Yes cotton is best,and i have used old towels and washcloths as the filler.You can also buy that silver heat resistent cloth,for the back side,but i personally have never found that to be necessary.
JMO
Kathi

Thanks Kathi! bggs

I use towels & washcloths too. I have never thrown out a towel or wash cloth. I find a way to recycle. I have use dthem in burp pads too. For pot holders, I have used a layer of the reflective fabric on the side that will touch the pan. I saw some cute potholders that were double on each side with about 1/3 open in the center. You put your fingers in the pocket areas & folded it in the middle. I haven't tried it yet but it looked like it would work good on ovenware.

If you are ready for a new ironing board cover, this is a super way to get some more life out of it. Cut up the old one into the potholder sizes you'll need.

We no longer have much selection here in the fabric stores and I couldn't get the heat relective material anymore (pre-Internet days)so cutting up the old ironing board cover worked so well, I still do that.

One nice thing about using the heat fabric is that if the pot hold gets wet, you won't get burned so quickly. When I have just used batting, the moisture went right through and we all know how hot that is.

Gloria

Thanks Gloria -- good points! bggs

Just one more hint for you, bggs...
Be sure to use 100% cotton on the outside of the potholder as well as the inside. Polyester material (and poly blends) melts when it gets too hot!

Yes, I thought that was the case, so I'd checked the tags on some "store bought", which are 100%. Thank you for making sure that I knew! bggs