A New Sofa Bed or Click-Clack Sofa?

Old Futon Frame

          About five years ago I bought a cheap futon from Walmart. I used to have a regular couch but in case I get some houseguests, I thought it would be practical to have a futon instead. After just a couple of months, the cushioning flattened out and it became a little bit uncomfortable to sit on. Earlier this year, before my brother got diagnosed with end stage renal disease, he and his wife Ninette talked about the possibility of visiting me. So I started looking into replacing the futon with a sofa bed or one of those click-clack sofas which are basically the same as futons except the cushioning is already part of the frame.

Click Clack Sofa

          A regular sofa bed was out of the question because of budgetary reasons - none were in my price range. I found a click-clack sofa on sale last month and I wanted so badly to buy one but the store didn’t deliver and I needed a truck to transport it. Unfortunately, by the time my co-worker’s truck became available, the store was out of stock. So it was back to looking for a better deal. Then it occurred to me that I’ve read somewhere before that some futons come with an inner spring mattress and they can be bought separately. I examined my futon frame and it still appeared to be in good shape. Perhaps I can just replace the flattened cushion with an inner spring mattress. It was back to trolling the internet for the best price. It was not too surprising that Walmart had one at my price range and more importantly, the reviews were mostly positive. It was a choice between a 6 inch or an 8 inch mattress and I opted for the thinner one just because the thicker one would have covered most of the futon frame’s arms. I ordered it online which came with free delivery and it arrived 6 days later. The delivery person actually managed to get inside the security gate and left it outside my door while I was asleep. Fortunately, nobody stole it. When I woke up and went outside, I just found this huge rolled package.

          The mattress was inside a bag and when I took it out, it was shrink wrapped with all the air squeezed out. I tore off the plastic wrap and the mattress opened up. I removed the old cushion then had to mightily wrestle the heavier inner spring mattress into the futon frame. Hooo boy! That darn thing was heavier than I thought. However, it folded neatly where it was supposed to in the middle. I sat on it and it felt a little too firm, but since it hadn’t expanded to its fullest shape yet, that was to be expected. There was also a matter of the factory odor which emanated from the mattress, but that faded as time went on.

Futon Innerspring Mattress

          So what to do with the old flattened cushion? I tried putting it on top of the new mattress but that made the couch too high. Then an idea came to me. Perhaps I can repurpose it as a mattress pad on my old bed. Well I tried that for a few days but it felt too lumpy and because of the way it was positioned on the futon, the middle part was raised. In an effort to flatten the middle, I piled a barbell on it and left it for several hours on two separate days. Well, that didn’t help very much or at all. Because of that middle lump, after sleeping, I woke up with back pain because my body is more used to sleeping on a very firm mattress. I ended up throwing it away. Well, so much for recycling.

                On a more positive note, the new inner spring futon mattress seems to be holding up well and the odor is mostly gone. I’ve even taken short naps on it and it was firm enough for my needs. It is still a little too firm for sitting though, but I remedied that by placing an outdoor lounger mattress which I already had, on top of it. I'm pretty happy with the product. It does pay to read reviews :). So folks, if ever anyone comes over for a vacation in my neighborhood and needs a bed for a short while, I am no longer ashamed to offer my futon. Just be careful not to bump into all my exercise equipment in case you wake up in the dark in the middle of the night.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!