# What to fill a beanbag chair with **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580 "2023-10-14T21:36:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/21 "2023-10-15T05:51:22Z")
Why wouldn’t plain ol’ clay cat litter work? I would be afraid of any nut shell. Walnut shells have an oily inside. They may treat it though. Not sure. I have pecan trees and the hull breaks down pretty fast. The squirrels litter my deck with them. They start out sharp and if they’re not swept they go to powder pretty quickly. Walnut shells would be durable, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/22 "2023-10-15T06:09:22Z")
I would think cat litter of any sort would pull moisture from the air and eventually get nasty. Most would probably rub against itself and eventually turn to powder and then mud. (Just guessing here.) I suppose a lot depends upon where you live. Here in Northern Virginia we consider 60% humidity to be low. Some people around here get cocoa bean shells to use as mulch in their gardens. It smells like heaven for a day or two, but the smell goes away fairly quickly. They are pretty light weight and soft-ish without being easily flattened. Would peat moss work? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/23 "2023-10-15T06:24:15Z")
What about cork bits? > **[Pieces of cork - Natural cork (Cork pieces for crafts)](https://www.corkstore24.com/shop/147-cork-nuggets/)** > > Cork bits - efficient alternative to cork boards! Brown pieces for hard-to-reach places. Great for terrariums! Discover the full potential of natural cork. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/24 "2023-10-15T08:48:57Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Why wouldn’t plain ol’ clay cat litter work? Way too heavy. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/25 "2023-10-15T09:05:48Z")
Cherry pits have a good size, are hollow-ish thus relatively light and last forever. They can be expensive, and I don’t know whether and if yes, where you can get them in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/26 "2023-10-15T09:43:33Z")
40# for ~$40: [PIT STUFF](http://www.cherrypitstore.com/index_files/Page890.htm) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/27 "2023-10-15T11:28:24Z")
The reason the manufacturers used EPS beads is that they worked. Light, durable, formable, non-clumping, non-deteriorating. Choosing any other substance is choosing to do a bad job for some reason unrelated to function. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/28 "2023-10-15T11:36:04Z")
Airsolf pellets? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/29 "2023-10-15T12:29:48Z")
As long as we a throwing out all kinds of ideas… What about those bark chips they use in play grounds? ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/30 "2023-10-15T12:35:02Z")
Or [Rubber Mulch](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-75-cu-ft-Espresso-Black-Rubber-Nugget-Mulch-Super-Sack-GN75BK/320079202)? Pieces are probably too big though. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/31 "2023-10-15T12:42:47Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > What about buckwheat? I’d be afraid he’d suffocate. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/32 "2023-10-15T13:13:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > > Maybe you can find a source of surplus Beanie Babies and stuff it with those. > > Reduce reuse recycle. I think this is closer to reuse as in re-purpose. 😉 > > But still, anything that takes a beanie baby off the Earth is progress. It’s not actually eliminating the Beanie Baby, though; it’s just leaving you with an empty Beanie Baby pelt. Maybe you could make tiny little BB-skin rugs for dollhouses? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/33 "2023-10-15T13:15:37Z")
Oh, I had not intended to take the guts out of the BBs; just put a few dozen of the devil spawn inside the beanbag intact, wave buh-bye to them all, & zip 'er up! Although you do have the germ of an interesting idea there. How about this?: Remove the stuffing and fill your chair with it. Which leaves you with a mound of Beanie Baby pelts. Then make sort of a patchwork quilt full-sized floor rug from them. Not all neatly cut into squares, just kind of a Frankenstein monster skin of roughly stitched pelt-shapes. It’d be an awesome addition to anyone’s chamber of horrors. It’d be especially effective at turning a little kid into a future serial killer. See what Mommy did to your little friends? You can tell my wife is binge-watching Stephen King DVDs. Not my style, but they give me … ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/34 "2023-10-15T14:57:40Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Remove the stuffing and fill your chair with it. Like this, but with beanie babies? ![](https://media2.giphy.com/media/3o6MbaSSMbMnElbf4k/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47trch3feqb3x5tsximt3zqkx159rdlu8rg4nlkb7s&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g) ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/35 "2023-10-15T15:04:09Z")
I had a girlfriend back in about 1970 or so that had one filled with actual dried beans, Maybe pinto beans? It was real comfortable. The later versions filled with Styrofoam beads were not so comfortable ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/36 "2023-10-15T15:15:30Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’d say foam peanuts and cotton quilt batting torn up in chunks. The cotton batting will ball up pretty quickly and possibly suspend itself in the peanuts. If you have two kinds of fill material, they’ll quickly sort themselves out and separate, which probably won’t give whatever feel you were trying for. > [@mixdenny](#): > > We used them by the ton at work. Is that for the bottom of the drop pit? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/37 "2023-10-15T15:37:37Z")
![](https://media.tenor.com/8N9xl2Mx5eQAAAAC/seinfeld-reactions.gif) Yeah thought the same when buckwheat was mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/38 "2023-10-15T16:22:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is that for the bottom of the drop pit? Yes. The deceleration cart was 5’ diameter and 20’ deep. We had custom canvas bags made which were 8’ cubes on a tubing frame. Three of them would fit on a semi trailer and we would send them to the manufacturer to be filled We stored them outside for at least a month before using them after the fire. We vacuumed them out after each drop to re-fluff them. The flow of the beads in the flex hose generated thousands of volts of static electricity. Vacuuming them up was one of the first jobs I had when I started as a technician apprentice. My ground strap came off once and I drew about a 4" spark when I got near a steel post. Did. Not. Do That. Again. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/39 "2023-10-15T19:45:57Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > My ground strap came off once and I drew about a 4" spark when I got near a steel post. Did. Not. Do That. Again. Aaah, yes. “Self-critiquing behavior” in USAF’s memorable phrase. I bet that HURT! Sorry you had to get that one the hard way. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580/40 "2023-10-15T20:31:00Z")
It not only hurt but I was on top of a 20’ high platform with minimal railings. Another job I had at that facility was to change film in a camera on the “ceiling”. But this was a chamber about 40’ diameter and the ladder wound around the inside of the damn thing. So you started up vertically, then began turning upside down as you went past the center. You had to flip over at some point as the rungs were now on the other side and you were laying on them like a jungle gym. I’m afraid of heights and was absolutely terrified. This was the same chamber that held the 3-axis gimbal rig the original astronauts had trained on only a few years earlier. [https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/historic-facilities/altitude-wind-tunnel/awt-timelines/](https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/historic-facilities/altitude-wind-tunnel/awt-timelines/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-fill-a-beanbag-chair-with/991580.md?page=3)