DIY Tip to Keep Your Sofa Looking Brand New
Last Updated on May 20, 2019
Don't let pets, kids, food or red wine ruin your sofa or couch. This simple DIY fabric protection tip will help you keep your sofa looking brand new, year after year.
Let's face it, a sofa or couch is likely to be one of the biggest furniture investments you make for your home. It's also likely to be one of the most used pieces of furniture in your home, which means it's probably going to be subjected to dirty feet and/or paws and food or drink spills, no matter how careful you are. But I know I certainly don't want to constantly stress about keeping our sofa in perfect condition. This simple DIY fabric protection tip helps us protect our sofa and keep it looking new with minimal time and effort.
Thank you to Mohawk Consumer Products for sponsoring this post. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won't cost you a penny more)! Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
Why we care about keeping our sofa looking new…
We have tried different furniture layouts in our family room. We tried a layout with a loveseat and two chaise lounges. We tried two full-sized sofas facing each other. The latter was working great, until our girls kept growing and having them lay out the couch with us to watch TV was no longer comfortable for anyone. Bottom line… neither arrangement worked long-term. With a long, narrow family room, we finally came to grips with the fact that an L-shaped sectional just made the most sense.
But we resisted purchasing a sectional sofa because they are pretty expensive… especially the sectional sofa that we wanted. Sigh. That's right… After shopping around and testing out countless sectional sofas, the one that we 1) loved the look of and 2) found so comfortable that it's actually hard to force ourselves to get off of turned out to be…wait for it… $4,000. OH EM GEE. We have never, never, never spent that much on a piece of furniture. After all, I'm the queen of finding furniture on the side of the road and rescuing it (like this leather ottoman and this dresser).
So, we did what we could. We decided to wait until the famous “Spend More Save More Sale” rolled around. We waited for about 2 months. Then it finally happened and we invested in the sectional of our dreams. We saved 30%, which helped a lot, but y'all, this beauty still set us back a whopping $2,800.
So to say our West Elm Harmony sectional sofa needs to last us a lifetime is an understatement.
Even if you didn't spend $2,800 or more on a sofa, my guess is you still want to protect it and keep it looking nice as long as possible. The good news is there is a way to do it!
The best way to protect your sofa…
The past two years I have been lucky enough to partner with Mohawk Consumer Products. They are the NICEST people you will ever meet and they have traveled to my house twice for us to film some Mohawk product demonstration videos. One of the products Mohawk wanted me to demonstrate is its Fabric Guard, an easy-to-use fabric protection spray. I had never heard of it before then, but I became a die-hard fan of it as soon as I used it.
Here are just a few things that I love about Mohawk Fabric Guard.
- It dries quickly (10 minutes)
- It's odorless (which is NOT true of other popular fabric protection sprays that I have used in the past)
- It repels water, oil and other types of stains
- It provides excellent soil resistance
- It provides UV protection
- AND it's free of bleach, solvents and harsh chemicals
How to treat your sofa with Mohawk Fabric Guard fabric protection spray
If you prefer video demonstrations, you can watch the video below. Otherwise, you can skip past it and read the written tutorial :)
2) Be sure your fabric is clean! We applied Fabric Guard to our new sofa as soon as it was delivered, but if you've had your sofa for a while, you will want to wash the slipcovers or clean the upholstery before you apply the Fabric Guard.
3) Hold the spray bottle 6-8 inches away from the fabric surface and spray the entire surface of your sofa upholstery or slipcovers.
4) Allow the fabric to dry air dry for 10 minutes.
That's it. Such a tiny investment of time and money to protect a big furniture investment.
Before you head out, be sure to grab one of my free design guides and check out some of my other popular posts, like this one about how to restore leather furniture!
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