How to make a DIY draught excluder for your home

Don’t let your precious heating escape as draughts! It’s a waste of energy and money. Draught-proofing is one of the quickest, easiest, and cheapest ways of saving energy and help lower your heating bills. It’s easy to make a DIY draught excluder at home – no sewing skills necessary! Although if you are handy with a needle and thread then that’s a bonus.

Our step-by-step instructions below will help you draught-proof your door using various fabrics and types of stuffing.

How to make a draught excluder with an old duvet

Want to make a DIY draught excluder in less time than it takes to make a cup of tea? This one’s for you! Depending on your duvet, this could be quite bulky so would work best for doors that aren’t opened very often, for example in a guest room.

1. Roll up your duvet as tightly as possible.
2. Tie it in place with ribbons or string.
3. That’s it – one DIY duvet draught excluder done!

How to make a draught excluder with an old pillowcase

Another way to make a DIY draught stopper with old bedding is to use a pillowcase you no longer need. The quickest option is the no-sew one, but you’ll get a neater finish if you don’t mind digging out some needle and thread.

1. Use stuffing to fill about a third of the pillowcase.
2. Position the stuffing along the longer edge of the pillowcase, not the shorter one.
3. Once in place, fold or roll the excess fabric over the stuffed part and tie in place with ribbon or string, making sure that the opening is firmly closed.
4. Alternatively, sew up the opening before folding over the excess fabric and tying into place.

How to make a draught excluder with old tights

A bobbly old pair of tights (or a couple of pairs of child-sized tights sewn together) can make a good DIY draught excluder at home. Make sure you sew up any holes or runs though, to stop the filling from escaping.

1. Cut the tights in half from the waistband to the gusset, so you have two separate legs.
2. Fill one leg with stuffing – see below for stuffing ideas.
3. Once full, tie the open end up with a knot – or use a ribbon or some string if they’re not long enough.
4. If you’re using child-sized tights, you’ll need both legs. Stuff them separately, and then sew them together. You may need more than two legs, so cut the toes off the middle sections so that you can sew them together into one long tube.

How to make a draught excluder with an old shirt, jumper, leggings or jeans

You can repurpose old clothes into a DIY draught excluder with just some basic sewing skills. As when making a DIY draught excluder at home out of tights, you’ll need to sew up any holes before you start.

1. Cut the arms off your shirt or jumper, or cut down from waistband to gusset to separate your jeans or leggings into two separate legs.
2. Sew up the cuffs if you’re using a shirt or jumper, or the ankles if you’re using jeans or leggings.
3. Fill your fabric with stuffing.
4. Sew up the opening.

How to make a draught excluder with your sewing skills

You’ll need a piece of fabric that is at least as wide as the door you want your draught stopper for, otherwise you’ll need to sew different pieces together to get the length you need. Choose a fabric that’s hard-wearing, like denim or cotton, as it’s going to be on the floor.

1. Measure and cut the fabric to size. It should be at least as wide as the door, and about 40cm long.
2. Fold it in half lengthwise, and sew up the long side and one of the short ones. If you’re using patterned fabric, make sure the patterned side is inside so the stitching doesn’t show when it’s in use.
3. Once you’ve sewn your edges, turn it inside out so that the pattern is now facing outwards.
4. Fill with stuffing, then sew the last edge shut.

Stuffing ideas for your DIY draught excluder

You can buy stuffing for the DIY draught excluder you make at home, but you probably have plenty of stuffing options already lying around at home:

1. Sand
2. Rice
3. Dried lentils or beans
4. Plastic carrier bags
5. Old socks, tights and underwear
6. Rags and other fabric offcuts
7. Foam peanuts
8. Old newspapers
9. Unused cat litter
10. Old napkins and towels

The key is to make sure it’s not too light so that your draught proofer stays in place. If you do decide to go for a lighter stuffing option, you’ll need something to weigh it down. A simple option is to fill a pair of old socks halfway with rice, lentils or sand and then tie the ends up. Put one filled sock at each end of your DIY draught excluder before filling with the rest of your stuffing.

Decoration ideas for your DIY draught excluder

Now that you’ve got your homemade draught stopper, brush up on your sewing skills to create some cute animal themed decoration for it. These ideas will work best if you’ve used old tights, leggings or jumpers to make your draught excluder.

How to make a snake draught excluder

1. Cut two pieces of cloth measuring approximately 10cm x 4cm.
2. Sew them together along three sides.
3. Fill with stuffing, then sew the final side shut.
4. Then use a few stitches to add it to the front of your draught excluder to create the snake’s tongue.
5. Sew on some buttons for eyes.

How to make a cat draught excluder

1. Cut two triangular pieces of cloth measuring about 5cm along each side.
2. Sew them together along two sides.
3. Fill with stuffing and sew the final side shut.
4. Repeat to create another stuffed triangle.
5. Attach these to the top of your draught excluder to create cat ears.
6. Create whiskers with some pipe cleaners, and attach these with a few stitches or a glue gun.
7. Finish with some stick-on eyes, or use buttons as above.

How to make a sausage dog draught excluder

1. Tie some wool or ribbon around your draught stopper, about 10cm from each end. This creates your doggy snout and tail.
2. Use an old pair of child sized mittens or socks to create ears, by sewing one on either side of the ‘head’.
3. Sew on some buttons for eyes.

We also have plenty of ideas for how to weatherproof your front door. Learn how insulating your home can make it more energy efficient – and how you could save money on heating bills.

While it’s easy to make a draught excluder, we’re here to help for larger jobs. Book a Local Heroes heating engineer now.