To want to put my velvet sofa outside?

[GlitterUnicornsAndAllThatJazz]

Its my old sofa that I love dearly. Its quite threadbare and cat scratched now. I want to put it outside so i can sit out and smoke and read on it (partner's sofa is admittedly technically bigger and better and theres nowhere else to put it).

How can I protect it from getting all mouldy and gross or won't I be able to?

You won't beable to.

You can buy covers for garden furniture but I think you’d have to pay for good quality ones, to give the sofa good amount of protection.

I think I would give it a go!

If you put it out in the summer with waterproof covers, it might last a year. But it will quickly get damp & mouldy & not nice.

Get it reupholstered and continue to use it indoors.

We put ours outside at the beginning of last summer but it's on a porch under a roof so it doesnt get really wet. It was fab all summer but its now pretty mouldy and may need to be dumped in the spring.

One of my old NDNs did this. She ended up with rats living in the sofa and I ended up calling the council after finding several in my garden and one in my toilet!!

Room for a summer house?

Urgh. So it sounds like there's going to be no way of keeping it outside then 😣

A sofa in the garden? Sounds like something from Shameless.

I used to live opposite a block of council flats in a rough area, a few sofas appeared on the balcony walk through. Classy...

Don't. Just don't.

Get a greenhouse and put it in that ? then you have your own smoking room !

Build a big wraparound veranda so it's covered properly?

You may also need to move somewhere like the Deep South with lots of land and views over fields to make the most of it...!

Not possible in this country. Even if you have proper outdoor furniture with protective fabric it will ultimately be ruined, damp and mouldy if you leave the cushions outside.

Velvet will be gross very quickly and also full of spiders, dead insects and insect droppings and general crap.

How do you think it would be possible to keep a velvet sofa dry outdoors ???

The problem is usually that a sofa rather than a garden chair is low to the ground meaning that water bounces when it rains into the bottom of the sofa - so even if you protect the top the mould and rot starts from the bottom

Oh GOD. Don't do it. If a rat isn't biting you on the behind you'll have a snail sneaking on to the unsuspecting back of your neck whilst you squelch awkwardly on the mouldy upholstery. Not nice.

Ah it sounds a lovely idea but I don't think it's practical due to damp etc.

I did this on a porch where the rain didn't get to it. Unfortunately local cats did, and it just ended up disgusting and covered in cat hair (and probably worse).

Sounds like a great idea, but in practice just doesn't work.

That's a bit "Shameless" Op

Unless you knock up a summerhouse double quick?

You can't. Just pack up smoking and read in bed.

It will go soggy and mouldy and be a total eyesore in just a few months! If you sit on it, it will be like sitting on a giant, cold, wet sponge. Don't do it!

Rodent hotel.

I can't even begin to imagine how that would work, fabric like that does not belong outdoors, it'll stink, go mouldy, encourage vermin etc etc.

Can you get something like this op?

m.ebay.com.au/itm/LONDON-RATTAN-5pc-Sofa-Outdoor-Furniture-Black-Wicker-Lounge-Set-Setting-Pool/142578555074?epid=5007557851&hash=item21325818c2:g:ofAAAOSw1RVaVXCq

They're really nice and fab for sitting outdoors. The rain will get to them after a while but a decent rain cover will protect them; if they do get rained on dry them as best you can with a hairdryer. Mine have lasted ages (and we get heavy rain here).
You can also get an armchair type thing if you just want to be able to chill on your own out there.
I would not put velvet outside though, or an indoor sofa outside at all tbh