The average lifespan of a living room couch is seven to fifteen years. Once it reaches the end of its life, it will start to creak, wobble, or sag under pressure, and it’s at this point that people may decide to dispose of it.
Considering couches aren’t inexpensive, knowing how to diagnose the faults on your couch is a suitable skill to have. Maybe it isn’t doomed to hit the dumpster just yet. Here’s what you can do to extend the life of your sofa.
Repairing the springs
Everyone hates when springs start to stick out of the couch. In these cases, you may have to repair or replace them. It’s best to replace those springs with durable and long-lasting compression springs. You can entertain guests in your Utah or California home without thinking whether they will get hurt from simply sitting on your couch.
If the couch just needs tweaking, you need to have the proper tools ready. You need a pair of pliers to restore loose or bent springs. First, pull open the fabric lining carefully, leaving at least one side intact, so you can pull the fabric back when you’re done. Use the pliers to nip and twist the springs back into shape or to reconnect them back into the frame.
Furnishing new foam
Once you’re done tweaking the springs, you’d want to look at the foam padding, as well. If it’s not that firm or bouncy anymore, you probably need to discard it. You could bring the sofa to an upholstery store, or you can re-stuff the couch padding on your own.
When buying a new foam, you can select between a classic polyester fiberfill or polyurethane foam of varying density. Measure the length and width of the cushion and use the same dimensions when shaping your fiberfill wrap. You can also select among different sofa fabrics such as synthetic fabric, natural fabric like linen or rayon, or even leather.
Fixing the wooden frame
Fixing the broken frame of a couch can be a bit more complex, but it’s also more urgent — you don’t know when it might suddenly cave in after getting sat on.
To fix a sagging couch, you first have to dismantle the whole thing to identify which wooden slat or joint has bent out of shape over time. Once you’ve seen where the error lies, you can either go the easier route and reinforce the couch’s bottom with a plywood plank that fits its frame. Or, you can go the harder yet more reassuring route and remove the faulty slat from the frame and reattach a new, stronger slat.
Cleaning the cushions
Once your couch is all made up, you might as well finish the job with a deep and thorough clean.
How you clean your couch depends on the fabric, which you can identify by finding the tag on the couch. To remove stains off synthetic and natural fabrics, mix a cup of warm water, half a cup of vinegar, and a tablespoon of liquid dish soap or castile soap in a spray bottle. Then, spray the solution to the fabric diligently. If you have leather upholstery, mix half a cup each of oil and vinegar in a spray bottle and apply the solution while wiping the couch with a buff cloth.
Stop buying new sofas and preserve what you have by deep-cleaning it quarterly and maintaining it at least once a year. It deserves proper care anyway, given how often everyone in the house sits on it.
