to machine dye my sofa covers?

[Afint]

Just that really. Has anyone done it? Will it end in horrible, patchy disaster?

I have an IKEA Ektorp sofa and I want a new cover for it. I’ve trawled the internet for one in the colour I want And none of the companies that make them have that colour. So if I buy the Ikea white ektorp cover, can I dye it with Dylon in the washing machine? And as Dylon don’t do the bloody elusive colour that I am looking for either, can I colour mix the dye?
I’ve had a look online and found some success stories and some horror stories but looking for relatively recent experiences as I think the machine dyes changed recipe at some point in the last few years.

SantanaOhNaNa
Which slip covers fit best on Ektorp? Can you please share a link?

Yes, I used Dylon and a 7kg machine. I don't remember weighing the covers, but I must have done (or found the info somewhere) because I know I worked out how many packs I'd need and it wasn't a whole number, but I took the risk of rounding it down, not up.

@Experimenopause sorry, I hadn't got as far as that, just looked at two seater models. I wasn't that keen anyway because part of why I like my ektorp so much (apart from the fact that it's cheap and indestructible!) is the cute little arm shape and none of the slip covers replicated that exactly.

I think I'm going to try b&m to get the dye cheap. From what I'm reading it will take several bottles.

I recently replaced got some replacement covers from mastersofcovers.com/ in royal blue velvet and am very pleased with them. The service was good, despite Chinese New Year and Covid 19. It’s given a 20 year sofa A new lease of life!
lindakale.com/ Is also worth a look and they have A wider range of fabrics.

I’m looking to get another one done. The cat is costing me a fortune....

I dyed an ikea chair cover and the cushion cover in my normal sized washing machine. Second hand but very good condition. Cotton fabric. Gave it a good 60degree wash first. I was pleased with the result though it had a slightly marbelled look, but if yours is white I doubt that would be a problem. As others have said, the thread and actually the zip are polyester so stay white. I think I would agree that a sofa cover may be a bit big.

Just be careful that the stitching isn’t polyester thread - if you can find out, that is - it won’t take the dye.
I’ve had to chuck a supposedly 100 % linen top I tried to dye, because the bloody stitching turned out to be polyester. Particularly annoying since the actual fabric dyed beautifully. (Dylon machine dye)

I dyed our Ikea dining room chair covers with Dylon machine stuff and they came out brilliantly. Not patchy at all. Faded a bit in the sun though and as they’re tucked into the table it was a straight line. They’re pastel pink though (I know, but actually not too bad!) and it wasn’t too noticeable. At the start of lockdown I did them again with the remaining dye - this is two years later - and they’re fine but still slightly shall we say ombré.

I used to have the same sofa and have been considering getting one again and dying the white covers (not to match the chairs!) and a good load machine should take the three seater cover from what I remember. They aren’t cheap cheap but they aren’t super pricey so I would try it and just get another if it doesn’t work.

I did my ektorp this way with dylon machine dye.
I did the two backs at once, two bases and then the large cover. so split in 3.
I used more dye than they suggested and then gave an extra wash at the end to get any extra dye off. just used a normal 40 wash.
be warned that the thread doesn't dye but I used the denim so it works well.
good luck!

I did mine years ago before I could afford a new sofa. It came out great, think I might have done the big cover twice if irc. In fact I liked it so much I put off buying a new sofa for a few more years. Mine went from red to black. Used Dylon in a 7kg machine

It’s only a 2 seater sofa so shouldn’t be too big for the machine if I do the main cover the seat covers separately.

My main concern is now what due to use as I don’t think mixing Dylon to attempt to get the colour I want is going to be a good idea.

What colour do you want, OP?

I did my ikea kitchen chair covers and they were the most successful thing I’ve ever dyed. But I’m not sure about doing it easily in a bath or bin.

Could you use a launderette machine? You have to run the dyed product through another hot cycle after the dying is done so that would clean out the machine.

Trying to mix colours sounds a bit too ambitious for me.

Sarjest coral pink. There’s a Rit due in that colour but I’ve no idea what they’re like to use.