what's a good child-proof sofa? - Page 2

[Periwinkle]

I would just avoid getting velvet. It's a pain to keep clean.

[delicious]

yeah we have a microfiber couch and chair. and ottoman. seriously, anything just comes right off. it's crazy. pen marks, spilled drinks, um, kid pee. oh, the list goes on. chocolate frosting...

[luckydogcafe]

thanks to all! i'm glad to hear that the microfiber is good. they try to sell us that, but i just thought it was a tactic. i don't typically like 100% polyester stuff, it tends to wear or "pill" up. is that the case at all? you have a stain free sofa, but it still looks like crap, ya know what I mean?

is there a difference in microfibers enough to where we should ask specific questions? does microfiber come in designs, or just solids?

i'm not a fan of slip covers either, but would've considered them for this situation. it sounds like with microfiber or leather I wouldn't need that.

unfortunately we do allow eating in the living room for breakfast and lunch, so food on the sofa is unavoidable for now.

happyhippiemama: any other tips/brands etc. that will help us in our search?

is ashley furniture an okay place? value city furniture?

also...i have been unable to find the magic erasers. do they still make those? where do you get them?


thanks again!!! we're getting closer...

[Leta]

We have a brown leather couch. It was free. (We are lucky, I know- it's even in good shape.)

I have always detested leather furniture, for athstetic reasons as well as the fact that I am an ethical vegetarian. (However, I do have/use used leather goods, so I am more okay with our sofa because we didn't buy it brand new.)

However- this couch has a been awesome. A big, shedful dog, two cats, and two kids and it cleans up like a dream.

So, my preferred couch would be leather or leather like, with removable back and side cushions. Then, have a seven peice custom slipcover for it- something like what Ikea does, with a one-big-peice cover for the main couch/frame, and then an individual zippered cover for each cushion, which you then put over the slipcovered couch.

I don't know if this couch exists, but it should.

[Pepperdove]

Another vote for microfiber here. We got a couch and a loveseat at Wickes (don't know if it is local or what) warehouse (display pieces, perfect condition) for 1000, both. They are gi-normous, but really hard to hurt. Cat hair comes off with a damp cloth.

[happyhippiemama]

I forgot that the other thing really important for cleaning microfiber is to use a very low-ph soap. If you use a harsh chemical cleaner, it's more likely to make it feel stiff when it dries.

Try taking a neutrogena facial bar, wetting it a little, and rubbing it in a circle over anything that might stain. Usually works.

[mossimo12]

Leather. Our couch has had more than it's share of drinks and smothies spilled on it and it just wipes up

Sarah

[TinyBabyBean]

with five kids and after many ruined sofas i have found the best thing to be dark colored stretch slipcovers. they are easy to put on and easy to take off and wash. no ties or anything like that to deal with. we have them on over a velvet type fabric sofa. if you want to really protect the sofa you can get some waterproof mattress covers, i really like the ones from target with the fuzzy type tops(never put them in the dryer though, they dry fast hanging anyhow) and put those on under the sofa. if you buy two slipcovers and two mattress covers your sofa will always be protected. i wish i had done this years ago! so glad we have the slipcovers now.

oh, and the stretch slipcovers we got were from sears. we have washed and dried them many, many times and they still look awesome and are still soft. like new still really.

[luckydogcafe]

okay, here are some microfiber questions: we went to ashley furniture last night, and they gave us a sample of some red material to take home to see if we liked the color. but since we had it, we decided to test out the stain part of it too.

we wrote on it with ink, green highlighter and permanent marker. the ink came right up, and so did the green highlighter, but the perm marker stayed.

one thing i noticed was that red came up on the rag we were using. would that indidicate that there would eventually be spots on the sofa that are lighter than other areas (if the color is coming off)?

also, i've heard/read that microfiber doesn't let stuff through its fibers since it's so tightly bound, but the green and black came through on the other side of this swatch, so wouldn't that mean it was penetrated? what does that mean? is ashley just not as good, or did i do something wrong when cleaning it?

any thoughts?