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ornery sofa cover - can't be cleaned

  • 12-10-2010 2:30pm
    #1
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,891 CMod ✭✭✭✭


    i have a one piece sofa cover which i took off to bring down to be dry cleaned - having completely failed to spot that the label says 'do not wash/do not iron/do not dry clean'. which obviously limits my options somewhat.
    the dry cleaner i took it to didn't really have much advice on what to do with it.
    the majority of the cover is wool, but the section underneath (not usually visible) is a synthetic fibre of some sort - it's a matt black material, and looks a bit like the fibre you get on some reusable shopping bags. the label says '80% WO/20% PA', and i'm not sure what the PA is short for - if anyone knows what this is, is it water washable?

    it's general accumulation of seven years worth of grime in it, plus a bit of recently added chocolate from a three year old visiting.


Comments

  • #2
    radia
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 360 ✭✭radia


    My guess is the PA is polyamide (nylons are polyamides). On that basis, I'd say the polyamide component is the reason for the 'no dry cleaning' caution, as it could be attacked by the solvents, but it should be ok in water. It would also melt if it hit a hot iron. The wool element is probably the reason for the caution against washing in case it felts.

    I'd say if you used a low temperature and not too much agitation (for the wool's sake) and air-dried it (for the sake of both the wool and the polyamide), you should be ok. Probably try spot-cleaning the chocolate off first, so you're not scrubbing the whole item too hard.

    If you smooth it out while it's still wet and dry it flat, it shouldn't need ironing afterwards, especially if it's going to be stretched over the sofa frame. If it's really wrinkly and you feel you have to iron it, do so with a low heat, with something like a tea towel between the sofa cover and the iron so it's not in direct contact, and with the wool side uppermost.

    But I could be completely wrong!


  • #3
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,891 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    thank you very much!
    as it's a one piece cover, for a doughnut shaped sofa, it's very hard to dry it flat, as it's made from several dozen pieces of fabric attached in all sorts of odd angles, but the advice above makes a lot of sense.


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