How to Make a Sofa Bed More Comfortable: 9 Fixes That Actually Work

September 16, 2026

Most sofa beds are uncomfortable for a short list of reasons: a thin mattress that lets you feel the frame, a bar or a gap where the sections meet, bedding that slides off during the night, and a surface that is either too hot or too firm. The good news is that nearly all of them can be fixed, some for under £100. This guide lists nine ways to make a sofa bed more comfortable, ordered by how much difference each one makes, based on what we see in the showroom and in delivery feedback at Sofa Bed Expert (sofabedexpert.co.uk). It also tells you honestly when a fix will not be enough.

Short version: add a 5 cm memory foam topper cut to the bed size, use a fitted sheet made for sofa bed dimensions so it stays on, sleep on a proper pillow, make sure the mechanism is fully extended and level, and keep the room at 16 to 18 °C. If you can still feel a bar or a dip after that, the mattress is the problem and no topper will hide it.

Why sofa beds feel uncomfortable

A sofa bed is two pieces of furniture sharing one frame, and most manufacturers compromise on the bed. The typical occasional sofa bed folds a 6 to 8 cm foam mattress over a metal lattice. Foam that thin bottoms out under a hip or shoulder, so you feel the lattice, and the fold line becomes a ridge across the middle of the bed. Add bedding designed for a 135 cm bed on a 120 cm mattress, a sofa cushion in place of a pillow and a warm living room, and it is no surprise people wake up stiff.

The fixes below work on any sofa bed. Which ones you need depends on where yours falls short, so it helps to lie on it for ten minutes and note what you feel: pressure at the hips (fix 1), sheet coming loose (fix 2), neck ache (fix 3), a slope or wobble (fix 4), a ridge or a bar (fix 7).

1. Add a memory foam topper cut to the bed size

A mattress topper is a separate layer, usually 3 to 5 cm thick, laid on top of the mattress to change how it feels. On a sofa bed it does two jobs: it adds cushioning over the mechanism so your hips and shoulders no longer press through, and it bridges the seam where the seat and back sections meet. For a sofa bed you want three things from a topper.

First, memory foam rather than fibre or feather, because foam holds its shape over a folding surface and fibre migrates to the edges within weeks. Second, cool gel infused foam, because standard memory foam traps heat and a sofa bed usually lives in the warmest room in the house. Third, and most overlooked, the right dimensions. A 135 × 190 cm topper on a 140 × 205 cm sofa bed leaves a 15 cm strip of bare mattress at your feet and overhangs nothing usefully; a 150 cm topper on a 120 cm bed folds over the edge and wears at the crease.

Our Cool Gel Memory Foam Mattress Topper is 5 cm deep, with a 2 cm quilted cool gel top layer over supportive memory foam, and is made in the exact sizes of our sofa beds: 70 × 200, 120 × 200, 140 × 200, 150 × 200 and 150 × 180 cm, from £89 to £139. The size table at the end of this article matches each model to its topper. On our own pocket sprung beds it is an optional layer of softness; on a foam-over-frame sofa bed from elsewhere it is the difference between a guest bed and a bed.

2. Use a fitted sheet that actually fits

Sofa bed mattresses are thinner than bed mattresses and often a non-standard width, so a normal fitted sheet either will not stretch round the corners or balloons loose and works its way off in the night. A loose sheet is one of the most common reasons people say a sofa bed "feels" uncomfortable when the mattress is fine. The fix is a fitted sheet cut to the sofa bed mattress: right width, right length, shallow enough sides to grip a 10 to 15 cm mattress.

We sell fitted sheets in 100% cotton for every model we make, chosen by sofa bed name so you do not need to measure, from £22, in white or grey. If you buy elsewhere, measure the open mattress and buy the sheet to those numbers, not to the nearest bed size.

3. Sleep on a real pillow

A surprising number of sofa bed sleepers use the sofa scatter cushions as pillows. They are too firm, too square and too high, and they push the neck out of line for eight hours. Keep a proper pillow with the sofa bed bedding. If the sofa bed is in a warm room, a cool gel memory foam pillow with a breathable mesh cover, like our Cool Gel Memory Foam Pillow (£45, FIRA tested), keeps the head cooler than a polyester pillow and holds its shape under a folding storage lid.

4. Open the mechanism fully and level the bed

Pull-out mechanisms have a final position where the frame locks and the mattress lies flat. If the bed is only pulled most of the way, the mattress sits at a slight angle and the sleeper slides toward the sofa all night. Push or pull until you feel the stop, then press down on the far end to check nothing rocks. Also look at the floor: a sofa bed on a rug that only covers the front legs is 1 to 2 cm higher at one end, which the body notices as a slope. Move the rug or add a felt pad under the low legs.

5. Rotate and air the mattress

Sofa bed mattresses are folded closed most of the day, so they cannot air like a normal mattress. Once a week, leave the bed open for an hour with a window open, and if the mattress is reversible turn it end to end so the same section is not always at the fold. On our sofa beds the mattress is built into the seat, so the equivalent is simply to leave the bed open occasionally and to hoover the seat and the storage compartment, which is covered in our cleaning and fabric care guide.

6. Get the temperature right

Sofa beds usually live in living rooms, which are heated for sitting, not sleeping. The Sleep Charity advises a bedroom temperature of 16 to 18 °C, and a living room at 21 °C with the heating still on at bedtime is a common reason for restless nights on a sofa bed. Turn the radiator down an hour before bed, use a lighter duvet than in the bedroom, and prefer cotton bedding and a cool gel topper, both of which move heat away from the body better than polyester and standard memory foam.

7. Deal with the bar and the gap

The bar is the metal cross member of a folding lattice frame, felt through a thin mattress at the hips. The gap is the trench where the seat and back sections meet on a sofa bed made from separate cushions. A 5 cm topper hides both on most nights, and a folded blanket under the topper at the bar position is a cheap emergency measure. But be honest with yourself: if you can feel the frame through a topper, the mattress is too thin for regular use, and the sofa bed was built for occasional guests.

This is the reason we build our sofa beds differently. The Millbrook, Mocca, Oslo, Nap and Tampa ranges use pocket springs in both the seat and the mattress, over zig-zag springs and high resilience foam on a flexible plywood frame. When the bed opens, the seat and the fold-down back form one continuous sprung surface: there is no lattice to feel and no separate mattress to bunch. Our mechanisms guide shows how this differs from a click-clack or a folding metal frame.

8. Protect the fabric you sit on all day

Comfort is also about how the sofa bed feels at 7 p.m., not only at 3 a.m. A sofa bed slept on every night is sat on every day, so the seat and the arms wear at twice the rate of a normal sofa, and compressed, shiny fabric on the seat is uncomfortable to sit on and looks tired. Made-to-measure arm and seat protection covers in the same fabric as the sofa take that wear instead, and can be removed for washing. They cost £85 to £175 depending on the area covered and are especially worth it in homes with cats or children.

9. Know when to replace it

A topper, a fitted sheet and a good pillow will rescue an occasional sofa bed for occasional use. They will not turn a foam-over-frame sofa bed into a bed you can sleep on for years. If any of the following is true, the sofa bed has reached its limit: you wake with back or hip pain that goes away in a normal bed, the mattress has a permanent dip, the frame creaks or bows under two people, or opening it has become a two-person job you avoid. At that point the fix is a sofa bed designed for every-night sleeping, with a sprung seat and mattress, a stated weight capacity (250 kg on our Millbrook range, 500 kg on the Mocca U-Shaped) and a mechanism that opens in one movement. Our guide to the best sofa beds for everyday use compares the options, and the showroom in Bognor Regis lets you lie on them first.

Topper size by Sofa Bed Expert model

Choose the topper that matches the sleeping area, not the sofa width. Where the bed is 205 cm long, the 200 cm topper sits centrally with about 2.5 cm free at each end, which disappears under the sheet.

Frequently asked questions

How do you make a sofa bed more comfortable to sleep on?

The fastest improvements are a 5 cm memory foam topper cut to the mattress size, a fitted sheet made for sofa bed dimensions so it stays on, and a proper pillow instead of a sofa cushion. Then make sure the mechanism is fully extended and level, and keep the room at 16 to 18 °C. If you can still feel a bar or a dip, the mattress itself is too thin for regular use.

Does a mattress topper work on a sofa bed?

Yes. A 5 cm cool gel memory foam topper adds cushioning over the mechanism and bridges the seam between sections, which removes most pressure points. It must be cut to the sofa bed mattress size, for example 140 × 200 cm rather than a standard 135 × 190 cm bed size, or it will overhang or leave bare mattress at the feet.

Why can I feel the bar in my sofa bed?

You feel the bar because the mattress is too thin, usually 6 to 8 cm of foam over a folding metal lattice. A topper hides it for occasional use. For every-night use the answer is a sofa bed with springs in the seat and mattress on a plywood frame, which has no lattice to feel.

What thickness of topper is best for a sofa bed?

Five centimetres is the practical maximum for most sofa beds: thick enough to cushion the frame and bridge the seam, thin enough to store in the compartment or fold away. Toppers of 7 cm or more often will not fit under the storage lid and can slide on a thin sofa bed mattress.

What temperature should the room be for sleeping on a sofa bed?

The Sleep Charity recommends 16 to 18 °C for sleep. Living rooms are often kept at 20 to 22 °C, which is too warm, so turn the heating down an hour before bed and use a lighter duvet than in the bedroom, with cotton bedding and a cool gel topper if the sofa bed runs warm.

Can a sofa bed be comfortable enough to sleep on every night?

Yes, if it is built for it. Look for pocket springs in both the seat and the mattress, a stated weight capacity of at least 250 kg, a bed length of 200 cm or more and a mechanism that opens in one movement. Sofa Bed Expert builds every model to that specification and sells them as every-night beds with a 14-day return period.

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