Have too many old pillows and rugs around your house?
If you are a folk in the making, then you could be having a wardrobe of old pillow somewhere in your house. You have always wished to let them go but just don’t know how. These rags have always just been piling.
But don’t worry because today, you will have an idea of handling a colony of these old fellows, your old bed pillows.
Can it still be suitable for other purposes? Probably, if it has only been serving you for some few years, it could still not be in a bad shape. Give it another chance for other usage. Consider the tips below to help you revive, and reuse those old pillows!
Here are the 18 practical things you can do with old pillows other than throwing them away.
What to Do with Old Pillows
1. Refurbish baby’s toys and teddy bears
If have exhausted your resources and wish to save on gifts for your children, homemade stuffed toys are always a great idea.
For something fancy, you may need a little bit of experience in creating these DIY artworks to come up with a perfect toy or teddy bear.
Better yet, you could find an expert to convert the old pillows into a decorative piece at a small cost.
Rebuilding playthings for your young ones using your old pillows is just a superb idea.
Simply collect the old pillow covers that may be the taste for your kids, cut them into patterns of choice and put your art skills to work. You will have brand toys from the old fabrics, a great free resource.
2. Make Rugs from your Old pillows
Having trouble cleaning around your house? Good news, your old bed pillows are a good choice.
Beautiful Persian pillows like this one can make incredible rugs.
If still in good shape, take them outdoor and remove the fillings, then make remaining covers into your indoor or outdoor rugs.
3. Make shopping bags
Tired of filling your house with items? Buying shopping bags will just fill your house with more stuffs. Just turn your old pillows into shopping bags for your kitchen item and other essentials.
You can do this by simply emptying the old pillow case inner materials into a bin and utilizing the cover. Just be sure to cut the material into pieces that can be knit into beautiful shopping bags. It will save you a lot.
4. Ask friends or people online if they’re interested
Before trying out other methods of disposing old pillows, ask around among your family and friends. Go to Facebook too and post them there.
I remember having 12 pillowcases that I needed to dispose. When I shared the pictures online asking if anybody was interested in taking them, I received tons of request. That’s when I realized one of my cousins was making an outdoor bench and I gave him 6 of them. I sent the other six to a stranger who told me he was running a dog rescue center and they’d just brought in a few more puppies.
Donating a couple of old pillows to a friend would be a good idea as long as you have washed them well and they are not completely out of shape.
5. Make leg pillows
Worry no more about suffering muscle pull on your leg at night. Gracing your legs with a pillow in between them is will greatly reduce that muscle tension.
Because you have a stock of old pillows, just grab one or sew several into a long pillow that you can also cuddle in while having that deep, comfortable sleep.
6. Take them to authorized incineration services
Burning pillows can be bad for the environment. However, there are times when your pillow is too damaged and the material is not quite recyclable. In that case, here is what to do.
Find a nearby incineration facility and ask them if they take old pillows. Although this may take cost you a few bucks if it is a commercial property, it is still a legal way of getting rid of old pillows.
7. Stuff or fill up a wall
A concrete or brick wall could accommodate old pillows especially when sealing large damages during an emergency. For those with timber walls, this may not be a viable idea.
Also, if your horse just kicked the stable wall and created a gaping hole, you might want to have a way of sealing it even if it is temporarily.
8. Reinforce another pillow
Some of your current pillows may have just started showing the signs of room for additional materials to help them prolong your comfort.
You can add items from old pillows to your current sagged ones by just unzipping them and letting into the other just enough fabrics. Alternatively, you can still reinforce your new pillow by sewing it to the old one, making it firmer.
9. Put them in a child’s bedroom or give to a younger sibling
Children love to play and pillows are great items for fun games including pillow fights. How many times have you found your child playing with your pillows? Probably many times.
If you’ve just bought new pillows and already thinking about the getting rid of the old ones, you’re your sibling or child might appreciate them.
Certain one of the most exciting ways to use old pillows giving them to kids to make a fort. They love fort pillows because they are a safe, fun, and soft hideouts. Even though we might not admit it openly, some adults love pillow forts too!
10. Turn Old Pillows into Cushions
Another great way of utilizing old pillows is to observe the rule of symmetry by slicing them into halves and emptying close to half of the material inside, and then sewing up the open end.
These will be great comfort providers for seats with hard surfaces, cushioning you from the wood underneath. Have your seat ready by covering the new comfort materials with chair covers.
11. Use for Pet Bed
If you own a home, then you will often have a little more space than an apartment. This means that you can have more than a single pet living with you in your home.
Pets that may require pillows are dog, rabbits, hamsters, cats, birds, and snakes.
As man’s best friends, your pets deserve better than other animals, especially if they are indoor guards. So, if your old pillows are resting somewhere in the house, your pet can inherit them. Allow your pet to comfortably sleep in its cubicle while enjoying the cosy old pillows.
Pick enough old pillows for making a warm platform for the kitten or puppy, a great home for them. This can be very helpful to them, especially during winter.
12. Use as road trip pillow
Old pillows can be useful in road trips where it is often easy to miss the comfort and luxury of your home.
A great camping trip is enjoyable with an unforgettable tranquil sleep in the wild. Many factors such as the warmth of your wears, sleeping bags, and some old pillows could add to a better experience in the camping field at night, but not like that brought by choosing to use a pillow.
All you need to do is preserve save your old pillows for you or your family’s camping trip and take them with you. This cuts the cost of getting spare camping pillows or wearing out your new bedroom pillows.
13. Donate to animal shelters or homeless shelters
If you have no need for innovation, another alternative is to give out your old pillows. While it is advisable to donate pillows that are in good quality, you can adjust your old pillows by cleaning the covers to make them fit for use. You can then take these to animal centres or charity stores as donations.
They highly value the considerable comfort these pillows give to their pets and people.
The following are some organizations that might take old pillows you donate:
- Animal shelters
- Homeless shelters
- Some health organizations
- Thrift stores
However, many clothing donation organizations such as Goodwill and Salvation Army do not accept used pillows due to health and hygiene reasons.
Salvation Army and Goodwill, do not accept used pillows for sanitary reasons
14. Offer them to homeless guys
It may look intimidating to donate to people on the streets sometimes. However, if you can’t help them much, perhaps giving them your old pillows would improve their sleep and better their experiences on the street.
In case you feel that these are longer miles, then ready your old pillows and give them to that homeless folk on the street. To you, this may not seem quite a help, but to the one who camps in the cold winter days, it could be their new companion.
15. Knee support during prayer
In the ancient days, people used pillows as knee rests during prayer. A pillow is a lot more comfortable and you can stay on your knees for longer than when kneeling on a bare hard floor. This practice is still welcome in many religious gatherings today.
So, for religious people, try carrying your old pillow along with you when attending a prayer session that requires a lot of kneeling.
16. Sealing up a drafty door or window
If cold and uncomfortable currents of cold air bother you all the time, you might consider a DIY draft stopper made from old pillows. This is usually a pretty simple project and a nice way to reuse most of your pillow stuffing.
The reason for this is because having your AC or heater working overtime to control the dafty doors and windows could significantly increase your energy bill. We all love to cut down on the cost of utilities.
17. Use as moving material
Keep all your old pillows and put them to work when planning to pack a couple of fragile items to move. Delicate transportation such as furniture may require protecting covers in the edges. If you do not want these items to get scraped, putting these pillows between the truck or bike and the item could prevent metal surfaces from destroying those items while in transit.
18. Use them for outdoor seating
It is possible to reupholster old pillows by using weather resistant fabrics and set the out on the deck, probably for an outdoor seat. That way, you may not feel bad when an extreme weather or wild animals ruin them compared with brand new pillows.
Those are some the easy and straightforward things you can do with old pillows.
Old pillows taking up that extra space in your house are a valuable resource that could very useful with your thought rejuvenated. You can creatively refurbish, reuse, and utilize those old bed pillows.