Are velvet sofas a nightmare?

[okydokethen]

With kids and dogs?
Some brands claim velvet type materials to be a superior material for family life but I was thinking leather is easier to manage, kids and DH are saying leather is too cold.

Following (cause I've got my eye on one as well and would love to know feedback from owners of these beauties!)

There must be some middle ground? Mine has a dark blue cotton cover that can be washed - it's a lifesaver. We also have a leather sofa that DH wanted. Nobody sits on it because they slide off! I hate it. Yes, it's cold. You can sit on a throw but that slides about too.

We usually have a throw over ours as we have a messy 6yo, but the occasion that a cup of milk is spilled over it, it wipes off pretty easily! Much cleaner than your usual fabric sofa. I was very surprised, I though it would be a nightmare.

So I’ve just bought two velvet sofas and have kids and a big golden retriever. The kitchen one has throws and he’s allowed on that but not been going on the (mustard coloured) lounge one. I’ve only had it about 3 weeks but I’ve been pleasantly surprised so far how any hair or crumbs hoover off very well. I haven’t had any spills yet so can’t report on that.

Yes, nightmare. I was a cleaner for a family that replaced a black leather corner sofa with a bright blue velvet one. They had a blonde retriever and 3 kids. They regretted it big time and I got RSI in the shoulder hoovering and trying to clean the damn thing for about 45 minutes at a time. Hairs, crumbs, sticky stuff. Shudder.

Don’t do it. 😆

I have a navy velvet sofa and I love it

We don't have dogs but I do have messy DC so have had to deal with a few food and drink mishaps and it wipes clean surprisingly well and easily.

I coveted a blue velvet sofa.
i bought stretch velvet covers which actually look quite good! And they go in the wash about once a month.

Okay, mixed replies here. My experience was years ago so maybe the fabric technology (and definitely hoovers have) has improved. Everything seemed determined to stick to that damn thing!

Absolute disaster in my experience.

I bought a giant blue velvet sofa thinking it was my dream.

With kids and dogs.

It's toooo squishy and so soft so that with a bad back, I can't sit on it at all.

It looked terrible almost instantly and a few years on is embarrassingly bad.

I would never, ever buy a velvet sofa again, and I daily wish I had a leather sofa with good back support.

100%
I have no children, just 2 cats, and honestly the sofas just show the hair and crumbs so much, I am vacuuming them daily because they just look messy! I had no idea how mucky sofas get until I got these. it annoys me so much!

But op isn't asking if yours was comfy I think they are more concerned with the fabric.

I've got a velvet sofa and I love it, it hoovers easily and wipes easily too. I do have throws on at the moment though with small children but that just means in years to come when the throws come off it'll still look new (hopefully)

I have an electric blue velvet sofa. I loved it. But you can take the covers off to clean them and after 5 years it's a big mess especially where we (dc) sit.

If you could wash them it would be great. I don't have dogs.

I covered IKEA couches with velvet covers from an amazing supplier on EBay !

The velvet is gorgeous . So soft, warm and comfortable. The covers come off for washing of course but don’t need it very often .

The material seems to repel stains and fluid . Sounds weird but it really does ! Going to get another colour now . Could not recommend more .

I’ve five kids and two dogs .

I've had a dark velvet sofa for years with kids and cats and it's been fine. The only issue is it's near a south facing window so has started to fade. Also for the last couple of years we've had 2 dark velvet sofas from Habitat in the room the cats use mainly. I was really worried but honestly they have been great!

We had a habitat Louis sofa. Any liquid seemed to affect the pile and it stood out. Maybe it was the colour? Other people don’t seem to have had such an issue though.

And now, we have an ikea sofa and the fabric is sort of like velvet, maybe a brushed cotton and the dog hair sticks to it like glue! We didn’t have the dog when we had the habitat sofa so can’t compare.

I bought two blue velvet sofas 3 years ago. Still love them. We have 2 kids, 2 cats, and a large dog. Yes they have hair on them, but so does everything in the house. The kids aren't allowed to eat on them. I hoover them occasionally with the hoover brush. I don't expect them to look pristine, leather would deffo stay cleaner but I think is really unpleasant to lay on!

This sounds really great. Are you able to give name of supplier on EBay please? all this talk of velvet sofas is making me want one.

We have a leather chesterfield, had it 25 years and it's showing it's age a bit now but perfect for dogs and no one slides off it. There is no way i would get a velvet sofa with a dog I imagine it would be like velcro!

Absolutely, I’ll do that later . Highly recommend.

No issues with ours and several years old. Pale blue. The dog is not allowed on them though and I've put them through a cold wash once to freshen the cushion covers up which not supposed to do but life is too short.

Have a large dark one too in a family room which is covered in a giant faux fur blanket which I wash regularly as the dog takes liberties as soon as we go to bed and the kids regularly snack / have drinks while siting on it.

I'm not a fan of leather sofas, too cold and scratch easily with pet claws.

I think if you are going to allow pets on the furniture that will come with inevitable grime, drool and smell so find something that will work with a cover that you can whip off when you have guests at short notice.

Velvet for me has been way better, it is scotch guarded, the dogs claws ruined the leather ones.

My brother had a lovely mustard colour one. And a black dog. It always looked good when we visited. But he had to bin it when his son vomited all over it...

Am following as interested.

I have a cat that seems to like to claw proper fabric sofas (her claws get in the weft and pull threads). I'd heard velvet sofas are better for cats as they don't tend to claw it because there isn't a noticeable weft.

Any cat owners around to confirm if this is true!

We've got a velvet sofa in our bedroom. It's from Loaf and is in the style Bagsie. It's a pale pink, blushed cheek I think it's called.

It's lovely and we have six dogs! No problems with dirt as they only come upstairs if they are clean. The only problem I have is that one dog in particular who is bigger than me, likes to stretch out on it and go asleep and it's very difficult to get him to budge! 😂

Our other sofas are all leather as it's hard wearing and warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Mine is AMAZINGLY easy to keep clean...I guess it all depends on the type of velvet (all velvets are not equal 🤣)

I bought mine from The Vintage Sofa Co and honestly, it's a dream!

Crumbs and hair literally just brush off with my hand. Sticky messes wipe off in one swipe. It's beautifully luxurious to touch and looks phenomenal!

Absolutely recommend 'mine' but I've seen friends velvet sofas that are really hard to keep clean.

Due diligence is the key 👌🏻

https://vintagesofa.co.uk/?gadsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAADNasffl7elzKGTHFoI6MsoinF5&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItL7O366DiAMVu5xQBh0lLTm0EAAYASAAEgLMMvDD_BwE