That familiar ‘new sofa smell’ is actually a by-product of chemical treatments. So if you want an all-natural sofa, just follow your nose…
What is that ‘new sofa smell’?
You know it the moment you walk into a showroom, or unwrap a new kettle or toaster at home… It’s a faintly sweet, slightly plasticky smell. Not unpleasant really. Indeed, we’ve been trained to think of it as a good sign: the scent of something fresh and untouched.
But have you ever wondered: what actually is that ‘new thing’ smell?
In most cases, it comes from a process known as off-gassing.
Modern sofas are typically made using a combination of polyurethane foam, polyester fibres, adhesives and chemical treatments. When these materials are new, they release tiny amounts of gases into the air, known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.
That release is what creates the smell. It fades over time, which is why the “new sofa smell” disappears after a few days or weeks: because the initial burst of these compounds has dissipated.
Why it’s so common
There’s nothing unusual about this; it’s simply how most modern furniture is made.
Foam and synthetic fibres are widely used because they’re cheap and easy to manufacture at scale. Chemical treatments help fabrics resist stains or meet regulations, while adhesives hold everything together quickly and efficiently.
Off-gassing is the inevitable product of all that man-made stuff, which is why the odour has become so familiar. It’s not really the smell of “newness” as such, but of industrial materials.
Why Schplendid sofas don’t smell like that
At Schplendid, we take a different approach. Rather than building sofas around petrochemical foams and synthetic fibres, we use predominantly natural materials — things like wool, cotton, coconut fibre and down. Our fabrics are not treated with chemical sprays designed to repel spills or stains.
Natural materials don’t behave in the same way, so there’s no burst of off-gassing to speak of.
Therefore, when a Schplendid sofa arrives, it doesn’t have that ‘new sofa smell’. It just smells like what it is — linen, or velvet, or wool.
True, it can feel slightly surprising at first, because we’ve become so used to receiving that sense of synthetic ‘newness’ through our noses, and some customers have commented on it.
But what you’re noticing is simply the absence of something that was never especially desirable in the first place – a whole load of chemicals. And once you realise that, it’s quite hard to un-smell it.
See also:
Fire Retardants, Chemicals and British Sofas: What’s wrong, and what’s changing
Ten Things the Sofa Industry Would Rather You Didn’t Think About
The truth about ‘new sofa smell’ (and why ours don’t)
That familiar ‘new sofa smell’ is actually a by-product of chemical treatments. So if you want an all-natural sofa, just follow your nose…
What is that ‘new sofa smell’?
You know it the moment you walk into a showroom, or unwrap a new kettle or toaster at home… It’s a faintly sweet, slightly plasticky smell. Not unpleasant really. Indeed, we’ve been trained to think of it as a good sign: the scent of something fresh and untouched.
But have you ever wondered: what actually is that ‘new thing’ smell?
In most cases, it comes from a process known as off-gassing.
Modern sofas are typically made using a combination of polyurethane foam, polyester fibres, adhesives and chemical treatments. When these materials are new, they release tiny amounts of gases into the air, known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.
That release is what creates the smell. It fades over time, which is why the “new sofa smell” disappears after a few days or weeks: because the initial burst of these compounds has dissipated.
Why it’s so common
There’s nothing unusual about this; it’s simply how most modern furniture is made.
Foam and synthetic fibres are widely used because they’re cheap and easy to manufacture at scale. Chemical treatments help fabrics resist stains or meet regulations, while adhesives hold everything together quickly and efficiently.
Off-gassing is the inevitable product of all that man-made stuff, which is why the odour has become so familiar. It’s not really the smell of “newness” as such, but of industrial materials.
Why Schplendid sofas don’t smell like that
At Schplendid, we take a different approach. Rather than building sofas around petrochemical foams and synthetic fibres, we use predominantly natural materials — things like wool, cotton, coconut fibre and down. Our fabrics are not treated with chemical sprays designed to repel spills or stains.
Natural materials don’t behave in the same way, so there’s no burst of off-gassing to speak of.
Therefore, when a Schplendid sofa arrives, it doesn’t have that ‘new sofa smell’. It just smells like what it is — linen, or velvet, or wool.
True, it can feel slightly surprising at first, because we’ve become so used to receiving that sense of synthetic ‘newness’ through our noses, and some customers have commented on it.
But what you’re noticing is simply the absence of something that was never especially desirable in the first place – a whole load of chemicals. And once you realise that, it’s quite hard to un-smell it.
See also:
Fire Retardants, Chemicals and British Sofas: What’s wrong, and what’s changing
Ten Things the Sofa Industry Would Rather You Didn’t Think About