How To Dispose Of Pillows 🚮 [10 Ways]

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”

Lin Yutang (1940). “With Love and Irony”

Pillows complete a home in the most satisfying and relaxing way. After a long day out, the feeling of grabbing your pillow and resting on it takes away the tiredness. 

However, the time comes when you need to dispose of the old pillows and replace them with new ones. You know pillows are short-lived, and with time, they tend to lose their consistency and no longer feel comfortable. They also quickly accumulate dust and harbor unpleasant little bugs. In this article, we look at the different ways you can dispose of your pillows. 

10 Ways to Dispose of Pillows

There are many ways to dispose of your old pillows. Even though it would be quicker to dump them in the waste bin and wait for garbage collectors to take them away, you can re-purpose their use, recycle, or give them away to people who may need them. 

I have compiled ten different methods that scope across re-using the pillows, recycling, and how you can give them away. Let’s get to it. 

Use them as DIY Floor Cushions.

Make your movie times cozier by turning your old pillows into floor cushions. You’ll also have a place to cozy up as you ready your book or browse the internet. 

To make a comfortable floor cushion, you can use your ready-made covers or let your creativity shine as you design and make your DIY covers. You can make large ones fit in more than one pillow. They’ll do a great job covering up space in your lounge and offer you more comfort. 

Instead of tossing in the pillows with their previous covers, you can cut open the covers and pour out their contents into the cushion covers. Doing this will give a chance to the stuck-together material to free up and provide more comfort. Floor cushions are great to keep the room feeling warm and cozy. 

Use the pillows as bedding for animals.

Your animals will significantly appreciate the comfort your pillows will offer them, so before tossing them away, you can consider giving them to your animal friends. The stuffing in the pillow can make a good laying area for your birds or a great breeding place for your rabbits. 

If you have no animals at home that can use them, you can check out your local animal shelter if they need pillows for animal bedding and when you can deliver them. Most of these centers offer a home to endangered and abandoned animals and depend on donations to keep the animals safe and comfortable. 

If there’s no animal shelter in your area, check with any veterinary clinic, a wildlife rehabilitation center, or a large farm near you that could need the pillows. Remember that some bugs and mites affect animals too and can cause discomfort, therefore ensure that your pillows achieve a reasonable standard of cleanliness. 

Donate to charity or a center for the homeless. 

Centers for the homeless depend mainly on charity, and that means donating your pillows can go a long way to provide them with the much-needed extra comfort. Therefore, pick out your not-so-worn-out pillows and give them away. 

Well, it’s not as easy as it sounds, as most organizations like this have reservations when accepting pillows. Pillows are personal things that people cry on, sweat on, or spit on as they sleep. So, sanitary concerns may arise. However, it won’t hurt to check if the one near you accepts pillows as donations. You’ll be surprised they do!

To ensure that the pillows are of value to them, check that they are clean and free of stains and are in good condition. If a center refuses the donation for any reason, you can always choose another method to dispose of your pillows. 

Recycle them. 

There are several textile recycling facilities where you can take your pillows for recycling. They are not common, but you can search for one nearest your location and deliver them there. You’ll first need to contact them and find out if they accept pillows. 

• You can read more about recycling polyester pillows here.
• And read about recycling feather pillows here.

They use the fibers from the pillow contents and other fabrics to create items like rugs and carpets. Taking the pillows to a recycling center is an excellent way to dispose of your pillows, as they’ll be used to create something useful. You only need to make sure that your pillows are not greasy with oil or wet. 

If there are no recycling centers near your place, you can check with your area’s administration and garbage managers to know if they have contact with any textile recycling area that they can connect you. You can also leave it with them (if they agree) to deliver it to the necessary place. 

Use as a packing filler when storing or moving things.

Do you have delicate items in your house that you’d want to keep cushioned and safe when moving them? Your old pillows will do the job for you. Latex foam or solid memory pillows will be excellent for this purpose as you can cut them into different sizes. 

You can also use the old pillows to protect furniture from scrapes when transporting it. Fit the pillows in the corner edges and all-round the furniture if you have enough pillows. After using them and don’t need them anymore, you can store them in vacuum storage bags until you need them again. Otherwise, you can dispose of them in another way, especially if you know you won’t need them again. 

For someone in the moving and relocating business, using pillows to cushion items as they move them can help promote their business while saving on protective equipment. If you have no such need at a personal level, you can reach out to people in this kind of business and find out if they need them.

Make gardening cushions. 

When gardening and attending to your flowers, most times, you’ll be required to kneel to reach them without straining your back. Kneeling on the rough garden terrain can take a toll on your knees. That’s where a gardening cushion comes in. 

Use your old pillows to create a cushion for your knees when gardening. The material for the outer cover has to be safe and outdoor-friendly to increase its durability. A sturdy vinyl pillowcase will be sufficient as it’s designed for outdoor purposes. 

It’s a simple DIY activity that you can have fun with as well as improve your gardening experience. Therefore, instead of hurting your knees during gardening, customize your old pillows and enjoy every gardening session. 

Make a bed for your pet. 

Your little companion at home can make good use of your old pillow and enjoy more comfortable sleeping times. It’s no doubt they love comfort too, and instead of buying expensive fluffy pet beds, you can design one easily using your pillow. You’ll be surprised by how much your pet will love sleeping there. 

It’s a great way to create a bond with your pet because the pillow carries your smell. That means as they sleep, they’ll always feel you close to them. It’s also an excellent way to re-purpose your pillow and ensure that your mattress remains useful around the house. 

If you keep no pets, then you can reach out to a friend who does. They may be looking for options for their pet’s bedding, and you’ll have helped solve a problem. I’m sure their pet will love your kind gesture. 

Make throw pillows.

Throw pillows will fill your sofa set space and offer more comfort as you sit. Buying throw pillows can be an expensive affair, but with your old pillows, you can design beautiful throw pillows and save the money you’d use to buy. 

You can follow many simple DIY procedures and come up with beautiful designs for the throw pillow covers. You can then cut the old pillows into square shapes and then fit in the covers in equal sizes. Use this idea to keep your lounging area feeling cozy and colorful. 

Use the pillow content to refill sunk cushions and flattened toys. 

Over time, cushions frequently used in the house tend to give in to the constant squeezing and end up sinking and losing their firm consistency. It happens to toys, too, especially those that have been around for some time. 

The content in the pillow can come in handy in this case and help you refill the sunken cushions and the toys. Stuffing the materials in them will leave the cushions feeling fuller and fluffier and the toys looking almost new. It’s a simple DIY project that will leave your house feeling cozier and upgrade your decor. 

Throw it out into the waste bin.

You can simply bring your old pillow out and throw it in the waste bin with other waste. However, this should be your last option after exhausting all other methods. Garbage collectors will pick it up together with the rest of the waste and dispose of it accordingly on your behalf. 

You can do this in two ways. First, you can throw away the pillow as it is, with its cover on. Also, you can cut open the pillow cover and pour out the stuffing inside it. You’ll get to keep the pillow cover and maybe stuff it again in the future with fresh material and have a new pillow altogether. 

All these methods will help you dispose of your pillow in your most comfortable way and one that is easily accessible to you. 

Tips to Help Your Pillow Last Longer

The National Sleep Foundation recommends a pillow change every 1- 2 years. That’s pretty too often for an ordinary human being. Most people keep their pillows for years and end up with a foul-smelling pillow because of the sweat, oils, saliva, tears, dead skin and hair, and all other dirt particles that find their way to the pillow. 

Therefore, instead of having a dirty pillow while trying to keep it with you a bit longer, there are things you can do to ensure that your pillow lasts longer. These practices include:

Wash your pillow

You can wash it as often as you please, but it should be at least every six months. Some materials in the pillow stuffing can shrink off when you wash the pillow, which means that it will not maintain the same fluff. Therefore, before going all out to wash your pillow every weekend, you should confirm the material in the pillow and determine how often to wash it. 

For example, foam pillows will flatten after subsequent washing, while a natural feathers pillow will retain its original fluff even after washing. Even so, cleaning your pillow is crucial and will allow you to have a great sleep. 

Use a protective pillowcase.

Protective cases are excellent barriers to dirt and other stains. They help keep your pillow clean as you can always remove the case and wash it. When bugs and mites are looking to build a home in your pillow, the protective casing will stop them from getting to the pillow, and you can get rid of them as you wash the casing. 

The pillowcase allows you to be creative and expressive as you can make different designs of it and write any quotes and sayings on them. You also get to choose a good fabric that protects the pillow and offers comfort for you. 

Conclusion

A pillow may not carry the same importance as a mattress when sleeping, but it’s needful for supporting your head and adds comfort to your sleep. When you notice that your pillow no longer feels as great as before, then it’s time to change it. 

Don’t shy away from disposing of your pillow in your most favorable way. From the different methods discussed in this article, you can find one that works for you. 

Sources

• How To Dispose of Pillows
• How To Dispose Of Your Old Pillows
• 7 Ways To Reuse And Recycle Old Pillows
• Lin Yutang Quote
• How Often Should You Replace Your Pillows?
• Charities That Offer Furniture Donation Pick Up for Free