I want to fill 2 heavy bags and need about 250lb of stuffing. I tried calling fabric stores and textile factories and they told me that they are mostly selling remnents to arts and crafts hobbiests and the two theft shops (savers and salvation army) told me that they sell the unusable fabric to over-seas charities. I am going to be calling Good-Will and City of Hope tomorrow, I was just wondering if anybody else had an idea?
Hey Santa, I work at a hospital and asked if there was any linen being discarded that I could retain for this purpose. I wound up getting hundreds of pounds of throw away socks (the ones with treads on them). When a patient is done with them, instead of throwing them away, staff put them in the linen baskets. They go through the wash and they are sorted and sent back to the hospital. Instead of discarding them as they come in, our place hangs on to them. That's where I came in. The problem with filling your own bags, is they they never quite pack as well as the hydraulic machines pack them. But, if you can take the time to add to them and fill in the soft spots, it's not so bad. I hope this gives you some ideas as to where to go.
my suggestion is to ask anybody and everybody you know that has any unused clothes they could donate. my old gym bpught 3 pole bags and it took about 2 weeks collecting and stuffing, it was a pretty fun process. collecting from friends and gym members and stuffing the bag with them is a great chance of bonding and of course the fabrics are free.
I got a whole pile of old clothes and sheets from a recycling company, I cut them myself. A lot of work, but it was worth it. The bag was really soft at first, but I kept adding more after every time I used it.
The owner at my day job, in SF, owns a second business which does screen printing. They sometimes have left over fabric. I'm not sure how much is leftover or when the next shipment will be in but I'll find out and update this thread.
If you're still looking for the fabric, I have good news for you. They have at least 100 pounds of extra fabric back there. Might well be more, hard to tell exactly. But there is at least 100 pounds. It's different types of fabric. Some of it is cotton, some burlap, some canvas, etc. If you're good with that let me know and we can set a time for you to pick it up. Can do it anytime between 9am and 3pm M-F. I'll be out of town this Friday though. Located on Cesar Chavez in SF.
I have never liked water bags, water foam bags, and water air bags, they feel terrible to kick. Sadly, all those donation centers sell their scrap textiles to recycling centers. http://abcnews.go.com/WN/truth-donated-clothes-end/story?id=2743456
I was never sold on them either they always felt awkward and weird. And the sloshing sound throws me off. Lastly and probably the most important reason is I've always rented a house it would be horrifying if that thing popped and water ends up all over and causes damage to the house
