How to make your own shredded memory foam pillow quickly and easily.
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I have awful neck problems and have been in physical therapy for about three months. I have been working towards finding solutions to my neck pain- identifying the problems causing it and coming up with solutions.
One of the issues was my pillows. I haven’t been able to find one that works and I just can’t justify spending a billion dollars trying to find the right pillow. Plus, I already have too many pillows on my bed. I don’t want to waste money and environmental resources trying to find the perfect pillow.
I got a memory foam pillow at one point that was absolutely horrific. My neck was so much worse with it, but I gave it to my husband, thinking that it was just my typical neck issues. He ended up with a painful neck too after one night on it. And I haven’t been able to give this thing away.
So I decided to try upcycling it into a shredded memory foam pillow… and it worked out pretty well! Better yet, one solid memory foam pillow has the potential to make up to two shredded foam pillows.
Note: It would likely be cheaper to buy a shredded memory foam pillow than to purchase a regular memory foam pillow to cut up. This is more for those of you who hated your MF pillow and wanted to do something useful with it.
Supplies
- A fabric you love. My fabric is a knit fabric, but you can use any kind you think would be comfortable to sleep on and easy to launder.
- Memory foam pillow that you don’t mind cutting up (This link has both shredded and solid memory foam pillows).
- Scissors
- Hook and loop
How to Shred Memory Foam to Make a Pillow
My pillow came with a pillowcase, as well as a fabric covering to the memory foam. I removed the pillowcase to save for another project and cut open the seam of the fabric covering. I removed the memory foam.
Then I just started cutting into smaller and smaller pieces. Once I got my pillow filled to the amount I liked, I closed it up and saved the pieces for another project. Now… originally I sewed it closed. Don’t do that. Instead, add some hook and loop so you can adjust your filling. It might take a couple of nights to figure out exactly how much memory foam pieces you want in there so it’s helpful to have a nice opening to add or subtract foam. I ended up taking a lot out.
Finally, I decided to make my own pillowcase. It’s smaller than my other pillows due to the original size of the memory foam pillow I had so it wouldn’t fit into a normal pillowcase. I just cut some of my favorite Doctor Who custom knit fabric and sewed up a quick pillowcase (this tutorial was for a standard pillowcase, but you’ll want to adjust the size as needed for your pillow).
Now I’m fairly comfortable with my pillow and I didn’t waste any resources! Happy girl! I really like how I can adjust the foam for my neck at night. Regular pillows just don’t have that level of flexibility.
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DIY Shredded Memory Foam Pillow
See how easy it is to make your own shredded memory foam pillow with just a few supplies.
Materials
- Fabric
- Memory Foam Pillow
- Hook and Loop
Tools
- Scissors
Instructions
- Remove the pillowcase to save for another project.
- Cut open the seam of the fabric covering.
- Remove the memory foam.
- Start cutting it into smaller and smaller pieces.
- Add cut up memory foam to the pillow until it is filled with the amount you like.
- Add some hook and loop so you can adjust your filling.
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Danielle Pientka is the sewing and DIY blogger behind DIYDanielle.com. She taught herself to sew in 2011 when she wanted to make cloth diapers for her first son. She’s been sewing everything from ecofriendly items to kids products to clothing since, as it has become a passion. She loves learning how to do new things and teaching others in the process. She hopes to inspire other moms to take time for themselves to find their own creative passion.
Danielle lives in Maryland with her three young sons and her husband, Brandon. In her spare time, she gardens, reads, horseback rides, and has a small homestead with goats and ducks. Visit her shop to buy patterns or her sewing eBooks. Subscribe to her newsletter to get blog updates, free patterns and other printables by clicking here.
Interesting. I have trouble finding the right pillow that I don't wake up with horrible back or neck pain but I'm tired of buying pillows. This may be worth a try! Thank you for sharing at Merry Monday!
How smart Danielle. The perfect pillow is hard to find.
Thank you for sharing this at Thoughts of Home. We are so glad you are here.
Interesting. Haven’t thought about making a memory foam pillow by my own. But surely an excellent thing to do. However, we do also talk about the best pillows by different genre at sleepdesires.com/best-pillows/ . We hope you will enjoy reading the articles ????
I love the idea, but after some research, I have a few things to suggest:
1. You can find memory foam mattress toppers & pillows reeeeeally inexpensively at thrift stores, so go on the hunt & make pillows on the cheap!
2. The My Pillow brand pillow uses small-to-tiny bits of torn memory foam. After some thought, I realized that this was probably the better option, since it’d omit lumps & angles. I’m in the process of pulling apart our old memory foam mattress topper, one pinch at a time time. It’s oddly satisfying…hmmm…
3. I’ve seen several reviews comparing the My Pillow brand pillow to another (which I can’t recall the name of) & the other always won. One reviewer opened up both pillows & showed the contents & I’m gonna try the type in the “other” pillow. They used the small-to-tiny pinches of memory foam, mixed with a sort-of poly fiberfill. It was sorta like the stuff they use to similate down in bedding for people with allergies (or who don’t enjoy getting unwanted facial piercings all through the night from all the pin feathers!). Anyway, I’m gonna pull apart some good batting I’ve been meaning to do something with…for the last decade. I’m hoping that combo will make the final product even better!
4. Did I mention how oddly satisfying it is to pull apart the foam? It’s almost like the time when, as a small child, I found a hole in the pillow my grandmother gave me to sleep on & began pulling the foam out one…piece…at…a…time. I couldn’t help myself! Boy, did I get in trouble when they walked in & found the state of the room after I’d been pulling at the foam for 3 hours! Oof!
Hi Danielle and peeps,
I have been wanting to upcycle my memory foam pillow into a cushion but my dilema is that usually memory foam pillows or cushions have two protectors; one is the pillow case protector usually white and has a zipper for removing and washing, two is the protector that holds the memory foam, looks like a spider web or light mesh type, which is sealed but sometimes also comes with a zipper. I am looking for the material that holds the memory foam. Any ideas to recommendations on what material I can use to hold the memory foam? thanks and cheers
Hm not really sure as I haven’t seen it. The one I had didn’t have a mesh interior. There’s the mesh that people use for sports jerseys? Think that would work?