Railroadersbrat

So, I'm in a dilemma and hoping I can get some ideas.

I recently purchased some warming/cooling weighted pads that are made with minky. Unfortunately, the company didn't add any of the silica gel packs into the packaging, so when I got it, they had a heavy mildew/mold smell to them. I cut one of them open to see what they used for filling, luckily just some flaxseed, millet and some tiny clay balls. I cleared off my island and poured it all out onto a piece of wax paper so they can air out some, but it looks as if the minky is what has the smell to it.

I paid a lot to get these pads, along with some for my hands and my eyes. My doctor is pretty sure I have either rheumatoid arthritis or gout in my hands and my elbow, the pain is exquisite and losing strength in my hands really has been frustrating. Generally, I would throw the pads away (luckily, the ones for my hands and eyes didn't have that smell) and make some new ones, but because I spent so much, I can't justify tossing them out, or the price of return shipping to the company (they did get a scathing email from me, though), so I'd like to salvage these.

I'm going to wash the minky in some warm water and Tide, along with some fabric sanitizer to get rid of the smell and I'd like to refill them with what they had originally, but I've never sewn with minky before. I was thinking of a very, very small stitch length so the filling doesn't escape and use an overcast stitch, would polyester thread work for this? I'm sure there's going to be some flying fluff to contend with, too, judging by how much I ended up getting on my shirt when I cut it open, so I know that cleaning my machine is going to be a must - I'm just concerned about thread and stitch length. Am I on the right track with this?

Any help is appreciated, thanks!