Sofa is Squeaking: Causes and Solutions

So let me guess you got yourself a sofa at some point and now everytime you try to sit or move it there’s a squeaking sound. It’s normal, don’t ever think it’s not. At some point in our life I’m sure our bones are going to start squeaking and creaking too. So I take it you are here today because you are worried about that horror sound your sofa keeps making. 

white sofa with paint

I guess the best I can do for you is tell you is why that sound is there. Maybe out in a few notes on what you can do to control it and what other options you have. So basically when your sofa starts to sound like it’s been hatching baby chickens, or it’s trying to be its own form of instrument like the triangle then well it’s probably because of a lot of reasons don’t think of the worst already.

Sadly under this fact no sofa is safe from the squeak illness. It’s like a common cold to sofas at some point no matter how strong that sofa will squeak. You will find that even sofas that are made with matela frames and springs or wood or whatever material you have will always squeak. At some point something will loosen up and give way to the squeak and it’s just a matter of time. 

I’m sorry to tell you but no matter how much you oil your sofa, and all the squeak will always attack but what we can do instead is delay the squeak and find a way to make sure that by the time it finally comes or attacks your sofa you”d have had enough of the goey comfort already, But i will look at that later on right now let’s see what’s more important 

So anyways let’s look at what can cause that sound in detail and how to tackle each of the problems.

Causes

Aging

So i’m going to start with the most common one, which is age. When we buy our sofas we are given a guarantee that the sofa should last about 10 to 25 years depending on the materials used. However a lot of things could go wrong and reduce that life span but don’t worry at the same time it could be a factory defect so don’t worry yourself much.

blonde lady laying on sofa

You find that when it comes to sofas especially those that are made of wood they normally squeak when they need repairing and changing. So if you have a wooden sofa depending on how long you have had that sofa in your home it will mean either one of the following

The glue used to hold the pieces together has loosened and is becoming weaker by the minute. In this case your sofa is liable to break down at any point and will probably break fully and become the perfect furniture next to a dumpsite if you don’t make haste and set it for repairs. So as a sofa ages almost everything used in its construction will start to age, some faster than others. You’ll find that the rate at which the wood is going to age and breakdown may be faster than that of the glue or vice versa either way your sofa is squeaking and creaking already.

Rusty springs and loose attachments- When your wood starts to age you find that it may start to splinter up meaning the screws used may not be as tight as they were and the whole frame will become very loose and shaky. That’s when we have those creepy sofas that feel like they are going to topple over everytime we sit in them, because the screws are loose and the frame isn’t held up together anymore. This should explain why there is a squeaky sound when you sit

Needs a bit of oiling- like i said before some sofas have metal frames, and when a metal frame starts squeaking or creaking it’s a sign that either the metal is not as strong anymore, the joints needs to be oiled and all. You will find that for sofa beds and futons or recliners when you change their shape at a certain point two metal rods have to pass by each other and this in turn will surely cause a sound. However under normal circumstances when the sofa is bought those parts would have been oiled and waxed. So if its been making that side, you know what to do, pull out a little lube and the sound should stop

Newness

Well apart from aging you will find that new sofas are a bit uncomfortable before you break them in and amongst the list of what makes them uncomfortable you will find a squeaking sound there and there. So at the factory they are trying to create a sofa that will last long and satisfy all your needs and all, they will probably make sure that the screws and all are very much tightly fit in.

cat sitting on window next to sofa

So the normal order of things is that when you sit down you stretch the sofas a bit and the screw loosen up but by bit. So until they are at the point where they don’t make a sound when they loosen a bit, that’s going to be a sound you should get used to, That’s why they say wait a while until you fully break in your sofa.

You’ll find that with hardwood sofas like timber, oak and the likes, your sofas will actually squeak but that’s just the authenticity of the material, If you get yourself a timber sofa that does not squeak at first, i think you should really check on the authenticity.

Breakage

Now when we look at the breakage we are talking about a damaged sofa. I know they say that when you get a sofa at least give it a week and break it in. However if you go too far you might actually end up breaking it which is the last part of the cause of the sound. So when something breaks in a sofa all sorts of things are bound to go wrong.

unique sofa with 3 cushions

Which is why you may start hearing a squeak or a creak. You will find that most sofas when you break even the left arm somehow you will affect the backrest which will affect the other arm. When a sofa is constructed all ends are pivoted meaning the whole frame is supportive of each other, destroying or messing with any part and you apparently disrupt the whole sofa.

So if your sofa wasn’t squeaking before and it’s now squeaking means something could be broken, either your wood has a crack and the whole sofa is now loose. For such cases it’s best to repair your sofa before anything happens or you might end up having to throw away the whole sofa and i am certain you don’t want to do that at all.

On this point if you have a family, like kids or pets that enjoy jumping up and down on the sofa that could be a reason why your sfa is now squeaking. I mean so many things actually affect the sofa and can break the sofa. You will find continuously putting hard pressure on any piece of furniture could actually do more harm than old age. So if your pet likes jumping up on your sofa and your kids are also in for that habit I guess you know what you have to do.

Solutions

So i guess from everything that i have said about you know what to do and you know what not to do if you want your sofa to actually last you a long and safe time right. Well I’m sure you can probably identify the problem with your sofa so that you can solve it, so for our solutions we are going to go through a few stages and the one involves finding the problematic area in this case. Once we know what’s wrong then we will obviously know how to handle the problem so let’s begin and not waste anytime at all.

Stage 1: Find the problematic point

So what we are doing here is simply finding out what could be causing the squeaking sound so we know how to fix the problem. It can really do anything really. Before you do anything crazy like your sofa open let’s start with the simple and the basic. Try targeting where you hear the squeak loudest and press down or shale on that point so you can determine if the sound is really coming from. 

coil spring

I’m saying this because more often than not that squeak could be because of the frame that rubs with the upholstery which won’t last you long at the same time it could be because the sofa needs breaking in if it’s still new. So if the sofa is not new then press down and shake until the sound is more affluent and you can actually determine where it’s coming from. So before we get started, make sure you jot down all the possible places that you hear the sound from so that we can tackle each part one by one.

Stage 2: Remove the mattress

So once you have jotted down every spot that seems to be squeaking and creaking we move on to stage two where we start dismembering the sofa to make it easy to manage and shift. So here we remove the mattress after turning the sofa over. Simply put this will expose the underside of the sofa and if it has a dust cover then it would be best to remove that dust cover so that we can access the inside of the couch. 

Now if it is a regular sofa this will be a very easy process but it may be a bit confusing if your sofa is actually a sofa bed as these come with several joints and so forth. After this our sofa is now open to us and we can now see how it works and where to work as well. Now remember that list you had previously on the parts where the sound was coming from, let’s use that list and fix each part one by one.

However still on this part if your sofa is a sofa bed then rest assured that the mattress itself may be the cause of the squeak, so if you turn it and flip it, the sound may lessen or actually be extinct If not but you can’t hear he squeaking sound with the mattress off then you may need to replace the mattress alone. But just in case you had other problem areas it’s best to just handle the sofa all at once.

Stage 3:  Tighten or change all screws

frog tightening screw

So as I said before you will find that as a sofa ages the screws may become loose and lose their balance with the wood. It’s actually very normal because as you continuously sit on the sofa the screws are bound to get loose thats why glue is used as well. On that note you might as well add wood glue if you want to make the whole process more effective. You may need to either change the screws that are too rusty or you may have to tighten them and after that the squeak or the sound should be gone.

Stage 4: Wax the joints

So as the parts of a sofa rub against each other they tend to make a sound when they are under strain. However if you rub wax it will likely reduce the noise of the sofa. At the same time if your sofa apparently has a lot of joints that rub against each other, take for example a sofa bed or a recliner, then you may want to rub the wax bar on the pivotal points to reduce the squeaks and the creaks. It’s wiser to use a lubricating wax, however if you cannot find one or you don’t have one then candle wax could filter in. It won’t be as effective but it’s still better than nothing right.

Stage 5: Lubricate where necessary

For this matter you will find silicon lubricants to be of major use. So at his stage what we want to do is clear up any other frictional points that could be causing your sofa to squeak. You will find that you have clips that hold springs, you have pivotal parts in the sofa that may need a lubricant. Whatever it is. just lube it. This is the number one most effective way that can and that will fix any issue that may be causing an annoying and creaking sound

Stage 6: Repeat

A redo and a repeat in this case mean that just do it 2 to 3 times over again just to make sure that you have put an efficient amount of effort in fixing your sofa, and i’m sure that afterwards out you will realise that either the sound would have disappeared altogether or that the sound is now at a reduced volume and you can barely hear it. So there you go that’s how you fix the squeak and creak in a sofa.

Prevention

Well there are many ways to prevent the squeak in your sofa but well some can’t be prevented because eventually time will catch on and there is really not much you can do with that sofa when your great grandchild is still using it for naps. So here are a few ways to at least make sure that sofa lasts for a while.

1. Avoid jumping and continuously moving the sofa around as continuous movements and the likes may end up loosening the sofa knots and bolts at a faster rate resulting in your sofa starting to make sounds even when you sit on it at the slowest pace possible.

2. If your sofa has a lot of pivotal points then continuously oil, lubricate or wax them to reduce the friction which may be the reason why your sofa is creaking and squeaking.

3. If your sofa is still new and straight from the factory then at least wait a week or two until you’re certain that the sound is not going to disappear.

4. Make sure that when you feel the slightest difference in your sofa you call the repairers so they have a look at it. A small problem that you ignore will always grow to become a bigger problem than before.

Final Thoughts

I guess this is it right? I don’t think there’s anything that I left out of all of the necessities I think and I am sure that I have stated them quite clearly. It was an intriguing task but all I’m happy about is that you now know so much about these sofas and these sounds that may develop. If you are unsure of what to do please don’t try to repair the sofa alone. It is wiser to call for expert help at least you will be certain that the sofa is going to be in good shape afterwards.

So here is the deal, when your sofas starts to creak or squeak you should know that its caused by loose dowels, loose tenons and if your sofas has been with you for a little longer now it’s probably weak wood that’s either stretched off or has begun to shrink which is very natural for natural materials. This could be the biggest sign that maybe your sofa now needs changing or it needs to be repaired. 

At times intermittent creaking and squeaking is not at all a bad thing, yes it’s very annoying i know but given that you apparently got yourself a timber sofa then that squeaking should be very common, it’s just a feature of authentic timber which should settle down overtime, So if your sofa is a timber sofa just give it time, it should settle well afterwards and stop making any sounds. It was a pleasure but i guess now i should take my leave, goodbye.

Elissa Smith
Latest posts by Elissa Smith (see all)

Leave a Comment