Soft Leather Sofas (Sofas in General)

Member Name: cathodbach

Product:	Sofas in General
Date:	03/11/05 (4820 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Extremely comfortable - great to sink into after a hard day's work!

Disadvantages: Very limited lifespan

A warning if you are considering buying one of those super soft, fluffy, marshmallow sofas - I found out the hard way.

We spent nearly £1,000 on a beautiful leather suite. It was very luxurious - not sure about the quality of the leather, but we bought it for the comfort factor. It was fabulous; you just sank down into it and promptly fell asleep; beautiful.

We started to notice after about a year that one of the chairs - the most-used one - had started to sag. The once-fluffy and soft seat had flattened and the leather was now too big for the fibre stuffing. Comparing this chair to the other, it looked as if it came from different suite! The settee, too, was starting to go in the same way, but we couldn't afford to replace this at the time, and piled the suite high with cushions.

Three years down the line, we called in the experts - easy enough, so we thought, to re-stuff the suite and bring our suite back to its new condition. However, when we were quoted £400 to do this, we were astounded. The cost, apparently, was not the cost of replacement filling (with foam this time, so it would not sag) but because it would have to be done in our home, since the cushions were not removable.

So we decided against this, and part-exchanged our once beautiful suite for a second-hand leather suite which was not the "marshmallow" style, but had firm, foam seats and backs. Apparently this was older than our suite, but it looked brand new. For just £195 we part exchanged our suite for the "older" model and hey presto, we have a "new" suite and will just add cushions in future for that "sink into" feeling.

The warning: Don't buy a sofa unless the cushions are removable. Repairs are half the price!

The warning: If you buy a super soft marshmallow sofa, it's highly likely that the stuffing will be some kind of fibre. Fibre does not withstand the test of time, and always sags. Be prepared for an expensive repair within a couple of years. Alternatively, forego a little comfort and go for foam, which takes many more years to sag!

Summary: Don't buy the first sofa you see!