Cotton pickin' cotton

[gene]

I have a settee with diamond tufted inside arms. The padding underneath the fabric is cotton. I'm going to use a different size and shape of diamond tufting so the old cotton pieces do not fit.

I'll be using foam with poly batting on top.

Question: If I wanted to use the old cotton, could I pull it apart and get the bumps out of it and reuse it? Or is this not a good idea because it's too old or not in roll form?

Thanks for your thoughts.

gene

[baileyuph]

If you can reshape the cotton -- go for it.  Never been wet I assume.

Run a test.....

Doyle

[MinUph]

Gene,
  Cotton isn't like loose hair or even shredded foam. In my mind it would be a waist of time trying to re-pick it. You will end up with a lumpy fill. A roll of cotton is not that expensive. I rather tuft with cotton than dacron. It just works better. I proving it to myself right now. I'm building a headboard tufted and grabbed the dacron instead of cotton. I hate tufting with dacron. But it's a third done so it goes with it.

[kodydog]

It is always tempting to reuse the old stuffing to save a little $$. But do yourself a favor and go with all new padding. On tufted pieces I like to use a medium weight foam with cotton.

[gene]

Thank you for the replies. I always appreciate the wealth of experience on this forum and the folks who share it. 

Paul: I'm using foam with poly batting on top of the foam, just like kodyD was saying he uses foam with cotton. I've done straight poly batting before and it is much more difficult than using foam where the holes are cut in the foam and the slits are cut that go to the edge.

gene