Has anyone dyed sofa covers?

[Pixel]

Have been given a sofa which seems sturdy and is certainly comfy but the covers are really bad (currently soaking in liberal amounts of Vanish).
I'm wondering if I should risk dyeing them but think they could possibly come out patchy and look even worse (Dh won't let me tie-dye them .

Does anyone have any advice, even if it's "for gawd's sake don't do it!"?

What are the covers made of first of all? If they are natural fibre they will take dye. If they are polyester, for example, they won't.

Yes, I have. It worked well, but as wow says, they were cotton. The polyester stitching doesn't dye. You could do a patch test to try if you're not sure what material they are - cotton mixes will dye to a lighter shade so they don't necessarily need to be 100% cotton.

The most important thing is to weigh the fabric first, otherwise you will end up with patchy material, and have to re-dye again. I think I used about 9 packets when I dyed ours!

Hi, thanks for replies. I think they look like cotton but that doesn't mean they are! I've found a label inside a seat cover that says it is an IKEA Ektorp sofa, although it must be an older version because the website says they have foam cushions and this one (as I found out to my cost when I recklessly undid a zip) has feather ones. Funnily enough though I can't fine anywhere on the labels or on the website to tell me what fabric the covers are made from.

GinAndOnIt did you do yours in the washing machine with that Dylon stuff or did you use another method?

We have the ektorp. New white covers for it are fairly cheap from Ikea, that's my plan (when I get around to it). I'm not sure if the covers are cotton or not, but you could just use iDye in both poly and natural in the same colour?

I have dyed them, including ikea covers. Use the machine Dylon stuff. Zips don't dye to bear this in mind. Best results are minor changes in colour.

I just googled the code number from the label and it came up with the white covers, and yes I was surprised to see they are probably cheaper than buying loads of dye, not to mention all the stress and faff.

Just a bit dubious about the cat. Anything white is going to have a muddy pawprint in the middle of it in in 0.0001 seconds!

Yes, I used Dylon. I think they should make me some sort of brand rep - I'm always dying things!

i have never successfully dyed large items. i have tried in the machine one ike chair cover and a large quilt cover.both were very patchy.

Ok, well thanks all. I think I'm just going to buy some covers after all. I can get the cheap white ones or they have some reasonable ones on Ebay as long as I have beige! I might have a go at these ones at some point to use as spares but tbh after a whole day and night in detergent and vanish (borrowed my horse's big water tubs!) they still look pretty grim so I don't know how they'd take the dye anyway. At least it will give me time to ponder what colour I'd want if I had a play around with them. Am planning to ask our landlord if we can repaper the bottom half of our living room wall under the dado as it is horribly dated so I could actually have something co-ordinated for a change .

Thanks again .

Gin maybe I could dye the cat as well, then his hair won't show up on the furniture!

Why don't you buy the white ones and dye them? I've just dyed my sofa workshop cushions grey and they look great! I'm very pleasantly surprised :)

Pixel I have a black dog and a black and white cat - I keep dying furniture to stop the fur being noticeable but dark furniture shows up the white hairs, and light furniture shows up the black hairs I give up!

There is an online company that makes replacement covers for current and old style Ikea sofas. Lots of fabrics to choose from. I had some once. They're based in Sweden I think, beppe.

Bemz, not Beppe!

No idea what the prices are like (I've not used them) but this shop near me specialises in making covers for ikea furniture. That could be an option.

www.ikuva.co.uk