Asked on Aug 26, 2015

How to mask a dented sofa arm

Plu2155394
by Plu2155394
After 2 yrs of kids sitting on the arm of my family room sofa the arm has gradually sunk. I don't know what is under the leather but I imagine it would cost a few hundred $ to hire an upholsterer to come over, open the stitches and repair or replace the dented plastic, Is there anything I can do besides drape a throw blanket over the arm? Particle board, etc.
dented arm of a very affordable and not terribly dsdy sofa
  8 answers
  • Aleka Craftaholic Aleka Craftaholic on Aug 27, 2015
    maybe these photos help you...
  • Pam Walker Pam Walker on Aug 27, 2015
    I would lift up on the arm a little & find where it's stitched. Gently cut a few of the stitches open & with a flashlight, peek inside. Go buy a box of pillow stuffing (fiberfill) & begin stuffing the arm again. Using a dowel rod to push the stuffing back into the far corners, fill it until it's firm again. I'd do it to the other arm as well to make them match. After you've finished stuffing it, get a spool of Upholstery Thread & double it on a leather needle (Walmart has them cheap) & sew the seam back up. It's an easy fix. Hope this helps. :)
  • Mary Thorne Mary Thorne on Aug 27, 2015
    My husband was ill with the flu. He fell asleep on our sofa and sweated the padding away. I did what Pam suggested. It worked beautifully.
  • Deborah M Deborah M on Aug 27, 2015
    I've had the same experience, fortunately we took the extended warranty. I watched the repairman fix the problem and it didn't seem to hard to fix. took him less than 30 minutes. Anyway I found a link to help explain how they fix it. The only thing different, my guy took a thin piece of wood and bowed it to replace the cardboard. https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100302183940AA24E3P
  • Becky Becky on Aug 27, 2015
    Pam has it right. Have you tried looking underneath for zippers? Ours started to do the same thing, so I made pillows and insisted they be used...they are usually on the floor, but I tried! :)
  • Nikki Nikki on Aug 29, 2015
    I would think you could undo the stitching in a hidden area maybe under the seat cushion if possible? and restuff it and stitch it up with an upholstery needle and heavy upholstery thread or maybe even some heavy type of glue would work? I would definitely try before paying a fortune for someone else to do pretty much the same thing.
  • Marilyn Marilyn on Aug 30, 2015
    All furniture starts with wooden frame. As it appears one of the arm pieces of wood has been broken. Looks to be worth having repaired. The frame wood we have found to be rough with many knots and could have simply been weak. Sitting on any arm is asking for trouble.
  • Pj Pj on Aug 30, 2015
    Why not buy a table runner wrap in around some foam Velcro it to top part of arm and add a couple of pillows make from contrasting runner