Stretchy sofa covers

[kemosabeimalone]

I’ve seen a lot of companies selling stretchy covers that can give an old or unattractive sofa a new lease of life. Anyone tried them? Are they any good? I’m thinking of getting something in a plain cream and not too nylon looking. Happy to pay a bit more if they are made in nice materials / well made.
Any suggestions or do they all look awful/ see through in RL?

I've got some cheap ones from eBay. They're not perfect and were extremely difficult to fit by myself but they look much better than the old cat-scratched sofa that I couldn't afford to replace.

Thanks MrsPussin - what makes them tricky to fit? Do you need ties underneath or is it hard to mould the sofa parts into the fabric?

I got one off eBay and I hate it. It slips off the trips me up when I get off the sofa. I am looking for an alternative one.

I bought a cheap one from Amazon. It came with a load of mini pool noodle type things. You put the cover on the sofa then use the mini pool noodles to keep the fabric in the gaps by the arm rests and back rest. It didn't look too bad but when you sit on down the mini pool noodles pop out which was a real pain.

I’ve been using non stretch cotton ikea chair covers on my arm chairs but they don’t completely fit properly as my chairs are not Ikea and they shrink really badly in the wash ( even w/o tumble drying). Such a shame as they looked great when I first got them.

The problem with fitting mine was that there are small seams sewn to fit arm rests which is great and helpful. But when I took it out of the packaging there was no way to tell which was the "right" way around. It took at least 3 tries to get it on then ties are tied underneath and noodle things popped in too. No problems now.

My grandparents paid their sofas to be re-covered. They paid for very good quality material and the company came first to measure and then a second time to fit the covers.

The covers looked fantastic and washed really well. They cost quite a bit but the sofas themselves were expensive so worth getting re-covered rather than replaced.

I don't think the cheaper covers look, feel or fit that great for long. If you have a more standard shaped sofa they can be a better fit. My friend got a cheap stretchy cover from ebay for her Ikea sofa. It looks fantastic, much cheaper than the Ikea cover and still fits despite being washed many times. She had to resew one of the seams but that has been the only problem.

Another friend went for the stretchy pleated covers for her sofa and armchairs. The sofa cover doesn't fit so well so she stapled it in place, It looks okay.

I tried one of the cheap stretchy covers and it’s not great. It’s bright and cheerful and covers the grubby, stained sofa in our play room but it looks like I tried to cover it with a king size fitted sheet - certainly not the sleek effect on the ads. The pool noodles ended up in the bin as they just pop out.
It’s fine for what I need it for, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a sofa you actually want to look good

Prof recovering sounds like a plan thank you! The soda is really comfy and has lots of life left but it’s a really ugly 80’s leather one!
Currently the sofa is covered by a huge quilt but I spend my life picking it off the floor and putting it back on nicely again as my boys love the sofa but are have no concern for aesthetics. Stretchy slip covers sound like they are also going to be a lot of faff.