Reusing old cushions?

Savvy_Sue

Greetings, I have done a quick search for cushions but haven't really found an answer to my question, which is this:

I have several old polyester filled cushions which I have washed and tumbled dried with a tennis ball in the drier, BUT they are now very lumpy and quite manky. So I have been wondering: if I take them apart and stuff two into one, so that they at least get firm, does anyone know if the result will be worth the effort, or whether I'll just have firm lumpy cushions instead of thin lumpy cushions?

I'm on a bit of a roll at the moment, have bought lots of lovely thick curtain remnants which have made me 2 throws for our new settees and four smart cushion covers: I've bought some new hollowfill cushion pads for them but I've still got some fabric left.

jenniferpa

A woman after my own heart! Provided you a) stuff them firmly, and b) breakup any big bits when you're stuffing them you should be fine. The only proviso is that when you open them up they are actually fibre fill rather than foam.

Jennifer

maryb

I didn't have much success with reusing them as cushions but they make super soft toy filling where you need to pack it really tightly. So much so that when I made a soft toy recently and had no proper filling, I bought a pack of 2 value pillows from asda for a lot less than i would have had to pay for a small pack of toy filling

angelatgraceland

Sometimes you can separate the layers and it works-othertimes you end up with lots of little balls of polyester. Just depends what state they are in, when you take them apart. Mine have sometimes worked as cushions, but tend to be a little smaller in measurements-I sort of "lost the corners". Most ended up as stuffing for knitted toys.

Queenie

I've used old pillows to make new cushion inserts successfully and also used old cushions. As stated by other posters, much depends on the filling.
If you want to use them as a stuffing to make one newer cushion, presumably you'll use any old material to seal the filling up in and save your new material to cover which can then be removed and cleaned? In which case, just try and see - you've nothing to lose.

If it doesn't work out as you'd like it and you're still stuck for how to use up the fabric you have left over (sounds like you are coordinating your room?) ...

~ make a tissue box cover?
~ make padded picture frames?
~ make a table cloth to go over an occasional table/coffee table runner?
~ dress up a plant pot, make a cover?
~ draught excluder (stuff with the old cushions inners)?
~ coasters?
~ tie backs for the curtains already in the room?
~ pot pourri bags to hang from the door handles?
~ make a pot pourri teddy from the fabric and stuff with the old cushion fillings?
~ cover some shoe boxes with the fabric to store CD/Videos/DVD's in?

Good luck with your projects.

Savvy_Sue

Looks like it's a 'suck it and see' situation ...

And lots of lovely ideas there! We're past the 'stuffing soft toys' stage (not that we were ever really into it!), and I think the boys would be :rotfl: at the idea of 'coordinating' the room, but if I can get some small new cushions out of the old ones then at least the 'throwing cushions' will match the rest of the big ones!

The idea of the throws, btw, is that DS3 won't now feel the need to bring his duvet downstairs everyday so that I come home from work to find him horizontal and topless on the settee. It also occurred to me that his bare back and long hair on the new settees wasn't going to do them any favours. The idea of using curtain remnants only came to me when I was browsing in the shops!

Savvy_Sue

An update: I ripped one cushion apart this evening and concluded that it really is too lumpy to re-use. There were lots of lumps of different sizes, all stringly and tangled up and ugh!

There's a couple which are different, but I can't take them apart yet because they're all that's holding the chair together (I know that doesn't make much sense, but we have a chair which is losing its back, need to phone someone about getting it re-upholstered). I think their lumps will be more even, IYSWIM!

Next step: acquire a zip from my mother, she's bound to have one which will do the trick, for the large cushion which is going to be red one side and gold the other ... The first batch were all made from rectangular strips of material with a pillowcase type opening, but a zip will be easier for this one, I think!

Savvy_Sue

Quick update, got a couple of zips from my mother, knew she'd have something, and have now made the red/gold cover and very stylish it looks too!

Will wait until we have re-upholstered the chair before I take any more old cushions apart to see if they're any good: we need a few of them to stop the back falling out of the chair! :rotfl: