The sofa is the furniture that does not require presentation. We all have heard about it and know how it is needed. After all, you will agree that it is wonderful after a hard working weekday, to come home and lie a little on a pleasant and soft sofa.
In order to ensure that your furniture does not deliver to you, during the rest, there is no trouble, it is important to approach its purchase in a reasonable way. In this article we will show you how to choose a sofa and pay attention to:
- construction materials
- frame structures
- asphalt Filler
- Transformation mechanism
What can be the frame of a sofa
The basis of each furniture is a frame. Skeletons are made of metal, wood and plywood, the strongest, are metal. However, they are not very comfortable for rest, therefore, most often such furniture is used to decorate the interior, as it is easy to pick up the upholstery to this sofa and, if necessary, replace it.
But still its greatest use such furniture found in offices. Therefore, if you want to put a sofa at home, and it will be used for rest, then couches, frames of which are made of wood and plywood, are more preferable.
The most durable wooden frames are those made of beech, ash, walnut and oak. But if you want to reduce the price of your purchase and that would not have a big impact on the quality, then the frameworks made of birch will come in handy.
But the cheapest are wooden frames made from different species of coniferous trees, the quality of such furniture is much worse. From which tree would not have been made a frame, be sure to choose the one on which the knots are least likely to be found, and most importantly, whatever tree from which it was made was dry.
Otherwise, because of the constant creaking, you hardly will be able to have a good rest. If the tree has been well dried, then it will not creak throughout the entire period of operation.
When choosing frames from chipboard or plywood, you must follow the same rules as with wooden frames. However, you must, before buying such furniture, you should know that DSP discards harmful to the human body resin. Therefore, it must necessarily be treated with special paint, but such methods do not completely eliminate this problem.
Upholstery for the sofa - what kind of fabric for the sofa to choose
According to statistics, about 50% of the total cost of the sofa is for the upholstery. Therefore, you need to approach this issue as seriously as possible. After all, it is the quality of the materials from which the upholstery is made that determines the comfort and durability of your future purchase.
The main types of upholstery material are: velor, chenille, jacquard, cotton, microfiber, flock and arpatek.
Chenille - soft, warm, pleasant to the touch fabric. It is made of fluffy threads, practically does not stretch.
Very practical, if necessary, with the help of ethyl alcohol or vinegar, you can remove almost all types of stains. This fabric, as well as the skin is considered elite, so the price for it will be quite high.
Velor is a very soft, velvety fabric. If necessary, this fabric can be cleaned without any difficulty. However, this is not to be abused because the velor easily wears off.
Jacquard is a very dense fabric, which allows it to retain its pattern for a long time. Among woven fabrics, it is the jacquard that is the most durable.
Therefore, the price of this upholstery is high. For this fabric, extremely dry cleaning is possible.
Cotton is a natural fabric, its great advantage is that it is the most environmentally friendly, but, unfortunately, it wears out quickly.
Microfiber is a very practical and high-quality fabric. Has good strength. Resistant to penetration of various liquids and dust. If you chose this upholstery material, then you can not worry that it will burn out in the sun or even worse.
Flock is a fabric created on an adhesive basis, therefore it is strictly forbidden to clean it with various chemical substances and alcohol. A small amount of dust and dust is collected on this cloth. But the price of you, no doubt, will please.
Arpatek is a durable, soft and rather thin material. Easy to clean and long retains color. To the touch very much resembles a natural skin.
For children's rooms the best cotton fabric is best, because it is the most environmentally friendly, and its service life will be no more than seven years, and for this time it will not have time to wear out.
For the living room is best to be sofas with upholstery made of synthetic fabrics, because they are the most wear-resistant. If you have pets at home, it's best if your furniture is with flock or microfibre upholstery.
Ideal can be considered the fabric that has Teflon impregnation. After all, if you even spill any liquid on it, it will not absorb, but simply drain and leave no trace. Of course, the price for such a fabric is very high.
If you have decided that leather will be used as upholstery in your furniture, then you need to choose with the mind. It is very important that the skin itself be a good knockout, otherwise after a while on it will appear cracks. It is also very important and the quality of the paint, that would not have wiped out the stains with time.
What is the mechanism of transformation
If you decide to use your sofa as a bed, then another very important factor in its choice is the mechanism for transforming the sofa.
There are a lot of transformation mechanisms, so we will consider the most basic models.
The cheapest and easiest is the transformation mechanism called "book".If your sofa will be used as a permanent sleeper, then such a mechanism will be a very correct choice, both from the financial side and from the practical one.
If the details of such a mechanism are made of steel, then it's generally gorgeous. The most reliable for today are precisely German mechanisms, so that when buying, pay special attention to it.
If you still decided to buy a sofa with this mechanism, then know that in order to expand it, you will need some free space between the wall and the sofa, otherwise it will always have to be moved. And if the back of your sofa is high, it will create a lot of trouble.
Therefore, gradually from such a mechanism begin to be abandoned. In sofas of this kind, boxes for storing laundry are always provided. Another kind of "book" is a mechanism such as "click-clack" or "eurobook."
It is very convenient because it provides the possibility of fixing the backrest in two modes( lying and half-asleep.)
Another popular mechanism for transformation is"Clamshell." Such a mechanism is not very convenient if it is laid out constantly, basically it is designed for the reception of guests, ie if you arrange furniture slowly, when choosing such a sofa, special emphasis should be placed on what the sleeping support is made of. The best version of buut-veneer plates, worst - metal mesh
The most easy to use is the "withdrawable" mechanism. This sofa is broken by pulling forward. While such mechanisms are provided with wheels, however they still damage the soft floor, are capable.wheels will be rubber.
This sofa requires a large room, because in its unfolded form its length will vary within two meters, but the sleeping place will be large enough.
One of the variants of the withdrawable mechanism is such a mechanism as the "accordion".In general, they are very similar, the only difference is that the back of the "accordion" is placed upside down.
And what would this sofa become a bed you need to raise the seat to a click, and then just lower it, the back will fall, too, only itself. For such items, a large space is needed, and the laundry box does not always have a large capacity.
We select the filler for the sofa
The main fillers of upholstered furniture for today are spring blocks and paralon.
The cheapest stuff for furniture are pieces of paralon. Although the prices for such sofas are quite tempting, but it is not worth stopping their choice on them.
After all, your sofa will stay elastic for no more than two years, and then it will collapse and will be no longer suitable for use. Sofas, which are filled with solid paralon pieces will last longer.
The maximum service life will be no more than five years. Very often manufacturers use polyurethane instead of paralon, which significantly increases the service life of the sofa. More elastic, but also expensive, is latex.
But still the main feature of a good sofa is the spring unit. If you want a sofa to serve you longer, then choose the one with more springs, and also it is desirable that they be steel.
It is very important that the springs be fixed in vertical cells that will not allow them to shift.
Before you start choosing a sofa, determine what kind of sofa you need, where you want it set for what purposes it will be designed.
When you come to the store, take a closer look, then go to the product that you liked most. Sit, feel comfortable? Then check all the technical components of the sofa. If everything is in order, buy, your choice is sure to be true!