what's a good child-proof sofa?

[luckydogcafe]

our sofa is a disaster. stains everywhere. (even though we paid extra for that stainguard) our fault for letting the kids actually use it I suppose, but when shopping for a new sofa, what should we look for?

lots of places say they are "stain proof" but I don't buy it. is there a good quality, stain resistant, easy to clean sofa out there that doesn't cost a lot? I'm looking to spend under $1000. what have you found to hold up to food/juice/writing utencils?

thank you......

[4evermom]

I'd go with dark colored, patterned, slip covers.

[superstella]

:

Since the puppy just covered my sofa in doggy diarrhea from one end to the other, I'm thinking I'll be in the market for a new sofa in the very near future... Definitely need a stain proof one.

[adon]

slip covers. slip cover. slip covers! no matter what type of sofa you get i would definetly go with a slip cover. it's easier to replace or wash a $50 (when you get them on sale) slip cover then a whole new couch. then hopefully the couch will last until the kids are older and you will no longer need the cover

[Lisa Lubner]

I got a beautiful new berry colored velvet sofa for around 700 from jcpenny... It is in the no food allowed room with a slip cover on it until the kids are past the wreck-every-nice-thing-mommy-owns phase.

[luckydogcafe]

we thought about slip covers, but some sofas just don't look right with them. like ones with the removeable pillows. have you had issues with that?

[adon]

Originally Posted by luckydogcafe

we thought about slip covers, but some sofas just don't look right with them. like ones with the removeable pillows. have you had issues with that?

DH does not like the sofas with removable cushions, and neither do i. they seem to "wear out" faster. at least removeable back cushions. we have a slip cover now tha is 2 pieces one for the couch and one for the cushions you sit on. it works very nicely. i think the one thing you need to do is make sure you get the couch with the right arms on them....you know what i mean...the type that all slip covers seem to be made for?

[Marsupialmom]

I bought a couch about 2 years ago. If I had to do it again.....I would buy a couch you later can slip cover and just buy extra toss pillows. My couch is stain resisant. Paid extra have had them come clean it, yada, yada, yada, it looks like crap. I want a new couch but this one will break first because I am going to wait until the kids are adults and I can tell them they stain it they pay for it.

[earthchick]

We just replaced our sofa and recliners with a sectionial and a loveseat from World Market. They are having a big sale from now until Nov. 4, and if you open a credit card with them you get another 10%. The sectional we got was originally $899, on sale for $719, and with the 10% off we got it for $647; it's their Quinn Reversible Sectional (a new arrival) - a three-seater with chaise. It's a sort of taupe chenille fabric. We hate slipcovers (have never found one - and we have really tried! - that would stay on right and not have to be readjusted every time someone sat down or got up). So we are going to try a combination of scotchguarding, covering it at night (to keep the cats from messing it up) and making a rule for the boys of no eating/drinking on the furniture (tried to make the same rule for dh but he refused! ). [The loveseat is called the Dylan Twin Sleeper and is a cream-colored fabric - yikes! - with the sale and the credit card discount we got it for $539].

I know we can't keep these in perfect condition with two three year-olds and two cats, but we will do our best.

[~Nikki~]

Have you looked at Ikea sofas? Most of them are very affordable, and many of them come with slipcovers that are designed to fit that specific sofa, so they don't look sloppy or out of place. You could probably buy a sofa and two different slip covers for under a grand. Buy a dark one for when the kids are young. You can toss it in the wash over and over. Buy a second one in case the first gets severely damaged. :P

[Alyantavid]

We have a couch and loveseat in that microsuede. Its been awesome. I wouldn't have any other type of couch with kids. We have puke, pee, crayon, everything you can imagine on it. A friend of mine even spilled a beer on it and you can't tell. We've had them for almost 5 years and they still look brand new.

It looks nice and you can't tell what alls been spilled on it.

[Nikki Christina]

we also have microsuede.

it cleans up nicely with a wet washcloth.
my 2 year old drew all over my couch with a pen a few weeks ago & it all scrubbed off with a magic eraser

my loveseat/couch where priced around $1000 together. but i paid $300 with stain proofing under my stepdads employee discount

[proudmamanow]

We are just in the process of replacing our white (! I know, I know) sofa purchased pre-dd with a brown leather one. It was remarkably cheap, on sale for $799 and I'm pretty sure it's going to stand up better than our trashed white cotton one. Not everyone's cup of tea, but it will work well in our living room and is comfy...plus we have two cats and are looking forward to not having a sofa covered in hair!

[~ATenthMuse~]

Originally Posted by ~Nikki~

Have you looked at Ikea sofas? Most of them are very affordable, and many of them come with slipcovers that are designed to fit that specific sofa, so they don't look sloppy or out of place. You could probably buy a sofa and two different slip covers for under a grand. Buy a dark one for when the kids are young. You can toss it in the wash over and over. Buy a second one in case the first gets severely damaged. :P

I usually don't like slip covers, but in Ikea's case... They know what they're doing. My mil has one. It's great.

We have a sofa from Lazy-boy that we bought back in 2003. It's just now showing some signs of wear on the arms. I've had some issues with the cushion covers, but only because I started washing them myself after awhile. This one has been through 3 moves, 3 kids, dogs, cats, etc. My best advice? Get one in a dark color... Our's is espresso with a swirly kind of patterned texture... If that makes sense. Not only does it hide more, but it's classic in color and style which I like. Get the stain-master treatment!

[Selesai]

Ours is microfiber, too. It is a red sectional with non-removable back cushions. We got it from JC Penney on sale, but I think it was a little more than $1000. The color helps mask stains, but the fabric itself is easy to clean. I agree with the pp that removable back cushions always wear out fast. I already think we need new throw pillows, they look deflated.
We did not stainguard and eat on the couch all of the time. : the couch also doesn't sag.
I don't like Ikea sofas. I have heard they are not great quality. I also don't like slipcovers. They never look right.
Just my opinion!

[zo's ma]

Leather.

ANd as far as Ikeas quality goes, they have everything from 199$ sofas up to a couple of thousand plus, you get what you pay for.

We had a $500 Ikea sofa that got stuck into a spare room....literaly STUCK. We were moving so it had to get out......it took my dh 1/2 a day to sledgehammer/saw it apart into pieces that would fit through the door.

I don't know how we ever got it in to that room.

[serenetabbie]

We just gave up and got a $98 metal futon. I long for a real sofa.

[Peony]

We bought two leather sofas 5 years ago, they still look great. Everything just wipes off, we've had grape juice spilled, beer, they have been puked on, peed on, pooped on, and etc... I'd have a really tough time picking out sofas today, I love my leather, but now that I'm aware of the issues surrounding it... I don't know what I'd decide.

And my parents had two leather sofas that survived through both my sister's and I's childhood, they replaced them after we moved out.

[happyhippiemama]

I work at a local furniture store, and I'm definitely sending you towards microfiber. The only problem with it is that it's a love-it-or-hate-it kind of a thing, I personally can't stand the way you can "draw" on the fabric. But kids love it!!

The reason microfibers are so stain-resistent is because they're 100% polyester threads that are 100x thinner than the human hair - no shit. They are woven together so tightly that hardly anything can penetrate it and leave a stain as long as it's cleaned up relatively quickly.

Microfibers come in a range of feels - they might be called microsuede, plushsuede, etc... some have a thicker pile so they feel all fluffy, others are thinner and feel smoother. They're all microfibers.

You should be able to just wipe about anything off of it with a wet cloth. Blot liquid spills really really really well to try to get all the dampness out, then press on the stain with a wet cloth, then blot again. Repeat a thousand times. Certain microfibers will leave a "stain" simply from the water - you can avoid that by using a hair dryer from the outside in, on a low setting.

Magic Erasers do work amazingly well on microfiber sofas, as well.

HTH!

(oh, and stainsafe or guard or whatever spray will do no good on microfiber - it won't penetrate, either!!)

Edited to add: oh, and leather!!! leather leather leather. Wipes off brilliantly.

[momto l&a]

leather or slip covered IMO is the way to go.