Chenille Sofa - can I wash the covers?

fuzz

Hello Everyone

We have a new light brown sofa from DFS that's lovely and soft - covered in gorgeous chenille fabric. How do I clean them? The washing tags on the cushion covers say not to handwash/machine wash/dry clean - so they want me to pay an expensive professional cleaner?

Has anyone got experience with washing chenille fabric in a machine on a low wool cycle setting and how did it turn out please?

Thanks , Fuzz

Primrose

My only experience of washing chenille years ago was a cushion cover that I hand washed gently in warm soapy water and let drip dry outside on a warm sunny day. I seem to remember that it came up perfectly OK and didn't shrink which is the main risk when washing material instead of dry cleaning.

A lot of manufacturers put Dry Clean only on their products simply to protect themselves and you find you can wash their products if you do it with care. I have even washed curtains which say 'dry clean only' by doing them in warm soapy water in the bath and drip drying, and items like silk ties.

However you won!t want to make an expensive mistake with your sofa cushions. Why not contact DFS and ask for a sample piece of the fabric used on your sofa, preferably at least 12 inches square. You can always say you want it to carry around for matching other accessories like curtains. Measure it before gently washing and then again afterwards to see if it has shrunk. That will give you some idea of the risk. Also ask DFS what it would cost to recover them. That will give you an idea of the likely cost of making a mistake if it goes wrong ! And if you do decide to go ahead, only wash one first at low temperature to see how it turns out. Good luck!

fuzz

Brilliant idea Primrose - will do exactly that and trial the whole thing 👍 thanks a million x

katkin

You could also try hand washing a small area that's not on show such as under a seat - a test area. Check for colour run and shrinkage. I've found chenille wrinkles and shrinks a little, though I've not done a whole sofa load.

I have washable sofa covers, a heavy linen / cotton cream fabric (what was I thinking about:o) and they come up lovely in the machine with a sachet of whitner added to the washing powder. I dry them to damp then iron the bits that show and stretch over the main frame to ensure I can get the Zips back up. Otherwise it's a bit of a fight to get them back on when they are bone dry.

Best of luck x