I would go along with what pagosapamie has suggested. I also think the rotating of cushions as you suggest is a great thought. Just keep sitting on them & they should get softer. Good luck. Expensive furniture needs to be satisfying & functional.

Thanks for the great suggestions! I've been rotating the cushions but otherwise ignoring the problem. I don't spend much time in the room as I'm in the homeschool room doing lessons with my granddaughter or working on my computer. The cushions don't seem to be softening up, so when I gather my courage to tackle it, I think I'll first be reducing the middle foam as was suggested and see how much that helps.

I want to update my original comment about too firm leather settees. My teenage son spent several days fully reclined on one of the settees while he played video games with friends . He even slept there .Now the center cushion that bore the brunt of his weight ,is now perfectly cushy and comfortable . I've given him his marching orders to break in the rest of the cushions

Give it a little time..the more you sit on it, the more it will start to break down. We had the same thing and I am happy with ours now.

@jazznana. Did you ever find a solution that works? We have a similar problem in our vacation house owned by my parents. They bought extra firm Cloud Nine couch cushions....and get this.....25 years later and they STILL feel like cement! the couches have been sat in a lot. I would love to fix the problem....my parents don't want to buy new furniture the couch frame is similar to the old This End Up type couch frames

Donna, unfortunately it's been over a year since my last update, above, and nothing has changed. Lazy me! This fall my granddaughter is going to fourth grade at a private school, so with more free time I am turning my attention to organizing and deep cleaning the long-neglected corners, including that beautiful sectional that I avoid sitting on! Like yours, I think it will also be just as hard 25 years from now.

I got some bags of clumping poly that is supposed to mimic down, so I am going to try stuffing the back cushions with that. I'm also going to try putting a thinner and softer foam in one seat cushion and see how that works. I'll post the result here.

If the cushions in your couch are solid foam (not the more complicated poly wrapped that I have), I think you have an easier fix with buying replacement foam cushions, either online or through an upholstery shop.

Hey Jazznana is there an update after changing the foam? We recently purchased a sofa from Ikea and the one we put together definitely feels less comfortable than the one we sat on at the store!

Bryan, I still haven't fixed them! They are just as firm as the day they were delivered. Nobody complains when they sit on the sectional, but it's not the sink-in experience I was hoping for. I am still planning to take out some of the foam on the seat cushions and replace it with poly, and replace the polyfil on the back cushions. One of these days [grin]. Let us know what you try with yours.

Pottery barn sells two kind of cushions and you can buy replacements. The down fill cushions are really firm (which is what you probably have). The polyester cushions are in my opinion much more comfortable from day one. If you call pottery barn they can give you the part numbers and send you the cushions. More expensive than doing it yourself, but an option.

I recently read smart advice from a furniture industry expert--if cushions are too firm, cover the cushions with a beach towel and walk across your sofa. Hmm, I'm conservative, perhaps it would be better to put the cushions on the floor when you walk on them--don't want to pop a spring in your sofa. I've seen professional tennis players stand on their tennis racquets to loosen the strings so no doubt cushions will survive this maneuver!

I've done what nidnay suggested. I pulled everything out of our over firm cushions and had a huge bag of feathers from an old duvet. I tore up the poly bits so they were the size of about a golf ball. I evenly mixed feathers (down haha) and the poly and stuffed them back into the "envelope bag", stapled it closed, stuffed it back into the cushions and voila'! Perfect softness we were looking for and our leather couch even looked better. Hope this helps!

Wait a little is good advice, yet I want to add don’t wait too long!! A hard couch can become a pain in ...well.. I have a very expensive couch that turned put harder than I expected and I have payed with my beehind for five years because the shape of the cushions is very complicated to try to fix. I now wonder what on earth I was thinking.... would have been better off cutting my losses and getting a different one after a couple months than suffering thru this very very good looking but very very hard seat! I even developed sciatica from sitting on it.... so dangerous to fall for good looks lol

drdeb lol did not look at the dates, but by now there must be a clear winner, sofa or owner!

. . . and the winner is - the cats! One cat in particular has taken a fondness to one arm for claw sharpening, darn her cute hide! I keep that end covered with an afghan to prevent further clawing and cover up the damage.

Yes, it's years later and I haven't modified the cushions. Either time has softened them some, or I have just accepted them. I still love the look, and it's okay to sit on.

After years of trying to figure out how often to wash the cushion covers to keep the sectional looking white and clean, I finally hit upon a solution. In case anyone else has a similar sectional, here's my method:

First, it's too many washer loads to wash 6 seat cushion covers and 7 back cushion covers all at once. And the frame cover is its own big job. I decided to apply the principle I use for the rest of my housecleaning (do a little every day). I took a Sharpie and put a letter or number code on each cover, at the middle of the zipper where it doesn't show. Seat cushions are A-E and corner; back covers are 1-5 and corners C1 and C2. I chose one day each month to wash part of the covers (in my case, the second Saturday), and divided the covers into groups that fit into my front loading washer:

Jan, May, Sept - Group 1 - Back: 1-2 and C1

Feb, June, Oct - Group 2 - Back: C2 and 3-5

Mar, July, Nov - Group 3 - Seat: A, B and corner

Apr, Aug, Dec - Group 4 - Seat: C, D, E

I use a little bleach in the wash, then put the covers on damp and prop them up to dry overnight. When I put the cushions back on, I rotate by sliding them one space to the right. (Someone suggested this as a way to even out the wear on the cushions, a good idea.)

As a result, every cover gets washed every four months. That's enough to keep them looking fairly good (perfect isn't my goal, with cats and a child). Once a year, I also wash the frame covers.

One final tip - sorry for this very long post! - concerns the zippers. I struggled to zip up the tight, damp covers with just a small slippery zipper tab, until I hit on the idea of putting a split ring (like you use for a ring of keys) through the hole in the zipper tabs on the seat covers. Now it's much easier to zip, and the rings don't show because they are wedged between the cushions.

After several years with a white denim sectional, it's something I'd buy again. The denim wears like iron, and the look is so versatile. I love it and have had many compliments on it.

jazznana, I love a very happy ending, ! Congrats

OMG walking on the cushions works. I just had these delivered and the seat cushions were like bricks. I was getting ready to take them to my upholsterer. Yea!!!

I know this is an ongoing years old thread...BUT...I have a sleeper sofa ( slipcovered) that has such hard seat cushions it's sat and laid on by teenage gamers..no luck softening. It is years old (probably 7) and a n excellent shape thanks to the slipcover. I'll always buy a slipcovered sofa. I don't know if I missed it but has anyone found a solution for making seat cushions more comfy? Thank you!

Cyndi - My cushions are acceptable - just not as squishy-comfy as I expected. My experience with sleeper sofas is that the folded-up mattress makes them overly firm for sitting. If everything else about the sofa is just right (and you made sliipcovers that I assume you like, too), perhaps you could get new cushions to fit your slipcovers that would be better. I think it would be worth consulting with an upholstery business to ask about this. I've seen online businesses that specialize in cushion replacement, too, but I'd feel more confident talking to a local business where I could get advice and sit on samples.

Good luck - let us know what you decide to do!

Pam

I have a 7 month old duo lazyboy chair. The cushion is much to hard to sit on more than one hour. The chair reclines a little and your weight goes on the back of the cushion (like most recliners do) and it feels very hard to sit on for any length of time at the back of the cushion. Could some batting be added to the cushion to give it a softer feel?

I came across this Houzz question via a general Google search. I also read on another site that one manufacturer also recommended walking on the furniture. They did clarify a bit - put the cushions on the floor first and wear socks but not shoes. This sounds so low effort and free so it’s surely worth a try.

We had the opposite problem...the cushions on our Laz-y-boy sectional softened up way too much in 4 years. It was sooo uncomfortable. Replacements through Laz-y-boy were over $300 each. We ended up ordering replacement foam through Foam by Mail. What a difference! It is so comfortable now! Supportive but not too firm. We went with HD high quality foam with a Dacron wrap. Each cushion was about $55. I watched videos on measuring and tips to replace the foam and had no problem doing this myself.
Connie

@pagosapamie What is your contact information? I’m interested in your custom furniture business

I’m so sorry Elizabeth, Guy was an interior designer for almost 30 years and manufactured everything custom. But I have retired and moved to the other side of the country and am now living on the East Coast. I have no want to make my furniture anymore. However, if you need information, sizes, Heights depths, etc Please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to help you.

Please email me at Pamstokes3@gmail.com

I have had a couch for over a year and the cushions were like bricks! I read these posts and took the cushions off and bounced on them. OMG what a difference, I may do it again!