Bean Bag Refill Styrofoam

Traditionally, bean bag chairs use virgin polystyrene beads as filler. Virgin beads are polystyrene beads (sometimes referred to as Styrofoam) that are newly manufactured, not recycled. The advantages of virgin bead is that it lasts up to four times longer than polystyrene re-grind and the shape is uniform.

The Size of the Refill Beads

Although the shape of the refill beads remains consistent, there can be slight variances in size of each individual bead. On average, the size is approximately the size of a pea or slightly larger. In the photo below, notice the size of the filler compared with a dime. Also, the bead shapes are not perfectly spherical. The shape is a slightly rounded cylindrical shape. The sturdy shapes help the bean bag chairs maintain its shape after heavy use.

Bean Bag Refill Close-up Photos

The following image shows the polystyrene bean bag chair refill under 4x magnification.


The following super close-up image shows the polystyrene refill with 10x magnification.

How The Beads are Created

Small PVC pellets that look like grains of rice are put in a special machine that injects high-temperature steam. The steam causes the small pellets to expand to about the size of peas. After the beads have cooled, they are ready to be used as bean bag chair filler. The finished beads are stored in overhead canopies and are gravity-fed into the bean bag chairs during the manufacturing process.

Refilling a Bean Bag Chair

For more information on refilling a bean bag chair that was purchased from our website, please view the instructions on opening the safety lock and refilling a bean bag chair.