Cleaning removable sofa covers

gemmaj

I have 2 cream sofas which are starting to turn a little grey and splodgy! They have removable covers, but unfortunately I have no washing information as I bought them ex-lease with no instructions. Last time they needed washing I took them to the cleaners, which cost £50 odd.

My questions are:
Does "removable" mean washable?
Can I just pop them in the washing machine?
A friend mentioned stain-guard liquid with goes in the rinse, any more info?

Thanks!

Bargainloverbec

I have removable cream covers on my sofa that I just stick in the washing machine and they turn out fine, although they need a good iron.

Do you have scatter cushions or seat cushions on your sofa? Perhaps you could just wash one cushion cover first, to see how it goes, then if it turns out ok you could do the lot.

If it doesn't, then you'll need to get a few friends round to give it a good streeeettttchhhh.

se999

What about seeing if a local laundrette has one of those DIY dry cleaning machines?

Lower cost than professional cleaning, but lower risk than washing.

chillipepper_3

Bung them in the washer at no more than 40, we do ours all the time. The ironing is a pain though!

gemmaj

Chillipepper and rnshon: Do either of you use any stain guard stuff, or just regular washing powder?

rnshorn - I'm not entirely sure what you mean by scatter and seat cushions, but I think I have the latter!

nightsong

Does the material seem to be cotton? If so it should be ok to wash, but I would do it on a very low heat setting just in case. You can always wash them again once you know they ARE washable, if the stains don't come out.

I think the main danger is shrinkage. Mine are fully washable but I usually pull them into shape before they're dry, otherwise they can be a real struggle to get back on

I don't know about Stainguard that goes in the machine, can't you get it in spray form? I've had it on new furniture in the past, not sure how much difference it makes. These days I opt for nice dark colours, my current sofas are forest green. I'll go back to pale upholstery when my last son leaves home!

Bargainloverbec

gemmaj wrote:

Chillipepper and rnshon: Do either of you use any stain guard stuff, or just regular washing powder?

rnshorn - I'm not entirely sure what you mean by scatter and seat cushions, but I think I have the latter!

I just use normal washing powder which seems to work.

Sorry for being confusing about the cushions - by seat cushions I mean the big ones you sit on, and scatter cushions are the little ones you have more for decoration.

HTH.

Loretta

I have a cleaning company, we clean very expensive rental properties in SW London, some where the rent is up to £10,000 a month!! and I wash covers like this several times a week. See if they are cotton, I expect they are, take them off very carefully, especially the cushion covers make sure you do not break the end of the zip, this can be expensive. Make sure all the zips are closed, buy a laundry spray 'Shout' from the supermarket, not Vanish, and spray the arreas that are particularly grubby, the arms, where you kick your feet round the bottom when you sit down, check it over and squirt at anything you can see, use normal washing powder, preferably bio, if they are particularly grubby put a couple of spoons of 'Oxyclean' also from the supermarket, this means you get the best result from a cooler wash. Wash on the coolest wash, wool wash maybe, short spin so they don't get too creased, do several loads rather than squashing it all in at once, and hang then up to dry. You can take them to the launderette and use a couple of those very large machines there, and tumble dry them leaving them very slightly damp, don't cook them, and again be very carefull putting the cushion covers back on and don't break the zips. Dry cleaning doesn't really clean these very well, it doesn't take out the stains and marks on the heavy use areas I am a great believer in washing rather than dry cleaning if I think it is at all possible. Once you have done this you will be doing it all the time!

culpepper

mine are washable.Look inside,there is probably a washing instructions label.
Mine looks like thick cotton.I wash at 40 degrees but dont use any kind of stain guard.

misty

I wash mine on quite a hot wash but I do have to wrestle with them to get them back on. I pour neat washing up liquid on any stains before washing and never had a problem. I don't want o go too off topic but whilst my removable cushions come up lovely the base looks less so - anybody have a solution. I would dye the cushions and arm rests a new colour to give it a lift but can't remove the material from the base. Does anybody have any ideas for a way round this - without getting it recovered which I can afford at the moment. thnaks

squeaky

Have a look around the Dylon site. To see their page on dies and fabric paints:-

Click Here