

If you got the beans wet, you would have a sprout chair! Sorry, I can't think of anything

[Sandra Dee]

I was working under the assumption that the outside would be waterproof - like the vinyl ones from the 70s?

You could always make it out of PUL. Or fill it with fabric scraps, I suppose?

Beans always run the risk of infestation.

We had some black eyed peas once that had some kind of beetle that burrows its way out of the bean when it hatches. There were bugs EVERYWHERE in my pantry.

[Bladestar5]

good point.

[Bladestar5]

Shredded paper? It would be loud when you sit down, though.

[hydrangea]

I like the shredded plastic bag idea for fluffing it up. That's a great way of recycling plastic bags.

I have no other ideas, except maybe sand? Sawdust?

Maybe check out your hardware store and your garden store to see if they have anything appropriate.

[Clarity]

mine has a plain fabric liner (no vinyl) you can get a liner, (I did) with what looks and feels like a waterproofed cotton or cotton/poly blend. Grocery bags or shredded paper would be cool!

[AnnaReilly]

Okay so maybe not beans, huh? LOL EEEwww... all the talk of sprouting and insect infestations creeped me out!

The recycling of plastic bags or paper is a good idea though... I'll have to keep thinking about this! If I make one I'll let y'all know!

[LaLaLuna]

How about buckwheat hulls or millet hulls? I have no idea how cost-effective that might be. I'd love it if someone could point me toward a source of millet hulls, though!

[hydrangea]

I was thinking the same thing just yesterday, except with rice or wheat hulls.

I don't know where to get them though.

[Sandra Dee]

Another thought -
When you make those ache snakes you're supposed to use some kind of feed for cows - it's like an un-popped popcorn kernel or something???

Maybe some other feed grain??

We have a place here that supplies it to farmers - but we're kind of rural now.

[LaLaLuna]

Feed corn!

Might be hard for sitting on, though.

[Clarity]

rice can be got in 50lb bags from asian markets and warehouse store among other places. I would try whole grains special order through a co-op or a feed store or grain mill in a more rural area. Freeze all organic material first to avoid insect contamination. Many things like wheat or corn may come with grain moth eggs already in it. Freezing kills them.