New Sofa Cushions, what to buy and what to avoid

Whilst we are well known for producing high quality long lasting sofa cushions to rejuvinate a sofa we thought you might like to know some things about sofa cushions that you should look for when buying a new sofa.

If the new sofa that you like the look of has fibre filled cushions you need to be aware that this type of cushion needs to be regularly 'plumped up' i.e. daily and even then might only last a couple of years (we regularly get this type of cushion brought in for replacement with foam and many are only six months old!) So just be aware that if you don't want a lot of puffing up to do you should probably avoid this type of filling regardless of how nice it looks in the showroom; they are a high maintenance type of cushion. They do though have a nice 'sink in to' feeling but just be aware that that comes at a price.

Feather filled sofa cushions also look and feel very nice when new. With time though the feathers will work their way through the ticking cloth liner and as with the fibre filled cushions they will need 'plumping up' to keep them looking nice (unless you want a saggy looking sofa.) Feather filled cushions are also quite heavy, just somerthing to be aware of as you'll need to lift them a lot to keep them looking good.

If the sofa you are going to buy has foam filled cushions here are some questions to ask the salesman; what is the density of the foam? The density has nothing to do with how hard or soft a cushion is. The density is the quality of the foam. The higher the density of the foam the longer you can expect the cushions to last. The density will be measured in kilos and a sofa cushion should contain a foam of at least 33 kilo and higher quality cushions may contain foam with a density of up to 60 kilos, certainly densities around 40 kilo will give you a cushion that should last around 10 years. Remember that this is nothing to do with the hardness/softeness of the cushion. The salesman should be able to get the density figure from the manufacturer, if they can't how can they know the quality of the cushions? and how long they would last?

We have just dealt with the density of a foam cushion, we'll now deal with the hardness or softness. This is very much down to personal preference. The hardness of a cushion is measured in Newtons and most sofa cushions will have a hardness of between 100 and 200 Newtons. A 100 Newton hardness is quite a soft cushion whereas a 200 Newton cushion will be quite firm. You need to be aware that all foam cushions will soften off with use. a brand new sofa cushion with a hardness of 200 Newtons will be extremely hard on day one, however after several weeks of use you will find it start to soften off a little; after several years of use it will have softened considerable compared to when it was brand new. The same would happen to a softer 100 Newton cushion, even though soft on day one it will get softer still with use. Again salesman should be able to provide you with the hardness of a cushion. Some examples are:

33 kilo/200 newton - this is a medium density (quality) foam with a firm feel to it.
40 kilo/150 newton - this is a higher density (quality) foam with a softer feel to it.
60 kilo/100 newton - this is a very high density (quality) foam with a very soft feel to it.

So you can see that hardness and quality (density) are not linked as such. you can have a high density foam with a hard or a soft feel, likewise you can have a medium density foam witha hard or softer feel. The density is an indication of how long it is going to last and the hardness/softeness are down to personal preference.

We hope this helps you when buying your next sofa.

You can call us (01926) 832775 or alternatively you can email us foam@jordansretail.co.uk for more information.