in which a fibery education is useful
Yesterday, I spilled Bill's coffee on the sofa. We examined the situation, and decided to wash the affected cushion's slipcover, since that had absorbed almost all the coffee. The sofa has no care instructions. To my hand, the fabric is obviously synthetic, tho I'm not sure what kind of synthetic. The piping is filled with plastic tubing. The stitching is failing. Ok, so machine wash is out, since we have no idea at what temperature the stuff melts and we don't know what stress it can take. It's definitely not the kind of fabric that dissolves in water, or the original spills would've destroyed it.
Right. Handwash in the bathtub. The initial wash we were overly timid on soap. The following two washes, we were much more generous (after it was clear that the dye wasn't being ruined by dish soap). That slipcover was FILTHY. Then a rinse. We decided that a *cold* machine dry was probably worth it, on the grounds of we like having a sofa. It worked. Unfortunately, it was now very clear that we *have* to was all the slipcovers.
We're on wash number four of another set of slipcovers. I have some hope that we won't need wash five.
Also, I'm saving up for a new sofa. And we're putting washing slipcovers on the list of things that need to be washed annually because OHMIGHOD these are scary dirty.
Right. Handwash in the bathtub. The initial wash we were overly timid on soap. The following two washes, we were much more generous (after it was clear that the dye wasn't being ruined by dish soap). That slipcover was FILTHY. Then a rinse. We decided that a *cold* machine dry was probably worth it, on the grounds of we like having a sofa. It worked. Unfortunately, it was now very clear that we *have* to was all the slipcovers.
We're on wash number four of another set of slipcovers. I have some hope that we won't need wash five.
Also, I'm saving up for a new sofa. And we're putting washing slipcovers on the list of things that need to be washed annually because OHMIGHOD these are scary dirty.