Furnished By Hand

Padding and Stuffing for DIY Upholstery

You've just walked into a living room, what do you see? Where does your eye travel first?
I notice sofa, curtains and flooring, followed by lighting, knick-knacks and plants. I glance at the Sofa first, just because I know it's where I will be sitting, so it needs to be comfortable and clean.
chair cross section
Sofas, arm-chairs and couches are brilliant inventions. They're simple structures, that can be changed or updated to suit many styles.
Their general construction, consists of wood and a spring frame, with padding and a fabric cover. That's it.
Good quality seating will come with solid frames, they won't need much work. If the frame is made of old wood, reinforced after much use, or treated to ensure that it's free of creepy-crawlies.  On the other hand, the chair padding and fabric covers can be upgraded, restyled and refreshed as often as you'd like.
Sometimes 'life happens' and we keep our seating for too long without replacing it.  Other times we buy brand new sofas or couches that looked fabulous online or in the showroom, but later proved to be substandard after frequent use.
Today we are going to be talking about Foam Padding for Seat Cushions.

Padding for Seat Cushions

There'll be no mincing of words here: many retail manufacturers use makeshift foam to produce sofa cushions, which sofa retailers then sell to YOU, their 'valued customer'.
Obviously, it's nothing personal, it's just business, but that sort of business leaves the customer out of pocket and lumbered with poor seating.
Sure, you'll be offered a guarantee at the point of purchase, and as kind as that seems, it really doesn't offer much.
decaying sofa
The manufacturer's guarantee for mass-produced furniture, basically says, "if your sofa cushions collapse (which we know they will), we'll basically replace your badly made sofa cushions for another set of badly made sofa cushions - failing that you could just buy another sofa from us".

Checklist for buying upholstery padding.

You've spent money on your seats, so why throw them out? Replacing your seat cushion filling, is very easy.
It will extend the life of your seating, and make a huge difference to the look of your room. You can literally order any size, type or shape that you want.

Types of Sofa Cushion Foam.

There are different types of padding you can get to replace the foam in your sofa seat, but the most important aspect of sofa cushion foam is how well and how long the foam will serve its purpose.

Hard or Soft Cushion Foam

Foam is graded, priced and guaranteed based on its resilience, strength and longevity.
The hardness or softness of foam is usually tested using the 25% compression test: basically how much force it takes to squish foam down by 25%
25% foam test
ILD text
The foam industry uses a standardised test called the Indentation Load Deflection (ILD) to figure out how soft or hard the foam is and the best use for each type of foam.
In the test, weight is put on top of the foam. The amount of weight needed to squish down the foam by 25% is called the ILD.
Lets say it takes 70 Lbs to squish the foam down by 25%, then that means that the ILD of that foam is 70.
ILD of foam is 70

Why is Foam ILD important?

The ILD will go some way to determine the foam's ability to offer comfort and support in the first few months of use. You need to know this if you're upgrading your upholstered items; there's no point in putting in all that effort and money, just to feel uncomfortable and unsupported after 6 months.

Foam ILD Reference

Foam with 15 to 27 ILD will feel comfortable. It's pliant, doughy and snuggly. It'll feel very soft and can help to relieve stressed-out joints, spine and muscles.
This foam is ideal for upholstered furnishings that offer pressure relief, for example well padded, tightly sewn sofa back rests.
Foam with 28 to 40 ILD should offer a harmonious mix of comfort and a bit of support.
It cushions enough to provide relief, and is supportive enough to provide a balanced foundation. This foam works well in bolster cushions and scatter cushions.
bolster cushion
silver dining stoolks
Foam with 50+ ILD can support a heavy weight that's spread over a small surface area, without sagging.
It provides a steady, firm and strong foundation. High ILD foam is ideal for sofa cushions and dining room chair pads.
Another compression test called - you guessed it - the 50% test can further help to decide how supportive the foam will be under a heavier weight. This time, the ILD refers to the weight that squidges the foam down to half it's original size
50% foam test
Yes, I did wonder why they didn't just multiply the results from the 25% ILD by 2 to get the 50% ILD, rather than doing a whole new test, but compression tests are not always straightforward.

Foam Resilience and Longevity

Asides from the soft and firm test, You need to know how resilient and long-lasting your foam will be. The density of the foam determines how many times it can be squished before loosing it's ability to spring back.

To test foam longevity and resilience, the foam is subjected to thousands of compression tests. Overtime the foam will loose some of its ability to spring back to it's original height. The foam's loss in height will be measured against it's original height.

Foam Density

Foam density is measured in kilograms per metre cubed. Foam of less than 40 kg per m3 will not last long in your seat cushions, and you might find yourself upgrading sooner rather than later.

Seriously, if it's less than 40 kg per m3, save your money.

Different Types of Upholstery Padding

We'll compare four common types of upholstery padding.
green tick

High Density Polyurethane Foam

green tick

Memory Foam

green tick

Fibre Fill

green tick

Feather and Down

When buying new foam for your sofa or seat cushions, the deciding factors that influence your buying choices include: 
Comfort: 

How soft and luxurious it feels to sit and rest on for one or more people.
Upkeep: 

Cleaning and general after-care. Can it be washed?
What products can be used?
Support: 

The level of buoyancy and strength for your spine, limbs and muscles
Longevity: 

Shape and  buoyancy retention, long lasting support and comfort.

High Density Polyurethane Foam

A lot of the foam used in upholstery is made from a plastic by-product of crude oil called Polyurethane.
This foam can be pliable or unyielding. The pliable kind is used in soft furnishings and upholstery.  Good quality HDF is compact, which means it can hold body weight without loosing it's shape.
It provides a supportive foundation for your spine and lower body. You'll be able to sit down and stand up from your sofa without putting undue pressure on your hips and knees.
HDF feels comfortable, soft, and inviting. It's strong enough to buoy-up your bones and muscles, and at the same time, cushy and snug enough for a restful nap.
HDF won't droop or get bunched up, so  you won't need to plump up the sofa cushions each time they've been sat on.  The solid form of the foam makes your sofa cushions look fluffed up and luxurious all the time.
denim sofa
It resists long periods of wear and tear and it won't crumble or sag inside your cushion covers. It would take a very heavy weight to flatten it permanently.
It won't trap smells so it's a great choice for pet owners, and as it's simple to clean it may be an option to consider if you have dust allergies, as it's density won't trap dust and dust -mites.
Good Quality High Density Foam could be the starting point for decent sofa cushions, it can be combined with other padding to achieve different styles.

Memory Foam

Memory Foam is a viscoelastic material, that's mostly used to fill pillows and mattresses, but can also be used in seating and other furnishings.  It is said to provide relief for pain, pressure and tension, however these capabilities greatly depend on the quality of the memory foam.
Good quality memory foam padding will cradle your body weight, offering both comfort and support, while a lower quality version will feel solid and create more pressure points than it relieves.
Standard memory foam has a dense cell structure which traps body heat. This can make prolonged use feel sweaty and uncomfortable. 
It is best to use memory foam that has an open cell structure which promotes efficient air-flow and helps the heat to escape.After repeated use, standard memory foam padding will either deteriorate and tear or compress down. Once the foam has lost its shape, elasticity and buoyancy, the support and comfort the foam offers will reduce significantly.  A memory foam seat pad would be subjected to continuous pressure, making the foam sink inwards and creating a compacted and irreversible dip. Industry standards allow for irreversible dips of 2 to 3 cm.  
memory foam
As there are no fibres to fluff or plump out, it would be unusable. Remember, a long-term guarantee is absolutely essential when buying memory foam padding.
In any case, memory foam padding will always require extra layers, for example a cotton and muslin layer or Dacron, to provide additional buoyancy, softness, and support.

Fibre Fill

Fibre-Fill is also air-filled. The fibres are very fluffy, loosely packed and full of air. When compressed, the air whooshes right out of the fibre.  Sofa cushions made purely of fibre-fill will become sunken very quickly. 
Their lack of density will leave you feeling captured and forcefully embraced by your cushions, Compressed fibres don't offer any support to your spine or lower limbs. As you sink into your cushion, the base of your spine will come into close contact with the frame of the sofa, leaving you feeling stiff and covered in sore pressure points.
You may need several tries to get up from your sofa seats, because fibre-fill provides very little lift , and this will put a strain on your hips and knees.
With all the air trapped inside fibre fill, other things like smells, spills and dust will build up, allowing dust-mites and other unwanted critters to roam freely, chow-down on lots of dead skin cells and lay plenty of eggs.
fibre fill
 Fibre-fill is better suited to making cuddly toys than sofa cushions, as toys don't need to offer support, they are designed to be squashed and can be easily cleaned in the washing machine on a hot-wash cycle.

Down

Down is mainly used for items such as pillows, cushions and duvets.  It's made up of small, delicate fibres that grow out from the under side of water birds, like swans and geese, while the majority comes from ducks.  Down is efficient at trapping air which provides insulation, warmth and buoyancy for the water bird.
down
The tiny feathers are susceptible to dust mites and other critters, so suppliers treat the down at high temperatures to kill dust mites that are present.
The treatment won't protect the down indefinitely and it won't take much for it to become infested again.  Another reservation is that down is that oil and grease from cosmetics as well as human sweat, can greatly decrease the efficiency of both feathers and down. If it isn't dried properly, mildew will form.
100% Down is marketed as a 'natural' upholstery stuffing, although 'Non-synthetic' would be a more accurate term.  It is said that one pillow requires the down of around 15 birds, however some manufacturers blend real down with other fibres.

Feather

Feathers used for upholstery must have a curled structure to provide bounce-back.  Some suppliers have been known to machine-curl bigger straight feathers to achieve this.  Big feathers are often rigid and can break under the pressure leaving lots of dusty pieces instead of smooth springy feathers.  The dust from feathers can be very itchy to the skin, and just like down, feathers are prone to dust mites and other creepers.
All feather upholstery will need to be protected from very heavy weight, as the bounce back will decrease over time.
Unlike down, Feathers have a spine. Often in cushions and other feather-filled furniture, the soft wisps wear off and the sharpness of the spines feel more prominent and uncomfortable through the cover fabric.
feather
Feathers do not stand up well to oil and grease, humidity, water or sweat. Many people opt to cover their feather filled furniture with protective covers when the furniture is not in use.
Feathers and Down both leech heavy metals from the birds that they were plucked from. It is unclear whether or not this has any affect on humans after continued use.

We are Concerned about Sustainability and the Environment.

Polyurethane isn't good for the environment, so it's extremely important that careful testing and analysis is carried out to protect the environment and to monitor health and safety concerns of polyurethane foam used in household furnishings.

Where can you find Upholstery padding?

You can buy different types of Upholstery padding on and offline, from upholstery equipment suppliers and foam distributors

Buying Guarantee

Foam is valued based on how long it is expected to last, that'll help you plan ahead for your next upgrade..
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