How to Fix Sagging Couch Cushions

29 Sep.,2022

 

Are your couch cushions attached like mine?  If you want to fix your sagging couch with attached cushions, here’s a simple tip to help.  Fix your couch cushions in under five minutes with this easy, simple decorating tip.

Looking for some other easy tips?  Here’s how to make your windows appear larger and how to add color to your house without commitment and this simple tip to maximize your rug budget.

What can I stuff my couch cushions with?

Foam wrapped with batting is one of the most popular couch stuffing to use.  Other popular materials include feathers, batting without foam and polyester stuffing.  If you have a detached cushion, you can remove it, unzip the cushion and remove the old stuffing.  Cut a piece of foam to size and wrap it with batting to soften the edges.  Place the foam and the batting back inside the cushion, zip the edges and place it back on the couch.

What type of foam is best for your couch cushions?

The best couch cushion stuffing is polyurethane foam.  It is an affordable option and provides a sturdy base for the cushion.

Where can you buy foam for seat cushions?

Many online retailers sell foam in different sizes and densities.  In addition, basic sizes of foam can be purchased through a local fabric or craft store.  Unusual sizes or thicker foam densities typically need to be purchased from a specialty shop.

How can I make my cushions firmer?

The easiest way to make cushions firmer is to replace the existing foam.  The denser the foam, the sturdier the cushions will be.  To soften the foam slightly, wrap with batting and netting.

 

A while ago I wrote a post entitled “Five Decorating Mistakes I Wish I Hadn’t Made.”

The #2 mistake on the list was that I wish I had purchased sofas with removable back cushions instead of cushions that are attached.

Why?

Because cushions that are attached to the back of the sofa sag.  Sag and sag and saaaaaaaaggggggg.  Sag like the Suntan pantyhose my mother used to make me wear in seventh grade.

They don’t tell you about the sagging at the store and you don’t even notice it until you’ve had the sofas about a month and you go to fluff the back cushions and realize saggy cushions are now a thing in your living room.

Until now.

This is the best tip I never thought of.

A reader sent it to me and I thanked her and told her she was brilliant and sent her seventy-two exclamation points and then decided to share it with all of you.

Here’s how to fix sagging couch cushions in the easiest, simplest way you can imagine.

Let’s start with a close-up so you can see what I am working with here.

Super slumperama.

Slimptimity.

Slumpity.

Slumper.

Slump.

Emily Post would tell it to straighten its shoulders.

But it can’t.

Why?  It’s attached to the back. And when you try to push it up, the cushion stays for a moment and then when your back is turned or someone sits on the couch to eat Captain Crunch or put their stinky socks over the edge, whenever they get up it slumps back in place.  But here’s the thing.  There’s a secret fix to all that slumping.  Something I never even knew was there.

Something wonderful and incredible and amazing that fixed the problem in two shakes of a lamb’s tale.

A hidden zipper.  A zipper.  I know…right?  I’m as surprised as you are.  There’s a hidden zipper at the bottom of the cushion that has been escaping my notice for four years.  It’s tucked way back inside and you have to awkwardly lift up the cushion to find it, but it’s there.

How to fix sagging couch cushions that are attached

  • Reach under the bottom of the cushion where it attaches to the couch
  • Find the hidden zipper
  • Unzip the hidden zipper of the cushion
  • Remove the foam
  • If the foam is wrapped in batting, remove the batting and the netting as well
  • Replace the foam with a high-density foam
  • Re-wrap if needed
  • Reinsert the foam and batting into the cushion
  • Zip up cushion

How to fix sagging couch cushions that are unattached

  • Remove the cushion from the couch
  • Unzip the side of the cushion
  • Remove the foam
  • If the foam is wrapped in batting, remove the batting and the netting as well
  • Replace the foam with a high-density foam
  • Re-wrap if needed
  • Reinsert the foam and batting into the cushion
  • Zip up and place on couch

How to fix sagging couch cushions that are attached without replacing foam

  • Reach under the bottom of the cushion where it attaches to the couch
  • Find the hidden zipper
  • Unzip the hidden zipper of the cushion
  • Remove the foam
  • Rewrap the foam with polyfill
  • The more polyfill you use, the sturdier the cushion will be
  • Reinsert the foam and batting into the cushion
  • Zip up cushion

Here’s a little before and after.

Now it looks like this.

Can you believe the difference?  A picture is worth a thousand words.  Especially when they are unslumpy.  Now my couch is fluffed and stuffed and ready for stinky socks and Captain Crunch.

All because of a zipper.

I’d love to hear your couch stuffing tips, too.

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