Who has made (or have plan to make) tea pillow?

[gingkoseto]

I started collecting tea leaves for a few times in the past and gave up every time. Then I finally got the patience and space in room to dry tea leaves daily. This is the first time in my life that I've got enough spent tea leaves for a pillow, actually already more than enough. But I've realized another problem is, I can't sew! A pillow is already an impossible project for me

Any suggestions? Ideally I want to find a few cheap pillow cases with zipper. But so far all I've seen with zipper are satin type and very thin. I have a commercially made tea pillow in hand, and know the pillow case fabric should be thick and tough. If no other choices maybe I will have to use canvas fabric? But do I have to sew?

[Victoria]

A zippered pillow cover is your best choice. You should be able to find a cotton one.

No drooling with a tea pillow.

[Cinnamon Kitty]

An odd suggestion for you is to try out the allergy covers for pillows. The slightly better quality ones are not crinkly and tend to be made with thicker materials than a standard pillow case. They also have zippers.

[gingkoseto]

A zippered pillow cover is your best choice. You should be able to find a cotton one.

No drooling with a tea pillow.

Yeah zipper is the best! If I sew, I am sure things will fall out of the seam

An odd suggestion for you is to try out the allergy covers for pillows. The slightly better quality ones are not crinkly and tend to be made with thicker materials than a standard pillow case. They also have zippers.

Hey I think this is exactly what I need! The commercial tea pillow I got does have its cover fabric very similar to that of an allergy proof down comforter. Thanks!

[wyardley]

I'm probably just going to either sew it by hand (which I can do pretty well), or get someone else to do it by machine (which I never got around to learning). Maybe you can get someone to help you out - cutting the fabric is the hardest part... if you have a friend or family member with a machine, it shouldn't take them too much time or effort to actually sew it for you.

[gingkoseto]

I'm probably just going to either sew it by hand (which I can do pretty well), or get someone else to do it by machine (which I never got around to learning). Maybe you can get someone to help you out - cutting the fabric is the hardest part... if you have a friend or family member with a machine, it shouldn't take them too much time or effort to actually sew it for you.

Obviously I have no clue about sewing. I didn't even think about cutting fabric yet
What kind of fabric are you going to use? Do you plan to use double layer? The tea pillow I bought, even with the allergy proof kind of fabric, still has small amount of tea powder coming through the fabric.
I just remember I do have a hand hold electronic sewing tool, never used it, don't remember where it is now and will try to dig it out!

[Victoria]

If it were me, I'd probably go for two zippered covers. A plain cotton one and an allergy, tighter weave one.

I know we have had a thread on tea pillows before, but tell me again - why? For recycling? Or is there a therapeutic value?

[gingkoseto]

If it were me, I'd probably go for two zippered covers. A plain cotton one and an allergy, tighter weave one.

I know we have had a thread on tea pillows before, but tell me again - why? For recycling? Or is there a therapeutic value?

It's said to have therapeutic effect, such as improve sleep quality. But I have no experience using it. I bought a new one (with mainly oolong tea leaf stems) for my husband. He sometimes has difficulty falling into sleep. He hasn't started using it yet. Once he starts, I will observe the effect

The one home-made will be for me. I don't know how it will be. Ideally it should be made with green tea leaves. But it will take forever to collect green tea leaves, so I've got mostly oolong. I like the texture of buckwheat shell pillow and hope tea leaves have similar texture. But I don't know if my head will eventually crush all leaves into powder

[wyardley]

But I don't know if my head will eventually crush all leaves into powder

My understanding is that you're supposed to crush the leaves before you stuff the pillow. Either way, you'll want to make sure that the pillow is well sealed and pretty durable.

I think it's supposed to be very nice to sleep on in the summer. I've probably got enough leaves saved by now to make mine... should get on that.

[Maitre_Tea]

I used to have a pillow stuffed with "new" Taiwanese oolong. It was nice to sleep on and it smelled refreshing; however, they absorb odors and moisture easily so after a while they begin to smell funky.

[IPT]

They are quite the rage here, but they do start to smell funky after a while. My wife keeps buying them. She says they help her sleep better, but she's always slept like a log, so I don't think it's affected her sleep one way or the other.

[gingkoseto]

I also heard that tea leaf pillow doesn't last long and you are suppose to change it almost annually. I wonder if adding layers of pillow cases will help a bit. The seller of my tea stem pillow claims that tea stems will not easily collect moisture or odor. We have yet to see if it's really so.

[horsencl]

I have a sample pillow on it's way to me for review purposes. I'll be sure to let you all know what I think.