Your couch offers supportive seating and stretch-out comfort, until it won’t anymore. Over time, the stuffing compresses and the foam of the seat breaks down, resulting in lumpy back support and sagging seat cushions. If the sofa frame itself is in good condition, you can get your couch looking and feeling like new by fixing the cushions. Here are some ideas to make them firm again:
Plump It Up With Polyester
Your couch cushions are filled with either loose polyester, called the “fill,” or with a chunk of foam covered in polyester batting. Open your cushion zippers and take a look. Typically the back cushions are fluff-filled and the seat cushions use batting over foam. For the back cushions, get a box of fill and add it by the handful to the present cushions. Stuff and pack the fill into the cushions to make them nice and plump, then close the zipper.
For the seat cushions, take away the entire foam together with its polyester wrapping. Get new polyester batting and wrap layers and wrap it around the cushion, over the existing batting until you’ve got added about 1 to 2 inches to the top and bottom. As you wrap, use a light coat of spray adhesive between layers to keep the batting in place. Stuff it back to the cover and close the zipper.
Fix It With Foam
If the foam of your seat cushions have compressed or flattened, you should replace the foam as well as the batting. Measure the fullest extent for the cover dimensions: width, height, and depth. Order a piece of foam and cut to these dimension, you can also purchase a sheet of foam and cut it yourself with an electric blade. Wrap the brand new foam with batting as described above and stuff it into the cushion cover.
Brace Them With a Board
For those who have plumped the seat cushions the most, the problem may lie with the springs that support the cushions. An often-used remedy is to place a board or sheet of plywood, cut to exactly the same size as the chair base, flat on the springs. Cover the board with an old bedspread or similar to keep it from snagging or damaging the cushion covers. Then replace the cushions on top of the board. You can order kits containing adjustable boards made up of slats covered with vinyl that also protect your cushions.
Helpful Tips
You can still plump your cushions even if the covers do not have zippers. Unpick the stitching along one of the seams and sew it back up again after replacing. Check your sofa for a label that indicates whether it is made with washable materials if that is the case, this is a great time to toss the cushion covers in the automatic washer and get them really clean. Utilize a cold-water wash and dry the covers on a line so they will not shrink.
Polyester fill, batting and many kinds of seating foam are available at fabric and craft stores. You will get spray adhesive there, too.
Stuffing a freshly plumped cushion back into its cover is easier with two people, one helping to compress as you work it into the cover. You can also try putting the insert inside a garbage bag and drawing the air away with a vacuum cleaner. Leave the vacuum cleaner operating before you have put the compressed cushion inside the cover, then take away the bag and shut off the vacuum. The pillow will expand to fill the cover.
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Last Update: 2024-04-26 | Affiliate links/Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
