The value of my new find is marginal as far as buyers are concerned, it really speaks to sellers.  And this holiday weekend, where many of us are visiting/sitting in/sleeping in different places, it’s a perfect time to share this. 

Had seen this on TV in recent weeks, and while I didn’t think much of it, I was still curious.

On Tuesday, Doug had a small hernia repaired, and one of the things I had to think through was our living room upholstery. His favorite chair was a tufted, low-slung number, and our sofa-while it had a nice high seat-was squishy.  Both comfortable under normal circumstances, but troublesome if you can’t use your abdominal muscles to get in and out of it.

SO-off to the As Seen On TV store at the mall I went.  Still skeptical, but $15.00, with a store credit if I returned it seemed to be a reasonable experiment.  After two weeks of having them in place, have to say it’s been a good value.

It’s a set of thin, hard flat plastic strips, each about 20″ long x 4″ wide, they look kind of like uncooked lasagna noodles.  Along the sides are interlocking tubes, so you can connect as many as you want: One set will pretty much cover each singular ‘seat’ in an average-sized piece of upholstery, and you can stagger the strips if front to back measurement is deeper than average.

While I usually think of this kind of stuff as cheap, interim fixes (which , actually,  in this case was exactly what I WAS looking for)-this product has several applications:

When you sit in upholstery, your body should largely be at right angles. But today, even the finest upholstery is made with cushions with a lot of squish to them. They return to their original shape, but compress easily when you sit on them.  Even under the best of circumstances, if your butt is lower than your knees, you will always struggle to get in and out of it.  Factor in any age or mobility issues-bad back, re-habbing from stroke, or any kind of surgery-it’s even harder.

Although I don’t have a sleeper sofa, would have to imagine it’d be help create a more even and supportive sleeping surface as well.

Don’t get me wrong-if you have upholstery with a low frame, or that is in need of repair, these will NOT help. Similarly, if your regular, every night mattress is causing you grief, replace it, that is not what these things are designed for.  But be aware of people sitting in, then getting out of upholstery this weekend. If you see anyone struggling, this could be $15.00 well-spent.

They are available on line, and in all sorts of stores, but dig out those BBB coupons for the best deal.