I've just realised something about bean bags that probably everyone else already knew..

[BendyBobbingApples]

..they go flat and have to be refilled.

I didn't realise this. I thought the dc's bean bag might have gone flat but put it down to my imagination.

But today I was in the shop where we got it and there were some for sale exactly the same and they weren't flat. And nearby they were selling top up bags of beany filling. Lightbulb moment followed

lol!

i didn't know that either!

OMG that explains why DS1's beanbag has gone flat.....I thought he must have been taking out the beans....

It's not just me then! Phew!!

Those polystyrene beads def seems to lose their volume over time though. We've had ours about a year and it looks very deflated. I wondered why they (handily as it turns out) sold refills.

Kirsty - Not sure if it's a national chain, but it's 'The Range' (darn saff).

I bet you can get a bag of refill in lots of home- warey type shops though. Big refill bag was £3.99.

but where does the filling go? just flat,or do they escape?

Dunelm Mills sellls beanbag refills in lots of different sized bags.

Out giant fatboy beanbag had to be refilled recently as it was going flat. The fatboy beans are really expensive - I refilled with Dunelm Mills ones, lol!

The expanded polystyrene 'beans' get compacted when they're sat on

they get all squashed. When you open up the beanbag the balls aren't balls anymore they are more like disks!

I defy anyone to refill their beanbag without beans going everywhere, they get all static and cling to everything, its a very messy job. Even if they are contained in an inner bag some of the little blighters always get out.

You can refill them? [thicko emoticon]. I chicked mine when they got flat :(

Not really, I chucked them :)

There are different grades of balls though, the smallest are the best. They don't compact so much apparently.

They really are a pain to refill though. I made bean bags for my kids last Christmas because I wasn't prepared to pay 80 euros for one, which is how much they cost here in Greece. The only place I found here in Athens which sells the polystyrene balls charged 15 euros a bag. I needed at least 2 bags per bean bag.

Wow Toodles you know so much re bean-bags! Different grades of filling?? I have been living totally in the dark about all this.

I feel like I've stumbled upon a basic truth of life here I honestly though I was imagining the deflation process over the last year.

Well, the refilling operation is tomorrow's job. That'll be interesting then if they go everywhere. More tidying up...aargh!!

Hobbycraft stores sell bags of the polystyrene beads too, I think - if that helps.

When we get styrofoam packaging I break it up a bit and just shove it in. It breaks down more to little beads over time. :)

Well, we have a Fatboy as I mentioned before where the refill bags are over £40 a go! It took about 4 years for the beans to go flat of regular but not daily use, and children jumping on it.

I have refilled it with the cheaper beans from Dunelm Mills so I will report back in a year or so when they go flat next.

Has anyone noticed when you try to hoover up spills of the tiny balls they actually roll away from the hoover - it's a pest and no mistake!

that had never crossed my mind either

(I thought those bean bag balls were for people making their own bean bags )

hulababy i too have a fatboy and have had it for years. i didn't even know they did their own beans and have only ever used bog standard ones and has always been fine. love my fatboy......

Hulababy I did a search for beanbag filler and this thread was up there. Did the Fatboy stay fat?

I'm going to make a big bean bag bed thing for ds2. They're £60 to buy. Am making one out of a duvet cover and bean bag filler.

Fill/refill them in the bath. Dry the bath first obviously and put the plug in. It helps to keep everything contained.

Oh dear, I feel I've down a grave disservice to an exflatmate. For about 13 years I've harboured a grudge against her as I thought she'd taken out some of the filling to use as packing when she abruptly moved out.

If I really think about, why on earth would anyone use those tiny annoying balls for packing!

HRN

Great tip Horopu.

I buy beanbags down the bootsale really cheap, most of the time they only charge a qiud or two and refill mine that way. much cheaper than buying bean refills from the shop