Furniture and home furnishings are big business in the United States. In the year 2015 alone, stores that sold home furnishings made well over $106 billion in sales. Industry news indicates that furniture sales are healthy, and that in the next five years we should expect to see yearly sales of $122 billion. Yet despite healthy sales, most people buy their furniture expecting it to last. Over 90% of those who buy sofas, for example, said the durability and quality of their sofa was a very important factor. Almost 40% of those who buys sofas say they expect to keep them for a minimum of five years. Almost 30% hope to keep their sofas for more than 15 years. You want your furniture to last, and you might even have bought replacement slipcovers and bolster covers to make sure they do: but are you sabotaging your own efforts?
Things You Should Never Do
There are some things that you should never do if you want to make sure that your sofa will last.
- Sit in the same place every day. Your sofa will wear down if you’re always sitting in the same spot. That spot will sag and wear while the rest looks okay. Fix this by varying where you sit and even by flipping the cushions if they are of the type that will allow you to do so.
- Let your pets use it. Bad news pet lovers: you should never let your pet have free access to the sofa. Your dog just cannot be made to understand that clawing and settling himself will tear it up. Animals are very much creatures of habit, too, so they will want to stay in the same spot all the time. At a minimum, make sure that you have pet cover solutions or at least replacement slipcovers for any furniture that your animals will use.
- Let your kids jump on it. It might seem like harmless fun, especially when the children are small, but in reality this is destroying your sofa. Your kids might not be the only culprits: make sure you are not in the habit of throwing yourself onto the sofa when you get home. It might make you feel really good, but is not so nice for the couch.
Things You Should Always Do
There are also things some that you should do all the time to preserve the life of your sofa.
- Vacuum the sofa regularly. Are you vacuuming your carpet every week? Perhaps even every day? Great! Take this opportunity to also vacuum your sofa. The sooner you get that dirt and animal hair off, the less likely it is that those things will get ground down into the fibers.
- Protect it from oil and grease. If you have an open kitchen, this could be a nightmare for your couch. Grease and smoke will go through the house, especially if your hood doesn’t work very well or you haven’t had it cleaned recently. Make sure you keep the cooking range cleaned, make sure that you buy replacement slipcovers or recliner seat covers for those days when you really need to cook something greasy, and close doors between the kitchen and the living room if at all possible.
- Use the right cleaner. Not all cleaners are created equal. Make sure that you’ve bought a cleaner specifically made for the type of fabric and material your furniture is made from. You can get cleaners for leather, cleaners for wood, cleaners for canvas, and cleaners for microfiber upholstery. Once you get those cleaners, use them on both the original fabrics and on your replacement slipcovers.
Your sofa should be the centerpiece of your living room and one of the most comfortable places in the house. To make sure that you’re getting the most out of your sofa and giving it a shot at a long lifespan, follow these tips to take care of it.
