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Collected a futon frame and mattress from free cycle today but cant bring myself to bring the mattress into the house, it is thouroughly stained and covered in dog hair. Cant get the cover off to wash it and the stuffing looks rather dubious. So that is going to the tip.
Have looked on the internet to buy a new futon mattress but they are nt far off the price of a new futon which misses the point really.
So I thought I could make my own, but done know what to stuff it with?
Thought about will or cotton but I dont know where to find wool and cotton seems very expensive, any other ideas?
If I bought foam it needs to not be to dense or it wont fold up, and I dont know where to get it from.

Any help or ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Helen

Sorry I can't answer the question you asked, but I have a suggestion. I bought a futon quite a few years ago. Within a week the frame was cream crackered and we had to send it back for a replacement. That frame didn't last long either. We didn't send it back because we were sick of sitting on the floor, so we bodged it up with bits of wood until we were able to afford to buy something different. Other people may have had the same experience as me and have a good matress without a frame. Is is worth asking on Freecycle before giving yourself all the extra work to do? Of course, futon frames might be better quality these days. I think it was at the end of the 90s when I got mine, so they might have improved since then.

Hi Rosendula,

The frame is actually fine it is pretty sturdy, I think its quite old...perhaps made back in the days before everything was disposable?
We couldnt just have a mattress because we have the futon for the spare room for when guests come. The spare room is tiny so we couldnt have a full sized mattress out all the time, it needs to fold away.

Thanks for the response though.

Helen
x

Hope this is what you're looking for: http://www.nwrenovation.com/21futonchairmattress.html

Yes! Thats exactly it! thanks SPS.
Only thing is now, were do I buy the cotton from?

I don't know, I'd be tempted to use batting... the stuff you make padded quilts with. I know where I used to live you could buy it from a Haberdashery store in two thickness's but I really don't know anywhere else that would sell it offhand... sorry!

Thanks SPS,

I will google batting and see what I get.

Just an idea - I think the most comfortable and home-made futon would need to be made out of two different materials - first, a sturdy but relatively flexible board, which can be cut and hinged where you need it to fold, then lots of layers of something softer : most shops that have a decent range of fabrics seem to do wadding - I'm not sure if it's the same as batting but it's not horrifically expensive, I would imagine that 20 quid would get you plenty to pad out your 'mattress'; or a bunch of cheap/second hand duvets and ripping the middle out of them, or even just laying them on top of each other over the base.

Overall comfort would depend on how flexible the board is and how much padding you can get hold of, I guess.

I would also be interested to see if well-dried straw could be used as a 'filler' covered by something spongier. I guess it would need changing/airing alot though

Try old caravan bed cushions. My sister sleeps on them and swears by them!.

There's a big market near here and one of the stalls sells big bits of foam. I don't know how much the bit that Nik got was.

What about an inflatable mattress? We got a king sized one for £35 last Summer from Pound$tretcher in their camping dept, the double was cheaper still.

Then you could just make simple cusions for the settee & inflate the mattress (I highly recommend a foot pump, same shop, £5) when guests need a bed.

(The foam place Fee refers to is here in Leicester & I got a piece for my settee for £7.50! It measured about 2' by 4' and is 5'' thick.)

MW

Thanks for all the ideas everyone,

I have had a bit of luck though!

Another futon came up on freecycle which we went to see and its practically new, from Ikea.

So we took this one, will get rid of the mattress from the first one and use the frame for something else.


I am glad I didnt have to make a mattress, would have taken ages.