Guides to Choosing the Right Sofa Cushion

Choosing the right sofa cushion can be as taxing as choosing any other valued furniture in your home. It’s doubly harder when you don’t know what makes of a good sofa cushion and what are the things you should be mindful of as you choose among the surely many options that furniture stores will show you as you shop around. If you plan to buy one soon, you should be equipped with the right knowledge before you even subject yourself to a sea of options you’ll surely encounter as you hit the store.

Myrna, a mother from Singapore, just bought some sofa cushion and bean bag for her daughter’s room last week as one of her gifts for her coming 16th birthday, “I chose the ones with dark covers because I know how clumsy my daughter, and her friends who usually come around for slumber parties  and sleep overs, can. If I gave her, say, a beige cushion and other light colored bean bags, expect them to have stains the next day. Kids are just not as concerned because they don’t do all the cleaning. I also chose the ones that are firm. You will find seat cushions that are cheap and thin, and they don’t feel that comfortable. It’s like you never bought cushions at all. Always test them before buying to have a first-hand experience at how it feels to be seated on them for at least a minute.”

Elizabeth, who also bought some cushions for her new apartment in Singapore, shared her rules in buying seat cushion, “Since my couch is green, I tried to find green cushions too. The old cushions were filled with bed bugs and I can’t just use them anymore. I tried to find cushions that do not bury my butt easily on the couch. Firmness was one of my concerns. I also went for the cushions that are fibre wrapped as this type of cushions are not high maintenance and they can hold their shape better compared to other cushions.”

A lot of experts and sofa lovers can attest at how important it is to consider seat depth when buying a seat cushion, “The importance of seat depth. When shopping for a comfortable sofa, one of the most important things to pay attention to is the inside seat depth. This is different from the overall depth, which is the distance from the back of the sofa to the front,” shared writer Laura Oglethorpe in her article titled Sofa Secrets: How to Choose the Right Seat Depth and Cushions posted at houzz.com. The article further advised, “The inside seat depth is measured from the front of the seat to the back cushion. An average sofa’s seat depth ranges from 21 to 24 inches, but you can find many options outside of that range. If you like to sit upright in your sofa, choose a shorter seat depth. The exact number will vary depending on your height, but 20 to 22 inches tends to be a good range for most people to sit up comfortably. To figure out the seat depth you prefer, sit in a few different sofas and measure the one that works best for you.”

With stores may tell you a number of types of cushions, they basically fall in three categories: all foam, spring down, and down plush, blendown. The article of Mike Dietrich titled How to Choose the Right Sofa Cushion posted at houzz.com provides some important details about these three, “The first choice is the all-foam cushion. This is usually constructed of a high-density foam core covered by a softer layer of convoluted (‘egg crate’) foam, and then a polyester fiber wrap, all enveloped in downproof ticking (which prevents feathers from poking through). This is the cushion of choice if you like a very firm seat and you want the fewest possible wrinkles in the fabric… The second cushion choice is usually called spring down. It is the second-softest cushion and is made with a core of coiled springs, which is surrounded by a foam box and then wrapped with a thick layer of polyester fiber. This is all fitted into a down proof cover filled with a blend of down and polyester fiber. The springs provide a resilient feel, and the little bit of down, adds a touch of softness and loft that only down can give… The third basic choice for a cushion is called down plush, or blendown. It is the softest and most luxurious of the cushions, and is constructed with a thinner foam core wrapped in a thick layer of polyester fiber, and then wrapped in a much thicker layer of a down and poly-fiber blend. Because of its relatively thin foam core and greater proportion of down, it really feels and acts like a pillow. As you sit on it, it will flatten and change shape a bit, and it requires fluffing every time you sit on it to restore the loft and proper dimension. It’s definitely not for the person who can’t be bothered with all that maintenance. I love the way it feels, so it’s worth the trouble to me.”