We love sofa beds because of their dual functions as sofas and beds. What a great invention, a piece of furniture that serves its purpose all day as a sofa, and then can accommodate guests at night as a bed! If it is made of microfiber and you can clean it easily, all the better.
When you go shopping for your sofa bed, make sure you take into consideration how it will be used. If you normally have your in-laws or brother and his wife stay over, you will need a double. If you want a place for your grown kid visiting from school or his new town, you only need a single. Of course, you also have to make sure that the bed will fit into the room that you want to put it in. Getting the right fitting sheets will make it easy to make up when you need to. Check the construction of the bed to make sure that the legs are screwed in well and that the corners are glued properly and reinforced with blocks.
Bed Frame Leg
If you buy a bed that is stapled together, and has unbraced joints, you will only be asking for trouble in the long run. To test the quality, take off the cushions and make sure you do not see any wood. All of the interior surfaces should be upholstered to assure you that the quality is good. If you have wood surfaces, you will not have a comfortable bed. Try the sofa out in the various ways it will be used: sit on each side of it and the middle as a sofa, and make sure it is sturdy and comfortable, and then open it and lie on it and make sure it is comfortable as a bed.
The final and maybe the most important feature of a potential sofa bed is that you can open and close it very easily. If you can't open it with a single touch, don't even think about buying it. You don't want to be struggling in front of company late at night with a hard to open sofa bed. The best quality sofa beds have large tubing to give the strength for easy opening. Another feature to look for to assure strength is that the sofa bed has a mounting plate that is bolted, rather than screwed to the frame. If you happen to have a friend who is "super sized", you may want to invite him to lay on the bed to test out the strength and comfort. The extra weight will make any issues with weakness or support bars clearly obvious.