My parent's sofa started doing the same thing. They happened to have a king sized "egg crate" mattress pad on hand. They cut it to fit inside the cushions (doubled up I think) and three years later still no sag.

I ordered foam for exactly this purpose from Foam by Mail. www.foambymail.com
It's a bit tricky to measure it right so it actually fits perfectly.

I have the same sofa and probably bought it around the same time, funny! I didn't take much notice of the back cushions until I read your post and now I see that my husband's regular seat is indeed smashed down. The above idea is a good one. I think for now I'll rotate the cushions on a regular basis and see if that helps.

No solutions, but you might look at what you are doing to cause this.

This exact thing happens on our sofa, but only on the side my husband sits on. I flip the two sides fairly frequently.

We've had the problem on two sofas and they are both sofas with back cushions that are curved to extend over the arm. On another sofa with a rectangular cushions, no problem.

I got our sofa cushions refilled at Spicer's Upholstery in Alexandria. They did 3 cushions (the ones you sit on, not the kind that go behind your back) for around $250 or $300. It is a friendly, family-owned place. I'm really glad we did it, it's made our couch much more comfortable and attractive. Good luck!

I found that my cushions are exactly the length of a king sized bed pillow. I cut a foam/ latex pillow down the middle with an electric carving knife and stuffed it in at the top, then reinserted the original pillow insert. No sagging on top (I did this about 3 months ago) and the pillows are full, fluffy, and new-looking again!

Ask a reupholsterer to cut a soft foam to fit the cushions exactly and then wrap it in dacron. Usually costs about $75 per cushion.

Upholsterers call this "potato chipping." I second the idea of wrapping it in Dacron. That will avoid the look or feel of a solid chunk of foam. So it won't look too stiff but it will age better than what was likely in there to begin with. Good luck!

My only other advice would be that if the cushion is slipcovered in a fabric that is washable (hard to tell if the sofa is cotton twill or microfiber/upholstered or slipcovered) then try washing it. The fabric can stretch out a bit and if you have the cushion underneath re-shaped, the cover can be baggy when it's all put back together again.

Alternately, you can try steaming the fabric which should tighten it up a little as it dries again.

This has just reminded me how sad our poor old couch is and how desperately it needs to be reapholstered.

i have the exact same couch (but it's 6.5 years old) with the exact same problem! So far I've unsuccessfully been smushing it back every week or so (I've rotated/turned the cushions too many times for it to matter), but these suggestions sound far better, particularly the king-sized pillow. Can't look any worse, right?

Stefanie,

This is a common problem with loose back cushions and most of these ideas are great. If you do decide to have an upholsterer refill these cushions (the most long-term solution), ask for a channeled cushion insert. This will be a muslin (or similar) bag with seams running horizontally to the sofa seat. The seams or channels in the cushion cores will help the entire cushion hold shape.

Two major use factors will contribute to this problem - flopping onto the sofa and sitting sideways with your arm over the cushion. Try sitting down, then leaning back. Sounds weird, but I swear it will help. Your shoulders are pulling on the top seams of the cushions :)

Good luck!
Michelle
www.schneidermans.com

My loveseat bark-o-lounger has the same issue, but it's not anyone's arms resting on them... no, it's the cat curling up on the headrest for a snooze.

Now that one side has that divot, he's taken to the other headrest instead.

we have the same problem. I sewed a loose horizontal stitch from the front to back of the cushion. I did it about two weeks ago, looking good so far. BTW I sewed the insert not the actual cover.

You can go to http://www.foamorder.com/stores.html They have great foam, and you can order custom sizes. I'm about to do the same thing for my sofa. Good luck!