If you want to balance a hygienic ambiance for your living room space then you need to take care of washing sofa covers, curtains, and other supporting items. The cleaning care of sofa covers not only makes them expressively appealing but also improves their functionality, but if you wash your sofa covers by practicing improper methods it may cause them to shrink and color loss. These sofa covers always function like a protector against spills, stains, and wear & tear. So, most users are frustrated when they think about how to wash sofa covers without shrinking them. However, in this article, we will share the best washing methods for your sofa covers and also guide you through the reasons behind shrinking your sofa covers.
Study the fabric care label to wash sofa covers without shrinking
There are plenty of fabrics popular in the market that are used to make sofa covers, and every fabric is made with different raw materials. So every sofa cover fabric requires different treatment while washing. Luckily a fabric care label is always attached to every sofa cover which is specifically designed to guide you about its cleaning care by considering the making material. If the fabric care label attached to your sofa cover says to wash it, then you can easily wash it by using mild detergent through a gentle machine cycle. But if the cleaning care label loudly announces to dry clean it then you don’t need to wash your sofa cover.
It means the cleaning care label attached to your sofa cover is capable enough to guide you about the complete cleaning process and it leads to the extension of the useful life of your sofa covers. This brief study of fabric care labels also helps you to identify whether your couch cushion covers are machine washable or not.
Reasons why sofa covers shrunk
- Ignorance of fabric care label attached to your sofa covers.
- Sofa covers are made with different fabrics, which means while cleaning or washing you need to follow different treatments according to the fabric types and cleaning care labels.
- Ignorance of the temperature factor of the water while washing
- Use of prohibited detergents while washing
- Ignorance of proper drying process after washing
How to wash different fabric sofa covers without shrinking
1. Cotton-based sofa covers
A cotton sofa cover is purely designed with natural cotton material, which means it requires special cleaning care. So if you are sure that your sofa covers are purely made with cotton then you can easily wash these covers in the washing machine. If the zipper is attached to your sofa cover then zip it up before putting it into the washing machine. In the second step, you need to maintain the temperature of the water used for washing at 30 degrees. As a third step, you can put the sofa cover in the washing machine and set it for a gentle washing cycle. You can use mild or bleach-free detergent to get better results from the washing process.
When you have washed your sofa covers, recheck them because they may still contain some mild stains on them. You can use a damp sponge to absorb the remaining impact of these mild stains. You don’t need to be worried about the remaining stain, because it may rarely happen. Once you have completely washed the sofa covers, in the next step you need to dry them. The best way to dry sofa covers is to hang them in a shady area where they are safe from direct sunlight which is harmful to them. You can also iron these cotton-based sofa covers to make them visually appealing.
2. Leather sofa covers
Leather sofa covers are also made with pure natural material like a coat of sheep. If your sofa belongs to leather fabric covers then you have experienced that leather fabric is more stain-resistant than other textile fabric options. This means leather sofa covers suffer from fewer stains and dust particles during their use, and these dust particles are only limited to the external layer of the sofa cover. Leather sofa covers are not washable and dry cleaning of these covers is also debatable, but most of the leather sofa covers can be dry cleaned.
However, you can easily use a damp cloth or sponge to deep clean these leather sofa covers and after that hang them into sunlight for drying them. A vacuum machine is also useful for dealing with minor dust particles better. You can only dry your sofa covers in the mild temperature of sunlight, as high temperature may cause damage to these covers. If your sofa covers suffer from some stains then you can also use a little squirt of dish soap to clean them.
3. Velvet sofa covers
Velvet is a lush fabric primarily made with artificial and natural materials. If your sofa belongs to velvet sofa covers then you can conveniently wash them using a simple hand-washing method. Machine washing is risky to wash velvet sofa covers without shrinking so it is not recommended. When washing velvet sofa covers you can only use water at normal temperature. Velvet sofa covers also require special care during the drying process. You can only dry these covers in the fresh air, because sunlight may cause damaging effects to these covers.
Here we have a pro tip for you, you can use a soft fabric brush during the drying process of these sofa covers, it will help to recreate the shine and original look of these velvet sofa covers. If your velvet sofa covers also suffer from mild stains then the best way to remove these stains is to dry clean this specific portion. The damp sponge may cause damage due to the fibers of the velvet sofa covers therefore it is not recommended for velvet sofa covers.
4. Polyester sofa covers
Polyester sofa covers are basically made from artificial synthetic materials like microfiber. The appearance of a polyester sofa cover has a great resemblance with the leather fabric, but in fact, both are quite different from each other. If your sofa has a polyester sofa cover, you can conveniently wash these sofa covers in a washing machine through a gentle machine cycle. If you want optimal results from machine washing then you need to maintain the water temperature up to 25 to 30 degrees. You can easily air-dry these sofa covers in a shaded area.
5. Linen sofa covers
Linen sofa covers are mostly made with a blend of natural and artificial synthetic materials. The visual expression of linen fabric is slightly matched with cotton fabric. Linen sofa covers are machine washable; you can easily wash linen sofa covers without shrinking them by using water at a temperature of 25 to 30 degrees. If your linen sofa cover still suffers from mild satins then you can use a damp sponge dip with vinegar mix water to clean these stains. You can hang these linen sofa covers in the shady area with regular follow of fresh air.
Final words
If you are looking for professional cleaning care for your sofa covers then you must understand the fabric types and the reasons that cause stiffness in these fabrics. It will also help you to find the best ways to clean and wash your sofa covers without shrinking or any other additional damage. As sofa and couch are interchangeable words therefore this blog post also helps you in washing couch cushion covers in the washing machine.
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