The bean bag chair has come a long way since it was invented in Italy in 1969, and it holds a reputation for being the ultimate in comfortable furniture. Designed to mold to your body shape, the bean bag chair was considered for many years to be a novelty in the home, more suited to your child’s room than as adult furniture, but not any more.

Bean bag chairs are as popular as ever and with adults as well as children. They are relatively inexpensive, portable, and super-comfortable, so it’s no wonder that the humble bean bag chair deserves a place in your home. In this article we look at the three most popular bean bag chairs to determine which is the best value and which warrants your attention.

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1Chill Sack Bean Bag Chair

  • 30 color options
  • Stain resistant
  • Machine washable
  • Memory foam filled
  • 3-year warranty

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2Big Joe 64514 Bean bag Chair

  • 6 color options
  • Double stitched for extra durability
  • Built-in pockets for remotes and drinks
  • Grab and go handle
  • 90-day warranty

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3Cozy Sack Large Bean Bag Chair

  • 15 color options
  • Protective inner lining
  • Machine washable outer cover
  • Giant 6-foot chair for extra comfort
  • 1-year warranty


1

Chill Sack Bean Bag Chair

This Chill Sack Bean Bag Chair comes in 30 color options, so choosing one that matches your taste and mood should be a breeze. Not only is this chair our HowToHome pick for the Best Overall Bean Bag Chair because of its size and amazing color options, but if we could, we’d also make this the Best Bean Bag Chair for Kids as well. We’re sure that there is a color to please any youngster and we think it would look great in any child’s bedroom.

Like the Cozy Sack Large Bean Bag Chair, the padding comes courtesy of memory foam pieces that offer the ultimate in comfort. The ultra-soft covers, made from durable MicroFiber, are stain, water, and discoloration resistant, and the covers are removable and machine washable to make it easier to keep them clean. Again, for kids, this is a dream because of the amount of times they spill their food and drink. The fabric is also double stitched, and the zippers are a premium quality to avoid the memory foam spilling out.

Unfortunately, this chair comes vacuum-sealed like the Cozy Sack Large Bean Bag Chair, so requires the chair to expand to its full size before it can be used. This means that it also suffers the same problem of the memory foam fusing into a block to make the chair uncomfortable.

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Pros

  • 30 color choices
  • Memory foam filling
  • Removable and washable covers
  • Ultra-soft material
  • Stain and discoloration resistant

Cons

  • Must expand before use
  • Foam fuses to form large clumps


2

Big Joe 64514 Bean bag Chair

Big Joe understands what makes a great bean bag chair. They are one of the top sellers on Amazon, and we can see why. This Dorm chair is designed with double stitching as well as double zippers that are lockable for safety reasons.

The instructions for releasing the zipper, should you wish to take off the cover and wash it, are printed on the large label and require a paperclip to activate the locking mechanism. The fabric, available in six color options, is water, stain, and fade resistant SmartMax, which is also super-durable and will stay looking good for years. This chair is cheaper than the other bean bag chairs featured, so we had to make this our HowToHome budget pick. It comes equipped with handy storage pockets and flaps so that you can keep your smartphone, tablet, and bottle of drink near you at all times.

Big Joe is proud of their green credentials, boasting that each bean bag chair is manufactured in a zero landfill factory that recycles all plastics, cardboard, metal, and electronic waste. The beans inside the bag are also 100 percent recyclable and are made from 80 percent recycled materials.

On the downside, many report that initially the chair is comfortable but very quickly loses shape as the beans inside flattening. In addition, since the zipper is a safety lock type, it can be really tricky getting it to operate.

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Pros

  • 6 color options
  • Storage pouches
  • Grab and go handle
  • Made from 80 percent recyclable beans
  • Eco-friendly

Cons

  • Loses shape
  • Zipper is hard to operate

3

Cozy Sack Large Bean Bag Chair

This Cozy Sack chair is massive. At 6 feet in length, it molds to your entire body and wraps you in a warm and comfortable embrace. There are 15 color options from which to choose, unlike the paltry six offered by the Big Joe 64514 Bean bag Chair, so whatever your design tastes there is a color to suit your decor and mood.

The inner padding comes courtesy of thousands of shreds of memory foam that mold to your contours for the ultimate comfort seat. There is an inner protective lining to prevent any spillages, and when the time comes to give it a clean the cover is removable and fully machine washable. The padding is 100 percent CertiPur-US certified foam that is free from formaldehyde, phthalates, PBDEs, mercury, lead, and other heavy metals, so the chances of any contamination is zero.

When the chair arrives, though, it is vacuum sealed, so it can take up to 24 hours for the chair to expand to its original size once you remove it from the packaging. Some have said that this process leaves them with a chair that is full of lumps and bumps as the memory foam inside clumps together.

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Pros

  • Contains memory foam
  • Super-large size
  • 15 color options
  • Inner protective liner
  • Free from heavy metals

Cons

  • Have to wait 24 hours before use
  • Memory foam forms lumps that are uncomfortable

Comparison Chart

Chill Sack Bean Bag ChairBig Joe 64514 Bean bag ChairCozy Sack Large Bean Bag Chair
Color combinations30615
FillingFoamBeansFoam
Recyclable beansX✓X
Machine washable✓✓✓
Price$$$$$$
Dimensions60 x 60 x 3433 x 32 x 2572 x 48 x 30
Weight (lbs)53.5558.5
Warranty3-year90-day1-year

Buyer’s Guide:

Bean Bag Chairs

Bean bag chairs hold great fun and so much potential: if you are a gamer, and you find yourself glued to the game console for hours on end, then a comfortable bean bag chair would give you the best experience without causing any undue problems to your posture. If you are furnishing a child’s bedroom, a bean bag chair is the ideal accessory to add some fun to the scheme. Bean bag chairs can also be extremely versatile, enabling you to move them from one room to the next with ease, to scatter seating for informal gatherings, or to even double as seating in the garden or by the pool on sunny days.

Bean bag chairs are also incredibly affordable, meaning that if you have a limited budget or are looking to furnish your first home, the bean bag chair is stylish, fun, and above all, a cheaper option.

Bean bag chairs aren’t just filled with beans these days; some also come padded with memory foam too. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Some prefer the feel of a memory foam chair as it may hold its shape better and spring back more quickly when you vacate it, while others like the traditional padding of beans because they mold instantly to your form and are less likely to be resistant to the person sitting on the bean bag. The advantage of a memory foam filling is that there is less chance of spillage, meaning that you won’t be finding little white beans scattered across your floor

PROSCONS
Foam bean bags
  • Keep their shape better
  • No beans to spill out
  • Lighter
  • More expensive
  • Memory foam form clumps
  • Less moldable to your shape
Bean bags
  • Cheaper to buy
  • Instantly mold to your shape
  • Can buy replacement beans
  • The beans spill out
  • Lose their shape over time
  • Need to be topped up with new beans

  • What different fillings will I find in a bean bag chair?

  • Typically, most bean bag chairs have a filling of either memory foam or white polystyrene beads, but other materials can be used such as dried beans, rice, and other natural fillers such as buckwheat hulls. More recently, more natural fillers have been adopted to avoid the use of synthetic materials and the pollution that they bring. This has caused a renewed interest in greener fillings that don’t harm the environment.

  • What do I do if my bean bag chair goes flat and loses its shape?

  • You can buy replacement bags of beans or bags of shredded memory foam to boost the filling inside your bean bag chair. If you think your chair has lost its shape, it is worth investing in a bag to prolong its life and keep it in usable condition. Replacement beans are available on Amazon.

  • Is my bean bag chair fire-retardant?

  • California is the only state to have mandatory flame-retardant laws for upholstery furniture, but many manufacturers have updated their compliance procedures to bring them into line with this law. It is possible that some flame-retardants have been added to your bean bag chair, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t catch fire, so make sure you keep it away from open flames.

Final Thoughts

Bean bag chairs are quirky, fun, and the kids will love them, so if you are planning on making that investment, look no further than the Chill Sack Bean Bag Chair. It comes in 30 color choices and is oversized at 5 feet in length so you can share the bean bag with a friend or loved one, which is why we have made it our HowToHome pick.

If you feel like splurging and like the idea of a memory foam bean bag chair, then our pick for best memory foam chair goes to the Cozy Sack Large Bean Bag Chair. It costs more than the others featured, but you are getting a quality chair in sizes that range from three-foot to eight-foot.

If you want something more affordable, then the Big Joe 64514 Bean Bag Chair is a great choice and is also our budget pick. It comes in vibrant color choices, has built-in pouches for smartphones and remote controls, and is double stitched for added strength.

Whichever you choose, bean bag chairs are fun and offer flexible seating both inside and out for guests and a comfortable place for you to relax with a good book when you find yourself with some free time.

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