Hello AT,

I have two of these rectangular, embrodered poufs from Morocco. I had the leather restored in Marrakech and then shipped them home, unstuffed. Does anyone have any ideas about the best material to re-stuff these with? Shredded foam? Biodegradable foam packing peanuts?

Thanks, Ann

Dear Ann,

This is up to you and is really a question of comfort, but if you want them to feel like the original thing, we would look for a natural solution. Do Moroccans use shredded foam? We hope not. We have a few eastern pillows in our house and they are all stuffed with Kapok and cotton batting (cotton is the kind used in futons). You can stuff in as much as you like - more for firm and less for soft. If memory serves, Moroccan poufs are usually quite solid, so we would go heavy on the batting.

We googled Kapok and found many companies that sell cushions filled with it. We would call one and ask simply to buy the filling.

A futon shop on Broadway would probably also lead you to some cotton batting.

Anyone else?