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How do I get rid of my old sofa? It’s a question googled thousands of times a day, yet many still don’t have a definitive answer. It’s already hard enough saying goodbye to your sofa, with it being the heart of almost every home. But it’s even harder finding the right way to do it! With fines for improper waste disposal nearing £50,000, it’s essential that you do it properly.

Fortunately for you, we here at Clear It Waste are experts in all things ‘sofa removal’ and have crafted this helpful guide to helping you find the best way to dispose of your sofa, and as efficiently as possible! 

Here are our top tips to dispose of your sofa:

1. Take your sofa to the tip

Not only is taking your sofa to the tip a great idea, it is also good for the environment too, with large portions of your sofa being separated and recycled upon being dropped off. However, it’s certainly not an easy option.

For a start, removing a sofa from your home tends to be a two-man job – and even still it can be pretty awkward. That’s before we have even got to transporting the sofa, which proves even more challenging considering most of us don’t have a big enough vehicle and 19% of us don’t have access to one at all. Even if you are fortunate enough to get hold of one, you might then have to travel out of your town to find a tip with availability.

Essentially, for some it’s a quick fix, but for others it’s far from.

2. Call the Council

Arranging a sofa removal with your local Council is also an option. Many local councils offer the service for a fee, dependent on the size and whereabouts of the sofa. Typically, this paid service costs between £20-£70. Since the service is merely a collection one, councils will still require that you remove the sofa from your property so that it can be collected from outside with greater ease. This is an important fact to consider when booking the service, particularly for those of us that are busy, live alone or elderly.

Aside from the cost attached, this is a popular service, so much so that demand often outweighs availability. Therefore, these services are difficult to secure when you initially require them – meaning your sofa could be collecting dust and hoarding space for quite some time!

Photo credit: BigDane / Shutterstock

Photo credit: Irantzu Arbaizagoitia / Shutterstock

Here at Clear It Waste, we offer an affordable sofa collection service that can take your unwanted old sofa off your hands in no time. Feel free to get in touch with our team if you have any questions or would like to arrange a booking for a sofa collection. We’re more than happy to help.

3. Re-home your sofa

Then of course there is the option of re-homing your sofa by either selling or donating it. Often this can be done through social media marketplaces, to friends or through locally based charities such as the British Heart Foundation or Age UK.

This is certainly an attractive option to many since you can either make money or provide charity from doing so. It sounds like a win-win, right? However, there is a slight caveat. If convenience is important to you, this option is often more hassle than it’s worth.

Foremost, re-homing your sofa is reliant on you finding somewhere to re-home it – again, a process which can prove tedious and take time (often weeks!). Not only that, but charities are unable to accept sofas in a poor condition and without the necessary Fire Safety labels, whereas collection companies can accept sofas in all conditions and sizes. This is definitely a factor to bear in mind when deciding how to get rid of your old sofa!

4. Call in the professionals

Alternatively, you could hire sofa removal professionals to do the hard work for you. Their expertise means that you can rest assured that your sofa is disposed of responsibly and without hassle.

Contrary to all of the alternatives, if you decide to hire a professional to do the job for you, the process is often much quicker. In fact, many waste removal companies offer same day waste removal services  at an affordable price.

So, how should you get rid of your sofa? Well, there are plenty of options available and which one you choose will depend on your needs! If you are happy to wait a while and have a few spare pairs of hands to help, then re-homing or organizing council collection might be great for you. However, if you value convenience, professionalism and your time and space, opting for a professional to get rid of your old sofa is likely to be your most favorable option.