How to plump up your sofa cushions

Restore your sofa to its former glory with these plumping secrets experts swear by

Its common knowledge that sofas are the focal point of any living room and are unsurprisingly one of the highest-traffic areas in your home. Therefore, given their daily use, not even the best sofas are exempt from losing their once-fresh, cloud like appearance.

It's true that some sofas are lower maintenance than others depending on the delicacy of the leather or luxury of the fabric or fillings, but a simple task often overlooked can make all the difference.

Seeing the sofa you've invested time and money into looking flat and tired is one of the quickest ways to turn your once loved living room into a dreary and discouraging sight. However, the key to injecting life back into your sofa lies in these plumping techniques.

How to plump up sofa cushions

• Get out the vacuum - Before any manual plumping begins, getting out the vacuum will help the cushions bounce back to shape. As you pull the vacuum nozzle across the cushions you'll help to loosen and separate some of the fibres in preparation for a full plump. Ensure that you use the brush attachment so its gentle on leather or fabric 

• Unzip the outer covers - Doing so will encourage the air to circulate around the filling resulting in a fluffy cushion. Make sure to remove the seat, back and scatter cushions covers when plumping and then return to normal. Ideally this should be done on a weekly basis

• Knead and Chop - If your sofa has a fixed seat and back cushion, fear not as you can still get them looking their best. Massaging as though you are kneading dough will help distribute the filling evenly and chopping the top of the cushions will plump up the fibres. Start with your hands in the centre of the cushion and smooth outwards in opposite directions. This will help the fillings to separate and return to their natural shape after use. Give each cushion a firm pat on the sides to invite air back into the filling and the sofa will look as good as new

• Flip and Swap the cushions regularly - To maximise a sofas plump look its worth flipping your seat and back cushions in the same way you would flip a mattress, especially if you have a favourite spot on the sofa. Regular use of sofas will eventually lead to sagging in the most 'sat on' areas, so by flipping and swapping the cushions, it will ensure that all the cushions are being sat on over even lengths of time and ultimately keeping the sofa in the best shape possible

We know that this may seem like a tedious job to do week in week out but it will certainly pay off on the long run and will keep the sofa in A1 condition.