If you have an old feather pillow that you just don’t want to keep using, then you might be wondering what you should do with it. Many people don’t like the idea of simply throwing an item like this out since it still could be useful in certain ways.
What can you do with old feather pillows that you don’t want any longer, though?
Read on to learn about several options that you can consider when looking to repurpose old feather pillows. You’ll also be able to explore logical options that will make getting rid of them feel more natural.
If you take the information below to heart, then you shouldn’t have a problem figuring out something to do with your old pillows.
1 – Donate Them
Donating old feather pillows will sometimes be possible since someone might be able to use a pillow.
If you’ve upgraded to a better pillow and your old pillow isn’t that bad, then you could donate it to a secondhand store or charity organization. You could also see if anyone else in your family or social circle wants it before you decide to do something else with it.
This option is listed at the top because it’s probably one of the easiest ways to get rid of an old pillow. You could simply pass it along to someone else and then be done with it.
If your pillow isn’t in the best shape any longer, then you might not want to try to donate it or give it away, though.
Only donate a pillow if you truly feel that it is in good enough condition to be of use to someone. Otherwise, the methods listed below will be much better things for you to look into.
There are still ways to use your old feather pillow without feeling wasteful.
2 – Turn Your Pillow Into Rags
Depending on what type of material your pillow is made out of, you might be able to turn your old pillow into rags.
This involves cutting the fabric into strips and then using those strips of fabric as rags. Lots of people do this when they need to get cleaning rags that they won’t care about ruining.
Some feather pillows will not have good fabric for being used as rags, though. Just be mindful that the fabric needs to be right for it to be turned into a rag.
If this just doesn’t seem to be a good option, then move on and consider another idea.
3 – Compost the Feather Stuffing
If your feather pillow is actually made using real feathers, then that feather stuffing can be composted. You could just rip the pillow open and use the stuffing to fill up your compost bin.
Lots of people use compost bins to help fertilize their lawns or garden areas, and this could be quite practical in your situation.
Just make sure that your old feather pillow is actually made using feathers. If some of the filling is made using synthetic materials, then this isn’t going to work out.
There are lots of semi-synthetic feather pillows on the market, and you wouldn’t want to throw that type of material in your compost bin.
4 – Stuff a Second Pillow
Some people like to use the stuffing in a pillow that is getting old to fill up another pillow.
You could have a pillow that is getting a bit thin, and using the stuffing from your old pillow could fatten it up. This idea isn’t too tough to do, but whether it’s a good idea or not is up to you.
Pillows are going to have a lifespan no matter what you try to do to extend things. Sometimes it’s better to accept that you need to get rid of a pillow rather than to try to keep using it.
Just use your better judgment and things should be fine.
5 – Double Your Pillows
Doubling your pillows is another thing that you could consider doing if your feather pillow seems old and thin.
Some people go ahead and place two thin pillows in one pillowcase to make a better pillow. You could do this as a stop-gap measure when you aren’t quite ready to buy a new pillow.
If your feather pillows are thin enough to be easily placed inside one pillowcase, then you likely do need to buy new pillows. Only do this as something temporary until you can buy a new pillow to replace your old ones.
It’s not going to be as comfortable as you’d like for it to be, but people do this quite often.
6 – Make a Pet Bed Out of Them
You could also consider using your old feather pillows to make a special pet bed for your dogs or cats. Some people will use the stuffing from old pillows to make a pet bed using sturdier material.
You could also simply let dogs lay on your old pillow if you’d like to, but it might not be a good idea if your dogs like to chew things up since feather pillows could make quite a mess and potentially harm your dog.
Regardless, this is a solid idea if you want to try to make a pet bed. You could repurpose several old pillows so that you can make one dog bed or cat bed.
It might require you to have some decent sewing skills to get good results, but you can determine whether this is an avenue that is worth pursuing in your situation.
7 – Use Them as Knee Cushions
People often need to use something to cushion their knees when they’re kneeling down to perform various tasks.
For example, you might kneel down when you’re handling your gardening work outside, but this can hurt your knees if you aren’t careful. If you have old pillows that you can kneel down on, then your knees will feel that much better.
Since these pillows are old, it isn’t going to matter whether they get dirty or not. Some people keep old pillows in their garages or sheds specifically for purposes like this.
If you know that you could use some knee cushions, then this is going to be a pretty good idea overall.
8 – Use Them to Protect Stuff When You’re Packing
Pillows can be fairly useful when you’re packing stuff for a big move as well. You might have some totes and boxes that will be a bit too loosely packed to be moved safely.
If you jam a pillow or two in there, then you can protect the things inside your totes or boxes.
Saving some old pillows to use as packing material won’t be a bad idea at all. In fact, some people even use old feather pillows to help ship certain items through the mail safely.
You could place an item in between two old pillows and then put it in a box so that it will be less likely to break or otherwise get harmed while in transit.
9 – Throw Them Out
When all else fails, it might be time to just go ahead and throw your old feather pillows out.
If the above ideas don’t seem practical to you, then you should just get rid of your old pillows once you get new ones. After all, it isn’t very sensible to hoard items that you aren’t actually going to use.
I have two Associate’s degrees, one in Medical Assisting and the other in Computer Technician, and I am roughly five classes from a bachelor’s degree. Though I never ended up working in the medical field, I have five and a half years of experience in IT. I recently became a stay-at-home mom to my two young boys, and I’m so excited to start this adventure with them! In my spare time, I love to bake and read pretty much anything I can get my hands on.