New sofa is making me ill!

I'm guessing Fabreze or chucking a throw over it won't help?

That doesn't sound right at all. I know there has been a few cases about sofa's that have caused burns to peoples skins (incl a baby) and I think trading standards are dealing with them. I think you should look into this a bit more, how are you supposed to sit on it and relax if its going to make you ill,

That really doesn't sound right - admittedly it's a few years since we bought ours, but it's Scotchguarded and didn't have any fumes when new. Although it was bought fron DFS do you know who manufactured it? Might be worth checking the Watchdog website as I know they've featured the sofa burns mentioned earlier, and they all seemed to come from a particular manufacturer

Seriously, what Bettyb said! Its been in the newspapers lately about the sofas, get it checked out and take it further, that really doesn't sound right and there is no way you should put up with that!

Link to itchy sofas

It doesn't sound right , my dad used to work in the furniture bussiness & always scothguarded our sofas for us & i never could tell smell wise & it would affect me because i'm ashtmatic.

Please get it checked. A friend of mine bought a flat packed wardrobe and put it in his bedroom. He noticed he was finding it hard to breathe and was coughing, but dismissed it as a bug. A few days later he collapsed and was rushed to hospital. His lungs collapsed and his heart stopped. This was a young man, super fit, aged 22.

It turned out to be a severe reaction to something they had used to treat the wardrobe in the manufacturing process. He was in hospital for two weeks, in which time his family got rid of the wardrobe. He's been fine since (although never buys flatpack anymore).

Not meaning to scare you, but this needs investigating. Nothing in the home should cause what you are describing.

'Normal'- wtf? There is no way you should have to put up with that, its obviously having an effect on your health. DFS should come and get the bloody thing and give you a full refund.

I've had a sofa from DFS and it was stain-guarded but there were no fumes or anything. There is no way I would be keeping it in my house. Tell them you want a full refund and them to come and collect it. Out of interest, did they mention this when you ordered it ?

We've had this before. It comes from the sofa cushions and the foam they're made from not the upholstery. Some people are more susceptible to the fumes that it gives off. It's not harmful though and does pass once the off-gassing has stopped. You're doing the right thing by keeping the area ventilated, it shouldn't take more than a week to leave ours was gone in a couple of days.