Furniture Slip Covers
Cleaning and Taking Care of Furniture Slip Covers
Cleaning furniture slip covers is difficult for some people. After all, some slip covers seem like they’re so fragile that a washing machine might tear them apart. It’s natural to want to take care of your slip covers. Some people have gotten so paranoid that they’ve even tried to wash thick cotton by hand – if you’ve ever tried it, you know that it’s not that much fun. If you follow some of these tips, you won’t have to be that paranoid.
The first step to cleaning furniture slip covers is to check their care instructions. They’re usually on a tag somewhere on the slip cover itself. Those instructions should actually go a long way towards helping you clean those covers. It’s also something you should keep in mind whenever you buy a new cover. There’re probably a few slip covers out there that are thick but aren’t machine washable – that’s not exactly what you’re looking for. Most readymade furniture slip covers should survive a turn in the washing machine though, so you really only be careful with older or homemade ones.
A good tip is to start the cleaning before removing the furniture slip covers. This will make sucking up particles easy. After you remove the covers, take them outside and shake off whatever’s still hanging on. If you can wash it, make sure to use laundry detergent and warm water. If you’re using a machine, make sure not to crowd the machine itself – for most, one large and two small slip covers should do nicely. Soak cycles should go first to make sure that extra dirt gets removed. Make sure to use cold rinse after all if it and to make sure that it doesn’t spin for too long.
If you take care of your slip covers they should work for you for a long time and make sure you clean them properly towards that end. Creased slip covers can easily be decreased with a tumble dryer. Just throw it in with a wet flannel for ten minutes and the creases should all be gone. If you have children in your household, you might find them jumping up and down on the furniture more than once, wrinkling your covers. In that case, all you need to do is to take a plant mister filled with water as spray the crease lightly. After doing that, press the crease out with your hands to smooth it out.
Furniture slip covers can make or break a living room, especially if your furniture has different and unmatched colors. They can lend a theme or cohesion to a room – take care of them and they’ll do that for a long, long time.