Friend had difficulty blowing up the pillow. At first, so did I! Then I realized that the way it was packed-- very tightly folded-- that the sides of the plastic pillow were "sticking" to each other inside, not allowing air to pass in. I simply "massaged" the sides of the flat pillow to separate the plastic, and blew it up in a couple minutes. Voila! Suction cups good to prevent slippage while enjoying one's bath!