Dfs sofa allergy reaction - red burning eyes

ComicGeek

We had our sofa cleaned and had similar symptoms to the OP. Possible that it was cleaned before delivery or similar chemical sprays used in manufacturing.

We ventilated the room well and used blankets to sit on a couple of weeks - remove when not using the sofa to allow it to breathe. It did take a couple of weeks to sort out, but has been fine ever since. Our 1-year old had red eyes and skin rashes, and we both had skin rashes on our legs and arms - all disappeared quickly.

hollydays

Are you familiar with the symptoms of conjunctivitis which is highly infectious.

Dean000000

My son has that right now, and the wife has itchy eyes...

But our guess is the finance we were recently missold!

Jay63

On the 16th Feb this year are new suite arrived from DFS . There was definately an odour present , so the doors were opened for as long as possible. However 3 hrs later I started to feel very ill and my face and neck became very red and blotchy . I have previously had an allergic reaction like this when we had a new carpet fitted and also when when bought a Simba mattress . The latter had to be returned as the reaction was so bad I had to leave the house . The night of the sofa arrival I also had to leave the house and stay overnight with family so it didnt get any worse. This is obviously something to do with V.O.C 'S that have been previously mentioned in this thread . I am back in the house and sitting ( on and off) on the sofa . The smell is still there but not as bad . Plus we have throws on the sofa . I would definately try and air the sofa as much as possible and keep the room in fact the whole house as aired as possible as fumes will travel upstairs and linger if they cannot get away . Especially where a baby is involved as they are more susceptible and cannot tell us how they are feeling . Ignore the comments of those who make fun of the situation , you are not on your own and there must also be others out there who have or are having similar reactions . If youre baby doesn't improve then a trip to a gp mentioning the chemical reaction possible might be advisable .

POPPYOSCAR

Why are some posters so dismissive of this.

It is a real thing.

https://www.news-medical.net/health/Sofa-Dermatitis.aspx


"Sofa dermatitis refers to a persistent skin allergy that occurs in people who have bought leather sofas, couches, and other upholstered furniture pieces containing dimethyl fumarate (DMF), an anti-molding agent. This manifests as eczematous rashes and in some cases, serious chemical burns. In all cases, it is linked to the presence of Chinese-made leather furniture treated with an antifungal chemical."

askmeaboutsofas

It is a real issue, the culprit last time I heard about it was a chemical used to treat against mould. Sofas that are manufactured in a warm, humid climate (China) are treated to prevent mould and sometimes the chemical used is too strong, or doesn't evaporate/dissipate as quickly as expected before the delivery. Or the manufacturer uses a different chemical to the one they're supposed to use. Depending on the stuff the sofa is made of it could be off-gassing from the foam or cover.

You can try:
-airing the room out for 24 hours. It may help if you remove the cushions from the sofa and spread them out so that there's as much contact as possible between the air and the surface of the sofa and cushions.

-rinsing the sofa (wear gloves!) with cold water, just in case it's something on the surface


Have you contacted the supplier about this? They might be able to advise you on how to get rid of the fumes faster.
More importantly, take your baby, and anyone else who is having a reaction, to the doctors and get a professional opinion on how to deal with it. They will know better than any of us how best to deal with that side of things.

Aylesbury_Duck

It's not that we've been completely dismissive, but from the very limited information we were given at the start it is perfectly plausible that OP's family's symptoms are related to "normal" health problems and that the timing with the sofa is coincidental.

Posts #2 and #10 asked what DFS themselves had said and were not answered. It's not unreasonable to assume the symptoms are nothing to do with the sofa.

iammumtoone

I am not being dismissive of the OP but if my family came down with those symptoms, the last thing I would consider at this stage is the new sofa. The only way I would think maybe its the sofa would be after every other angle has been eliminated.


OP with baby involved you need to get to the GP urgently no harm in mentioning the new sofa so they are aware but they will check if its a virus etc first.

Jay63

Well my last post was on the 20 th Feb relating to my reaction to our new dfs sofa. I was actually managing to sit on it for a short while while it had a throw on it. Now it's even worse! The following day we decided to take all the cushions outside to air for the day and leave all the doors and windows open to help air the suite. All this while I stayed upstairs out of the way. That night with the suite back in the room uncovered I later went downstairs and the smell was even worse and within minutes my eyes and noise were irritated, chest was tightening and face itching. We have now purchased an air purifier with both carbon and hepa filters to try and help the situation. For those of you who have commented saying people should go back to the supplier I have contacted dfs and explained that I did have a chemical allergy and asked them if they could check with the manufacture to see what chemicals were used in the manufacturing process which would help in me locating the specific chemicals I react to. Yes dfs did get back to me but without giving giving me any names of the chemicals just stating that yes chemicals and glues were used in the process but all to manufacturing and fire standards. They then suggested I go to my gp to have an allergy test. So not much help there then. And yes manufacturers do use chemicals to standards but that does not mean that the chemicals used are not harmful to certain individuals. As for proof that its definately the sofa not a virus . The reading on the purifier when the sofa is covered is Amber and red. Warning colours. When the soda is uncovered the reading is red across the board! Therefore proving that the majority of the harmful fumes are coming from the largest piece which is the 3 seater sofa. We are now considering moving the suite out of the house completely and storing it to see if the smell and fumes reduce. If not I'm not sure what we can do or where we would stand legally . This is not buyers remorse either before someone else suggests it or is it all in my head. The suite is lovely and very comfortable so we have no issues with that at all.

Aylesbury_Duck

It sounds like you have the makings of some proper evidence, so go back to DFS with it.