# What do I cover my sofa with to protect it from spills and stains? Slipcovers don't work for us



## mommyshoppinghabit (Aug 9, 2006)

Before kids, I had this vision of what my living room would look like. I love white furniture. We bought this really nice sofa that was supposed to be slipcovered and had a nice white slipcover made of cotton duck on it, but of course this is a thing of the past. Now it's covered by a much cheaper loosey-goosey slipcover, but it is all stained. It is made out of white material (I know,







, but I just can't stand too much color in my decor), but even if I got darker slipcovers, the size of the covers makes it really hard to wash in my top-loading washing machine. I have to bring it out to the laundromat to put in their big front-loading ones, which is a major chore I don't have time for. I could block off all food and drink from the sofa area, but I've got to be honest with myself and say that's not going to happen. I've been covering most of it with a giant beach towel a lot, but it's soo ugly and there's no way to keep it from keeping it in place. What should I do?


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## SunshineJ (Mar 26, 2008)

Get a nice looking oversized blanket-throw and stainguard the heck out of it before you toss it on? I got nothing on this one, sorry....


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## sunnysandiegan (Mar 5, 2008)

When we had an ailing cat, I kept a large flat sheet over our sofa. It wasn't "pretty", but it was neutral and did the job. The cat was vomiting, not peeing, so nothing really went through the sheet. The cat has since passed and we still use this sheet (not on the sofa, but on our bed). There are no stains since I would take care of the messes immediately upon discovery. It fits in the washer easily and I would hang it out to dry in the sun on our line.

Other than that, though, I don't know. We don't allow food or drink (other than water) on the sofas or recliner and that works amazingly well at keeping our belongings looking nice long-term. Our sofa, loveseat, and recliner are shades of white and beige. The two oldest were purchased used in the mid-1990s and early 2000s and still look pretty darn good. I'm just saying...







(perhaps a bit of incentive...)


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## siennaflower (Aug 31, 2004)

They have the two piece slip covers, have you tried one of those? One part goes over the back, and there's a separate piece for the cushions. I can fit both pieces in my top loader, one at a time.


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## lucyem (Apr 30, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Siennaflower* 
They have the two piece slip covers, have you tried one of those? One part goes over the back, and there's a separate piece for the cushions. I can fit both pieces in my top loader, one at a time.

This is what I was going to suggest. I quickly did a google search and found this site: http://www.surefit.net
They sell two part slipcovers.


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## mumkimum (Nov 14, 2006)

I like large cotton bedspreads as sofa covers. They tend to look okay, are easier to toss on and off than slipcovers and so are easier to wash. They're also much less expensive. Something with a pattern will hide stains well if that's a big problem. A large tablecloth could work as well. I like something close to a canvas weight, though I have some indian printed cloths that are lighter weight. Something of that nature over white furniture would still look pretty nice.


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## inkslinger (May 29, 2009)

We have a large quilt over ours.


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