Amigurumi Stuffing

Hi, are there any alternatives to stuffing for amigurumi?
Thanks

I use the pillows from Ikea. They cost 1.99 euros, and the stuffing is washable 
Best, Melanie 

Yes, pillows from Ikea or Roller are a good alternative to stuffing.

OK, thanks. What do you do with what’s left over from the pillow once it’s empty?

I always use aquarium filter floss.

So I just ordered some special stuffing,
before that, I used to fill everything with cotton wool from the drugstore :)

It’s best to use washable stuffing. Alternatively, you can use fabric scraps, leftover yarn, or old clothes. You should avoid anything that isn’t washable, such as cotton pads. 

Good tips, thanks.

These are inner cushions from IKEA; there’s only a very thin layer of fabric left over. 

If you use fabric scraps for stuffing and then wash them—that is, wash the amigurumi with the fabric scraps inside—do they clump together, or not really? How do you make sure the fabric scraps dry well?
I mean, if they’re stuffed in very tightly, it might not be that easy to dry them, and putting yarn items or amigurumi in the dryer might not be such a good idea?

But isn't it usually stuffed so tightly that it can't clump up at all?

I only hand-wash my wool items, and I’ve never had any problems with fabric scraps so far. Then I dry them on the radiator or in the sun. However, I only stuff small amigurumi with fabric scraps. For large ones, I only use stuffing. 

Thanks, Nicole. So does stuffing dry more easily in larger amigurumi, then? Until now I’ve always stuffed my amigurumi with unsuitable things, e.g. paper tissues, hence my very naive questions. At some point I do have to learn how to do it properly. I hope sundown doesn’t mind that I’ve jumped onto her thread and am adding all my questions and so on. @Sundown, you just happened to pick a topic that’s great to discuss. Thanks for starting the thread : )

I have one more question
Can you also stuff amigurumi with rice? I guess you wouldn’t be able to wash them anymore, but they’d probably be very stable and wouldn’t tip over so easily if you put them on a shelf, for example. And I’ve heard that rice absorbs moisture, which is supposed to help if, say, your phone gets wet somehow.
Although
well, that was a bit of a stretch. If you can’t wash the amigurumi anyway, then it doesn’t really matter whether the rice absorbs moisture or not. Well, it’s already pretty late today. ;)

Hey there... sure, you can use rice, but I’d sew it into a fabric bag first. For larger amigurumi, I use stuffing, because 1. I usually don’t have that many fabric scraps on hand, and 2. stuffing goes further.

If you shop around a bit, you can find good stuffing for as little as 10 euros per kilo. I have a supplier where I usually buy 3 kg and, thanks to a volume discount, pay 25 euros. That’s cheap, and the quality has always been good so far. It’s even washable up to 60 degrees.

You can also use Styrofoam balls if they don’t need to be washable, or those beanbag balls. Sand or stones work too. It depends on what you want to fill.

Don't forget to sew it up tightly after stuffing it, otherwise the stuffing won't stay where it's supposed to. =)

@Nicole
The tip about using rice in a fabric bag makes sense—you don’t want the individual grains to slip through the stitches. But I think it’s really relaxing to knead an amigurumi filled with rice like that. Just like those stress balls.

A kilo of stuffing must be quite a lot, right? What’s the approximate volume?
Do you have to compress it a lot before stuffing it, or not so much?

@Clara
well, that does seem kind of logical ;)

I use the little pillows from Tedi. I find they’re easier to portion out than the ones from Ikea. But that’s just a matter of personal preference. For small projects, I also often use the leftover wool and yarn that accumulate while crocheting.

Hi, there are actually different types of stuffing because it can be made from various materials. The stuffing I use comes in one-kilo bags, and one full bag is about a meter high and a good 50 cm wide. 

I regularly keep 2 different kinds on hand; I use one for decorations, and it has this:stuffing made of polyester fiber, highly elastic, breathable, allergy-friendly, 100% recyclable and washable at 40°

For cuddly toys I use pillow filling, 1000 g. Oeko-Tex 100 certified 
and tested according to toy standard DIN EN 71-3 
• Practical: packaged in a resealable bag! 
• You can use this high-quality filling material as pillow filling, doll filling, or as decorative material. 
• Lighter than down feathers, you get a pillow filling that fluffs back up again and again. 
This product is certified according to Oeko-Tex Standard 100 and therefore also suitable for allergy sufferers. The test number is 13.0.20197; you can verify this on the Oeko-Tex website under the validity check category. 
The filling has also been tested according to the toy standard DIN EN 71-3 The pillow filling is machine washable up to 95° degrees and also suitable for tumble dryers. The advantage of this filling is that the hollow polyester fiber balls fluff back up again and again and are cuddly soft. Depending on how firmly pillows are filled, you can achieve different, individual levels of firmness for the pillows. The Oeko-Tex certification states that the material was examined in a laboratory with regard to a wide range of chemicals and heavy metals, phenols, organotin compounds, and other substances. The pillow filling is also continuously monitored so that the quality is permanently ensured. 
The pillow filling was tested in the highest class of Oeko-Tex certifications, in Category 1 for babies, so the filling is ideally suited for, e.g., nursing pillows or also for allergy-friendly product areas. Experiences from our customers: - 1000 g is enough for an extremely well-filled 80 cm x 80 cm pillow; usually 500–600 g is also enough. - A 25 cm x 25 cm pillow needs about 200–250 g. 

I wouldn’t have thought that a kilo of stuffing could be so much.

There’s also compressed stuffing—the bags are much smaller.

So, I’ve only just read this and can only say... please, noooo—don’t use food items as stuffing, like rice, beans, or dried stuff... you’ll want to wash your little darlings, and anything edible can start to go moldy!!

Kind regards,
Lesandria