Is buying a velvet sofa madness?

[HoxtonBonnet]

We need to replace our ancient leather sofa and my head has been turned by the lovely, very reasonably priced velvet ones on Made.com
We have two teenagers - 15 and 17. Also a cat.

I have gone off the look of leather sofas a bit.

Are velvet sofas hard to keep clean? Can you give them a wipe if something gets spilt? Our current sofa is 20 years old and I have no experience of anything else - fabric sofas are unknown territory!

I love a velvet sofa and find they mark less than fabric.

And I've wiped a lot of stuff off them over the years (including dog urine ) and surprised at how good they still look. I have them cleaned professionally when I remember to

OP I have the Orson 3 seater sofa and armchair in marine green velvet. It's definitely more of a teal colour than shown on the website pics. I wouldn't say its THE comfiest sofa I've ever sat on as it's not the most squishy or one that you sink right into, but definitely comfy enough to fall asleep on while watching TV!

I’m sitting on a navy blue velvet sofa that’s at least 30 years old. Apart from some wear on the arms, it’s in perfect condition.

I have a midnight blue velvet sofa and I absolutely love it but it's always got a bit of dust or hair on it and there's no pets in the house but it just seems to be a magnet for fluff and bits. Not dropped anything on it yet, so I can't comment on how well it copes with mishaps.

Velvet navy sofa here, with 12yr old boy who likes to wrestle with the cat. Sofa totally fine but this is a 'must' for collecting the bits of fluff / cat hair / dust etc. I have one and honestly, it's fantastic on velvet sofa, brings it up like new in a matter of seconds!

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0819XVK92/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_2GweGbB5ZS9F7?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Clearly I have a rubbish velvet sofa. It's 11 years old now and a very solid build, but it faded in the sun within a year and stained horribly very quickly. I've been avoiding any more velvet but maybe they have improved

My Made.com teal velvet sofa is three years old and still in good condition. No pets but two messy children! I wipe it with a wet wipe or damp cloth and everything has come out so far. As PPs have said, does get dusty but easily fixed with a quick vacuum. Good luck OP!

Very unreasonable the feeling of velvet gives me the heebie jeebies

Made (probably others) have a very slow delivery timescale at the moment. Ordered my sofa 8 Aug 2020, finally delivered on 20 Dec 2020, two armchairs I ordered never turned up and I got a refund. Made customer service not the best, they force you to text them, so you cant speak directly to a person.

Have a look at their reviews on Trustpilot before ordering too.

I've had a dark blue velvet sofa (not Made.com) for two and a bit years and two cats. It does seem to 'hold' the cat hair more or perhaps it just shows up more.
I use a handheld roller thing most days to remove the fur before I sit down and vacuum it once a week. Chocolate and other spills all come off easily with a damp microfibre cloth.
I was told that modern, synthetic velvet is much easier to clean than the old sort and I haven't regretted buying it yet.

Thanks for the replies everyone - really helpful.

@Luckyelephant1 - thank you - interesting about the comfort level of the Orson, I will bear that in mind. I haven't decided on a model yet.

@TableDesk - the fluff remover looks like a good buy.

@Whogivesatossedpancake - I know a few people who have ordered from Made and was aware of the long wait time but not the customer service - will definitely look at the reviews.

They are long on lead times, which they sometimes extend. I requested a cancellation because of this (which they were fine with) but they offered me a further 50 quid off the (already sale) price, so worth bearing in mind.

I bought one when I was pregnant.

Ds turned out to ha e severe reflux. So that went well. 12 months and it was ruined, despite trying to be careful.

I think I am going to wait until I can see these in the showroom - I want to try them out for comfort. Our present sofa is grotty but incredibly comfortable and I need to make sure the replacement is good enough on that front. Still want a velvet sofa, though!