Can I Throw My Couch in the Dumpster

Morning News with Renae
3 min readFeb 13, 2020

Can I throw my couch in the dumpster? Well, yes and no. Are there certain items you can’t put in a dumpster? Usually, big items, such as furniture, are prohibited, so it’s better to either call your public dumpster or to rent a dumpster, which is also a good option. The practical reasons to rent a dumpster make it a great alternative over the public dumpster.

Can I Throw My Couch in the Dumpster

We know how frustrating it is to get rid of such complicated items, so, if you still don’t know what to do with an old couch, we recommend you to read our tips below and check which are the best ways to dispose of your couch. If you want to dispose of a couch in a dumpster, you can still do it, as long as you pay a fee or do it in parts.

Getting Rid of Your Couch

As we mentioned, it’s not allowed to throw away the big thing in some states, but you can disassemble your couch and sofa and throw it piece by piece to avoid further legal issues. Start by cutting off the padding and removing fabric until you expose the wood frame. Now, cut the wood frame into smaller parts and dump them right away. This alternative requires lots of work. However, its main advantage is that it’s totally free.

What About Dumpster Rental?

Renting a dumpster is also an option, especially if you don’t want to do all the hard work of disassembling the furniture piece by yourself. However, as you can expect, this means that you’ll have to invest some good bucks for the service. Don’t let that discourage you, the reasons to rent a dumpster are worth it on the long run, which are:

  1. Junk removal services do the heavy lifting and hauling for you.
  2. They come to your domicile, meaning that you wouldn’t have to drive to your local dumpster to get rid of your furniture piece and damage your vehicle with such a big haul.
  3. Junk removal services can also disassemble safely your couch or sofa and even recycle some of its parts, which make it an eco-friendly alternative.

Other Alternatives

Aside from renting a dumpster or throwing away your couch, there are other viable options that you might as well consider:

  1. You could return it to the retail store you got it from, although most, if not all of them, would ask you for a fee in exchange.
  2. If your couch is still in good condition, you can donate it to a local charity, give it to someone who’s got their eye on it or even advertise it on the internet and sell it.
  3. If your sofa has some metal parts in the arms or framework, you could call your local scrap metal dealer and see if he’s interested in getting his hands on the precious metal work found inside your furniture piece.

Summary

Can I Throw Away My Couch?

As we said, yes and no. You’d have to call your public dumpster and ask the fees, or even if they’d receive it, before hauling it there by yourself. Otherwise, you may face some penalties.

How Do You Get Rid of Old Couches?

Donation, junk removal, disassembling it in order to dump it, or taking it to your local waste and recycling center are the best options.

Can you Throw a Couch in the Dumpster?

In some locations, this is not allowed, but in others it is, as long as you pay a small fee for it.

To Summarize

So, let’s sum it up: can I throw my couch in the dumpster? Yes, but remember: what can’t you put in a dumpster? The whole couch. You can dump it in a public dumpster as long as it is disassembled or if you’re willing to pay a small fee for it. There are also many good reasons to rent a dumpster if you want to make things easier, but if you don’t know what to do with an old couch, you can also give it away, donate it or just recycle it.

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