Published on: 29/10/2007 12:23:26 Back
to articles index
In the two and a half years that we have been selling these sit on it bean bags, a large proportion of each day in the shop has been spent showing people what it is that makes these bean bags so good. I mean, how is it possible that what on the outside appears to be a huge floor cushion can elicit such a large following.
Imagine if you will a traditional fabric beanbag, maybe made of denim or corduroy as so many of them were, and you will recall that on the whole they were made in a teardrop shape, round bulbous base rising to a pointed top. This shape was for a very good reason, as you sat in the bean bag your weight pushed the mass of beans from the base up into the narrowing point behind you, till they were all crammed in there to provide a firm support.
Now this is fine to begin with, nice and comfy, good support to the back, but hang on, what’s going on, I’m sinking to the floor. The inherent problem was that those beans were only defying gravity behind you as there was nowhere for them to fall to, but any slight movement of you in the seat opens up little voids into which the beans can fall, and all of a sudden that nice firm back, all that support has gone. You’re flat on your back, legs akimbo.
SO WHY ARE THESE SIT ON IT BEANBAGS ANY BETTER.
Sitonit beanbags are made from a waterproof material, a bit like your waterproof jacket that we brits love wearing to get wet at the weekends, it is a 100%polyester outer fabric, with a rubber coating stuck on the inside. This material provides numerous benefits, as said it makes the bags waterproof and hence perfect for using in the garden and incredibly easy to clean. It also makes them incredibly strong.
But the main difference this makes is that now when you sit in the chair the rubber coating temporarily traps the air in the bag so it balloons up, allowing the beans to easily flow around the contours of your body. Your bodyweight then squeezes the air out of the bag, and that same rubber lining now prevents the airs return, meaning that the whole beanbag is moulded around our shape. And the beauty is that it doesn’t matter if you move around in the base of the chair, as long as your bodyweight is there it keeps the air out. Ingenious.
And that is why they are not traditional teardrop shaped, because they don’t have to be. You can use them flat as a huge floor cushion or mattress, yes I have slept on one and yes it was exquisite, upright as an armchair, on it’s side as a hammock, or against a wall as a sofa.