Latest news with #sofa
The Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Everyone warned me to not buy a sofa from Temu but I did it anyway – it was £223, came in 2 days & got 8/10 for comfort
IT'S known for its mega fashion range and wallet-friendly bargains ideal as last-minute gift ideas. However, the China-based marketplace Temu may not necessarily be your go-to when it comes to finding furniture on the cheap. 2 But this is exactly what one online shopper, Katie Louise, from Manchester, did, taking a huge risk and ordering a gorgeous sofa from the cut-price website. She recently took to TikTok to show off the stunning product, which cost her a mere £233.87, after being advised to not purchase a couch from the site. Temu's version comes in hundreds of pounds cheaper than similar furniture from other retailers, such as Sofa Club where it will set you back an eye-watering £699. Meanwhile, Dunelm shoppers can expect to fork out close to an astronomical £500 - while store Lara James charges around £420 for their sofa. Katie, who recently moved into a new apartment, explained: ''Everyone told me not to buy my sofa from Temu - so naturally, I did.'' While Katie admitted that at first, she was ''filled with immediate regret'', she later learnt there was no need to worry. The delivery took a mere two days and after putting it all together, the online shopper gave it a good steam, before giving the sofa the comfort test. Raving about the wallet-friendly purchase, Katie scored the sofa 8/10 for comfort and a whopping 10/10 for overall value. She wrote in the caption of the video: ''Apartment diy diaries continue with my £233.87 corner sofa from Temu. ''Genuinely surprised at the value and it arrived in 2 working days!'' I used cheap Temu tiles to get a herringbone bathroom while saving for a reno - they're good as new 4 months later 'Woah, actually not bad' The video has clearly impressed many, as it's racked up close to 150k views in less than 24 hours. Almost 8,000 viewers gave it a like, as others flooded to comments. Why is Temu so cheap? TEMU exploded onto the scene in late 2022, with people all over social media raving about the low prices. The company is a Chinese-owned digital marketplace - essentially an online shopping app where people are connected to the retailer directly while the app takes care of the shipping element. The frenzy over the app is not completely unfounded either as it offers a wide variety of products, including fashion, make-up, electronics and furniture. According to a report from the US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Temu takes advantage of a trade loophole that allows the company to ship duty-free goods directly to the US. The loophole is called the de minimis exception and it means they can ship goods valued up to $800 (£643) to the US without it being inspected or taxed by US customs. Temu connects customers directly to manufacturers and only manages how the items are sent to customers. It means Chinese vendors can essentially sell their products directly to customers and ship it without building a network of warehouses across the globe. By doing this, they cut down on huge costs and ensure the product itself isn't marked up extra. While many of the products seen on the Temu app are from brands with extensive, original collections, many more are dupes of designer brands. One person couldn't believe the speedy delivery, as they wrote: ''Wait 2 days??? that's impressive.'' Another chuckled: ''When u brought out the first box I thought that was it and it was one of them tiny fake ones.'' Someone else chimed in: ''woah actually not bad.'' ''Why do I kinda want to do this,'' penned another. Katie is not the only person who's recently scored mega luck with furniture from Temu, as one woman managed to bag a gorgeous sofa for just £315. Another bargain hunter now has a foldable sofa that can be turned into a double bed for less than £240.
South China Morning Post
16-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Farewell, my pink lady, that beloved smelly but sturdy sofa
One good thing about Toronto's suburbia is that you can throw away your unwanted furniture, no matter the size – bulky or small, heavy or light – on your front kerb. But considering the municipal garbage disposal charge they make you pay it's hardly a perk. So now, there she sits, my beloved sofa waiting to be collected and crushed into pieces, looking sad and lonely, unwanted, abandoned, almost tragic. I can see it as I type these words from my front window. It has been a faithful companion since I returned to the Canadian city from Hong Kong almost a decade ago. But our relationship began long before that. My late mother bought it before my time. Our relationship first started when I interrupted my life in Hong Kong to go back to graduate school in the early 1990s because my dream of becoming a war journalist in Asia went nowhere. Say what you like about my pink lady, she was sturdy, definitely not the Ikea type. The original pink cushions were worn out and long gone. I took the striped light-brown ones you see in the photo from my neighbour when he threw his sofa away. I know that's kind of gross but I didn't want to throw away the whole thing and shop for a replacement. I laid flat on that sofa so many hours of the day for years I developed a weak back and constant lower back pain. It probably gave me scoliosis. My big yellow cat Bloomie made it worse by using me as his human pillow. One of the immutable laws of cats is that when they lie on top of you, you have to stay still for as long as they want. Now that I have done the unthinkable with my sofa, I don't know how to feel – melancholy, uncaring, dismissive, detached …? Surprisingly to me, none of these emotions/ideations have a hold on me, so I can pick and choose. I choose detachment.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
How new Queen of Clean ROO DAY is coming for Mrs Hinch's crown - even after life-changing event
The sofa is brand new, sumptuous and oh-so strokable. It has a buttery velvet finish, which lends itself beautifully to vacuuming stripes into the fabric, if that's your thing (and it is most definitely Roo Day's thing). It's cream, though. Cream! Who buys a cream velvet sofa just a few weeks away from giving birth? Perched on this lovely sofa with Roo and her massive bump, I'm nervous for her, and for this sofa. If her waters break now, all is doomed. And when the baby arrives…
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
This common household item could be 75x dirtier than your toilet seat
You might think that the bathroom is by far the dirtiest place in your home. But scientists warn that there is another common location that makes the toilet seem squeaky clean by comparison. Although you probably use it every day, this item can be 75 times dirtier than a toilet seat. And scientists warn that the situation may be even worse for pet owners. A study has revealed that the innocent-seeming sofa is actually the dirtiest place in your home. Researchers from Melbec Microbiology and Sofa Club swabbed six sofas across different UK households to see what bacteria were lurking beneath the cushions. They revealed that sofas harboured an average of 508,883 Aerobic Mesophilic Bacteria (AMB), a group of bacteria often associated with dead skin and food particles, per 100cm squared. By comparison, the toilet seat was only home to 6,800 AMB per 100cm squared, while the kitchen bin had only 6,000. To see how the sofa compared to other potential sources of germs, the researchers also swabbed a number of other household items. Shockingly, this revealed that a number of objects you touch every day are almost as bad as the dirtiest parts of the house. Swabs taken from a work desk showed 5,900 AMB per 100cm squared, only just cleaner than a bin. And it's bad news for anyone who likes to relax on the sofa and watch TV in the evenings. Your laptop could be home to as many as 5,800 AMB per 100cm squared, while the TV remote was home to 3,700. Even walking around the house could expose you to more germs than you think, since the door handle is covered by 1,800 AMB per 100cm squared. But, compared to the sofa, all of these may seem relatively clean. The sofa is not only teeming with low-risk bacteria such as AMB, but also with potentially more dangerous pathogens. Monika Puccio, Interior Expert at Sofa Club, told MailOnline: 'Outside of the bed, the sofa is likely the second most-used piece of furniture in the home and is subject to other factors that can cause bacteria to grow, such as having dinner on the sofa, taking naps or allowing pets on the couch. 'While many clean their bedding once a week, we often neglect to give the same treatment to our sofas.' Sofas contained yeast and mould, which can cause problems for individuals with asthma or compromised immune systems, as well as Coagulase-positive Staphylococci, which cause food poisoning, sepsis, and staph infections. Most worryingly, the researchers also discovered E. coli, a bacteria which lives in our guts and is spread through particles of faeces. The dirtiest sofa of all belonged to a household with two cats, which had over a million E. coli bacteria living in a 100cm squared patch. Overall, the cat lovers' sofa had 2,730,000 colony-forming units (CFU), a measure of how many live bacteria are in a sample, per 100cm squared. That is a staggering 400 times more bacteria than were found on the toilet seat. Following with the second dirtiest sofa was a couple with a dog who had 193,000 CFU per 100 cm squared - despite the couple claiming to clean their sofa monthly. In comparison, a sofa belonging to an adult living by themselves had 46,000 CFU per 100cm squared - still over six times dirtier than a toilet seat. Surprisingly, the study found that the cleanest sofa belonged to a couple with a young child who had 17,300 CFU per 100cm squared. Luckily, experts say that you can keep the bacteria at bay with a few simple cleaning techniques. Ms Puccio says: 'A quick daily wipe can stop stains from setting in and keep everyday dirt at bay. 'For a deeper clean, baking soda is an excellent and affordable choice to help you refresh sofa fabric. Sprinkle it generously over the sofa and let it sit for 20–30 minutes. Following this, give it a vacuum.' Ms Puccio also recommends washing the cushion covers if they can be removed and are machine-washable. Just be sure to check the label for the right temperature and ensure they are fully dry before putting them back on to prevent mould developing Ms Puccio says: 'Your sofa might be the dirtiest seat in the house. But the good news? With a few simple cleaning habits and a little consistency, you can kick the germs to the curb and reclaim your sofa from the grime.' 1. Keep a clean work space Germs can survive across all of the different surfaces in the kitchen, so it's essential to keep the cooking area and your hands clean. 2. Avoid cross-contamination Raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs can spread germs to ready-to-eat foods if not kept separate. The CDC recommends using separate cutting boards and plates when handling these ingredients. They should also be stored separately in the fridge. 3. Use a thermometer To cook food safely, the internal temperature must get high enough to kill the germs that could cause food poisoning. The correct internal temperature varies by ingredient, and only sure-fire way to tell if food is safely cooked is to use a food thermometer. 4. Store food properly Storing food properly is essential to combating harmful bacteria. Perishable food should be refrigerated within two hours of when it was purchased, and the refrigerator should be set to below 40°F. 5. Don't rely solely on expiration dates Expiration dates aren't the only indication of when a food item should be thrown away. If something seems to have a strange smell or colour, it's probably better to be safe and pitch it.
CTV News
06-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- CTV News
The Absolute Best Outdoor Sectional Sofas You Can Get In Canada Right Now
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us. Canadians understand the precious value of warm weather months. When the snow finally melts and temperatures rise, our patios and backyards transform into essential living spaces where we gather, relax, and make the most of our brief but beautiful outdoor season. A well-chosen outdoor sofa can be the heart of these spaces, and a sectional creates a versatile, comfortable foundation that can turn any deck or patio into an al fresco living room. Whether you've got a compact urban balcony or a sprawling backyard oasis, you deserve to have a natural gathering point for evening conversations, weekend relaxation, and summer entertaining. From cozy three-piece arrangements to expansive modular sets that welcome large gatherings, one of these options can help you maximize your outdoor living potential during our cherished warm seasons. Here are the absolute best outdoor sectional sofas you can get in Canada right now: Disclaimer: The prices displayed are accurate at the time of publication. We'll do our best to keep them as up-to-date as possible, but you may see slight changes.
