Softer Better (and more expensive) Bean bag chair/sofa/bed!

After Seeing An Instructable by a genius named dan I remember a product by the company Lovesac and wanted to make a cheaper version. Well I succeeded, kind of.

Step 1 Materials

This is pretty much a copy of the instructable in the intro, however using ripped/shredded foam for stuffing like the lovesac company does. It is way quieter/soft however more expensive.

Was it worth it? Lets find out.

Things you will need: (and what I paid for them)
Sewing Machine (I didn't own one, so 90 bucks)
Fabric (on sale for 2.97 a yard so I spent like 20 bucks)
Thread (5 bucks for two big spools)

(edit: I added a new step for the new stuffing)
Stuffing (I used bed mattress and cut them up, around 120 on 7 of them, hopefully you are smarter and can find something cheaper, they sell the stuff preshredded but much less economic)

Velcro (6 buck for 5 yards or something, industrial strength, a zipper would work too)
Measuring tape (mine was lost in my house, so 3 bucks)
Razor blade (also lost in the house, 1 dollar)
Scissors (something i actually owned, maybe 2-6 bucks?)
Helpers, well, help (any where from free to a dinner each, depends on where you go)

I saw the link before but also gregsabo pointed out inexpensive pre-shredded foam!, looks like a good deal to me, for my project I'd want at least 4. Depending on what you want to use the foamsac for you might not need to fully fill it, if it's meant to lie in, loose is ok, if you want it for more of a lounger a bit more firm would be better, however for a sofa style you will need it just about full so that there is enough for everyone.

Comments

[tinker234]

wow gona make a pokemon one for my sister

[quesoman]

I plan on doing something like this with my grandma. she's always liked sewing projects.

[downgrade]

 Buy better cloth than I did would be my warning. Moved in with my girlfriend and she HATES it because it is large and flannel, but even she admits its damned comfy, we are looking for something to cover it with since my sewing machine is out of commission...

[Wolf Seril]

Thank you for that link- I have been wanting to do this, but before this the cheapest i found foam or beads was $2/ft^{3. That was obviously way too expensive (im making a 5' diameter, 2' high disk, that's about 40 ft}3 so almost $80 for stuffing...), so what I was planing on doing was using scrap styrofoam and blending it. Although you do get nice, small beads, its also extremely messy and im sure it would be incredibly time-consuming.

Short Version- that site is much less expensive, and therefore saved me a lot of work.

[steelnix]

I found "regrind" 10 cu ft bags for $12 a bag...my bean bag/sofa/bed required 30 cu ft...its a little stiff right now and I will remove some here someday but right now its really comfy!!!

[Wolf Seril]

Ok apparently it didnt like my carrots to represent exponents. Noted.

[JanxAngel]

So... How many bags of shredded foam would it take to fill something that's about 5' x 6'? Square not tube. Thanks! :)

[downgrade]

Answer 1: I would say that my 7'x2.5'x2.5' cube was maybe 1/4 more filled with 2 of the small bags from that link... so if we do the math you would need 5.4 (lets say 6) bags... you can do math again to see about the larger bags... now 5'x6' is 2d, so you are missing a dimension, you mentioned "square not tube" so I am going to guess 5'x6'x1' so i would guess 4 (5 for good measure) Now, Answer 2/The disclaimer... I am not sure about that 1/4 fullness thing, it might have been more or less but also filling a sac with foam doesn't seem to work out mathematically. So what I would say is buy a little more than you think you would need (4 or 5) and expect that you might have to place another order.

[JanxAngel]

Ah sorry for the lack of clarity, I meant that I was making more of a pillow shape in that it would have no end pieces to open up the volume. Thanks for the math though, I'm not so good at it sometimes.

[downgrade]

Keep in mind its only foam, so I would put a quite bit more width then you would with a bean filled one, and at least a little more than a standard "what-ever-that-fiber-stuff-is-SUPPOSED-to-be" filled pillow. Good luck all the same.

[JanxAngel]

Well I'm trying to get an idea on how much volume is actually in my friends' Sumo which they got in the Omni Plus version, measuring about 5.5' x 4.5' and filled with foam not beads.

[pugnetti5]

Great writeup...I am thinking about doing something around 7 foot long by 3 foot high and 3 feet wide...more or less a couch I guess. How full do you recommend making it? Would one large bag from that site be enough? It's roughly 4 of the smaller ones. thanks for the idea

[downgrade]

that is slightly larger than mine was, so my answer would be "not by a long shot"... first of all I will warn you that mine still isn't full, it takes a lot of foam (well ok, really i used 2 of those small bags and like 4 or 5 bed rolls, so thats probably another bag or two, and its maybe half way full... back on track) and if it's not full it definitely oozes out to a larger size... mine was supposed to be a giant rectangle, 7x2.5x2.5 (actually a bit smaller after sewing) but right now it lays out to more like 8x4x1.5 In theory I would think filling it up would make it take shape more, but its hard to tell, and I've thought of the downfall that getting it truly full should be quite difficult without foam getting every where... so i would say for that size that a large bag would definately put a good dent in it... but i wouldn't be surprised if 2 bags fit easily in that size. Sorry for the indefinite answer but sadly this project never got to the point I wanted it to, not yet, I'm actually thinking of pretty much starting over by making a futon mattress, partly because it would be comfy, but the main reason is so I have better answers for people, give me a few months so i can get a few more paychecks under ye olde belt and I might be good to go.... Good luck though

[coline3bettson]

Thank you very much...now, I can save $$$ on a mattress for our garden bed. Shalom ! Coline, in Canada

[Dragontrap]

Another idea is to use buckwheat hulls

[Spint180]

In your opinion which is more comfortable, beans or foam. I was thinking of combining the softness of foam with the form fittingness of beans, meaning mix them in my bean bag sofa/bed.

[downgrade]

Sorry I didn't get back to you much sooner, I thought about that too, I love the foam, never was a HUGE fan of bean bags but they aren't bad. What I wondered was would the beans fall to the bottom, giving you a second layer? If they did that might work out awesome, it would form itself into a mattress design where you have levels of firmness, the foam will shape to your body very well, then you put pressure on the beans which will shift to hold that support. Hard to say though, usually those things that sound cool on paper don't work out at all.

[Spint180]

That would be amazing if it actually worked like that. Maybe if you want to make sure it works like that you could make the bean bag have two chambers one for beans and one for shredded foam.

[downgrade]

Hmm, another good idea, sadly I have been very poor recently and in a tiny apartment, and now I am moving residences, but hopefully in less than 4 months I will be remaking my first one with stronger material and possibly starting over due to the fact that I started with those mattress pads. Maybe I will give that a try, if I do I will definitely get a hold of you and give you the credit.

[Spint180]

Don't we all know that situation lol. If you do try it please tell me how it worked out, because it sounds really comfortable on paper.

[NES MAN]

what about using a pre-made bag??? like, a zippered cover for an actual mattress, or from your LESS COMFY old beanbag, or even that NEW cover you bought for your dog sparky's bed that you so conveniently "borrowed" any other ideas to save on time?

[downgrade]

obviously yes if you wanted but the bag didn't take much time and this way it's exactly how i thought i wanted it (turned out to be way too huge but hell, better too big then too small) I have thought about zipper vs velcro though, the only difference is if the bag is pretty full it would probably be harder to zipper than to velcro, but I guess that's also personal preference.

[SMGMoney]

Hey thanks for the tip on the pre shredded foam. I just bought some. Trying to cut up these foam mattresses manually is torture. Unfortunately, now I have a half cut up foam mattress that I don't know what to do with. Any Ideas. I hate just writing that off as a loss. Anyway, I am working on some variations on your bean bag chair and if they work out as well in the real world as they do in my head I will post an instructable

[downgrade]

yeah, im in the same boat, i made some cushioning for a cat bed since they loved the bed mattress so much, but now it never gets used, i also saved a long part of one for a bed mattress i guess (imagine that) but that wastes space too ... i figure i should just cut it up and put it in my sofa thing but im too lazy. If you have anything hit me up, im thinking about remaking mine, this time denim...

[imycle]

Go to your local home store (ie. Home Depot, Menards, Lowes, etc) and buy the cheapest carpet pad that they sell. Cut it up and use as filling for the bean bag (aka foam bag)......

[downgrade]

I think the preshredded stuff is well worth it. Extremely soft, very small, much less work, and its not that expensive, however, it may work if you can find a good deal and have the time I suppose. thanks.

[gregsabo]

I'm considering doing this, too- but I don't think that using bed foam is that much cheaper, plus it's a lot of work. I thought about getting shredded foam from these guys.these guys.
You can get almost 10 cubic feet of shredded foam for about $8, which is about how much you'll pay for just one of those foam pads.

[downgrade]

Yeah I saw that too, after I made the instructable. I'm thinking about ordering some, Ill post a link crediting you on the find, probably check it out myself as well when I get my next pay check. Thanks.