Sofa Cover?

tanyalbeck

Hi all,

I have a fabric sofa which is just about threadbare on the arms and the cat has scratched it to death down the sides of the sofa. the actual cushions/ the bit you sit on is ok, it's just the arms and sides that look terrible! A throw doesn't seem to work as we are an active family with little kids and it just keeps getting pulled/ knocked off. Any ideas what I can do?
Here are some photobucket links - I hope they work - I haven't used them before!!
Tanya

<a href="http://s1251.beta.photobucket.com/user/tanyalbeck/media/SAM_6432_zps7c2fe792.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh560/tanyalbeck/SAM_6432_zps7c2fe792.jpg&quot; border="0" alt=" photo SAM_6432_zps7c2fe792.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1251.beta.photobucket.com/user/tanyalbeck/media/SAM_6431_zps7a54b6c2.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh560/tanyalbeck/SAM_6431_zps7a54b6c2.jpg&quot; border="0" alt=" photo SAM_6431_zps7a54b6c2.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1251.beta.photobucket.com/user/tanyalbeck/media/SAM_6430_zpsb2a458c8.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh560/tanyalbeck/SAM_6430_zpsb2a458c8.jpg&quot; border="0" alt=" photo SAM_6430_zpsb2a458c8.jpg"/></a>

redfragglebiker

I don't know what you could do about any repairs but when our cats did the same we made a weak olbas oil solution and sprayed it on the bits they were scratching. They've not been near it since!
HTH

TimBear

Not sure how you'd go about fixing it, but have you thought of getting a cheap throw to cover it?

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/80196319/#/00196323

I have this one (in both blue and the light brown colour). The 250x250 is HUGE. I have one on my bed and another completely covering a sofa. So cheap, and not flimsy like you might expect.

TimBear

Oh! I forgot that I also have the smaller sized pink one on the spare bed. Just to vouch for colours, they're all lovely. The 'beige' is more brown though than it looks online.

tanyalbeck

Thanks! I did think a throw would be a good temp measure but with cats and kids will probably end up being pulled off a lot! I have an old - but beautiful and unused - bedspread I may try out :-)

As for the olbas oil... SUCH a great idea to stop it being ripped to shreds, but cosmetically it's beyond that now!

maman

What you need is old fashioned anti-macassars! I actually have arm covers on my sofas which I had made with the loose covers. Mine go right back the whole length of the arm and tuck down the side of the cushions so they don't slip off but I don't have cats or children at home. I suppose you could attach with a bit of velcro or make sure they are deep enough to tuck right under the cushions.

I saw these

http://www.dunelm-mill.com/shop/calico-deep-arm-caps-109484?cm_mmc=shopping-_-google_shopping-_-%3CCalico+Deep+Arm+Caps%3E-_-%3C1000010189%3E

but the illustration is poor. I don't know if they do cover the ends or whether they're like tea towels! I know these are a bit naff and old fashioned but I thought they might give you a template to make something matching. If you have a Dunhelm then take a look.

Failing that then try this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ghjZfFP6JI

He does go on a bit but it'll give you the idea.

Sorry couldn't open your links so don't know the shape of your sofa arms.

snowleopard61

I have the same problem too, Tanya; at least I have had little kids and have three cats (and big big kids!) so I've got a sofa with shredded arms and remember how messy a throw looks as soon as the kids 'sit' on the sofa.

I'm not sure if this will work for you (only had it for a few months so not when the children were small), but my sofa throw too is huge and tucks right underneath so it doesn't move around very much. Mine was from Amazon, just plain cream-coloured cotton canvas. On top of it I've got a smaller cream fleece throw which makes it look a bit more 'finished'.

Surprisingly, since I've had the throw, the cats haven't tried to shred it at at all - either they don't like the texture, or perhaps it smells new and strange to them, but anyway it works.

I'm really pleased to hear the Olbas Oil tip though (thanks Redfragglebiker, and I love your sig:D), as I do hope one day to have a decent sofa and wondered how I could dissuade the cats from shredding it. I was wondering about those sticky panels, but suspect they don't stay sticky for long.

TimBear

Instead of Olbas Oil you could also try anything citrus scented to keep the cats away. They don't like it, but it's probably a nicer smell for you to have where you will be sitting.

katieowl_2

I think the answer to your problem (well the cheap one ) is to use more than one throw.

I've got two on mine at the moment.... but there are several ways to do it.

Either get a double/kingsize bedspread that goes with the cushions, and take the cushions off, drape the cover over the rest of the sofa, and put the cushions back, you can kind of tie loose fabric neatly to make it a better fit. I did that before with a sofa, and it works OK.

Or how I've done this sofa is, I've got a KS indian bedspread lengthways down the back, with the border touching the floor, i've taken it up and over the back, made a deep pocket to take up the extra fabric, then taken it back over the back cushions, down the front of the back cushions and tucked it tightly under. The second (which matches) is folded lengthways, border touches the floor at the front, and the 'visible' end, and goes over the seat cushions and tucks under the back...the end that the cover doesn't quite go over is disguised with cushions

The separate covers stop the cushions squishing up when you sit on it, which is what happens with one throw (and they are never normally big enough) The dogs dig my sofa up so I feel your pain, but with an extra fleece blanket on one end of the seat, this pretty much works for me.

tanyalbeck

my seat cushions dont come off... Doh! I will experiment with the ideas... thanks :-)

PasturesNew

For those who cba to get the images working:
http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh560/tanyalbeck/SAM_6431_zps7a54b6c2.jpg
http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh560/tanyalbeck/SAM_6430_zpsb2a458c8.jpg
http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh560/tanyalbeck/SAM_6432_zps7c2fe792.jpg