The hotel where my husband stayed was going out of business and I bought 10 mattress pads, thinking I would use them instead of batting. Then, I started thinking about how many people slept on them and couldn't bring myself to use them. So now we use them when we move furniture or lay on the backseat of my car when taking the dogs to the groomers. I just couldn't get it out of my mind how many hundreds of people had slept on them. They were $1 each and were queen size. I've given a few away to people who are moving. I like using batting and after spending so much money and time on a quilt top, I don't mind spending a little bit extra for nice batting. I just bought quite a bit of batting on sale at Joann's for a really good price, so it's not breaking the bank.

they'd be fine if you washed them in bleach

I have also used them for some lap quilts and always on the look out for wool blankets too.....

I have frequently used old mattress pads as batting for small quilts. The only problem that I have found is that it makes a very heavy, but warm, quilt. It is actually too warm for most uses here in south Texas.

This is great news for me! A few months ago I accidentally took off the mattress pad when I was changing the sheets. I decided to throw it in the washer with the sheets. As it turns out, that overloaded the washer, and it ate the side netting of the pad. I've been saving it in hopes of using it for batting. This thread gives me hope. It does seem as though it would be very warm. I'll keep that in mind when deciding who to give it to.

Depends on the fabric and the batting used. I've used old pads more than once. Basically, you can test their durability by throwing in a hot wash and then a hot dryer. If they survive-------use them

Yes, I have used them for quilt batting and it works just fine.