Sofa seat pads

[Stargazer86]

I've got a lovely M&S sofa that we've had for some time now and the seat cushions are getting very soft and unsupportive...other than that there's nothing wrong with the sofa and I really want to keep it. Does anyone know how I could restuff or make the existing seats firmer? Xx

I have exactly the same problem with my (2008) M&S leather sofas.

Are your seat pads made of foam OP?
I bought medium thickness wadding and bonded that to the foam pads (all 6 faces) - that helped to plump out the seat cover but hasn't made it much firmer.

Currently considering whether to order completely new foam blocks or just replace the sofas!

A good upholsterer can help with cushion fillings, maker softer or firmer, deffo worth doing IMO.

There are online suppliers of foam cushions, you just need to send measurements.
Or, ask around locally - we just got some new cushions for a couple of old chairs from an upholstery stall on the market. They took one of the covers as a template.
£30 each, but apparently the foam comes from China and the price fluctuates.

@rosegoldwatcher Ours is 2009 so a similar age. The seat pads are foam but I feel like when you sit on it now you sink far too deep! I'd love to repair rather than replace. I unzipped one of the seat covers and the foam pad looks like quite a snug fit, I'm not sure how easy it would be to get out and replace?

It’s not easy but it is possible.
The grey cushion (linen mix cover) has the old hollofibre wadding in and had gone very flat; the new cushions were supplied by the manufacturer (Sofasofa).
I took the photos to send to them because I was convinced we’d never get the new cushions in, but they said it was FINE, and it was!
It was a two-person, inch by inch, squash and squeeze job, but we did get them in and the sofa is so much more comfortable now.

@GiantKitten Oh wow, that looks like a tough job, I'd have doubted they would fit too! Must make a big difference!

It does!
The covers could do with a bit of smoothing and adjusting, but I’m waiting until they’ve squashed a bit
It’s definitely worth doing though (and a very cheap fix!) especially if you’re otherwise happy with the sofa.

I have seen Youtube clips of professional upholsterers fitting foam blocks into seat covers. They wrapped the foam in ultra thin plastic and sucked the air out with a vacuum cleaner nozzle. The foam block was then small enough to insert. They cut away the plastic and the foam reinflated.

I just took my time when removing and the wadding that I covered them with made re-inserting easy.