There are some things in your home that are harder to clean than others. Some things just aren’t made to be cleaned, but there are times when they most certainly need to be. The cushion covers on your couch and on your chairs are things that can accumulate dirt and hair, but they aren’t the easiest to clean. Though you can vacuum them often, that doesn’t mean they are going to be clean. There are good ways to clean them though, and there are things you should never do. I know this from experience.

Common sense would tell you to remove the cushion covers from the cushions and to put them in the wash or perhaps have them dry cleaned. You don’t want to put leather or suede into a washing machine of course, but they can still be professionally cleaned. The cushion covers that are made of fabrics can go into the washer, and this might be something you want to do once or twice a year, or when you notice there is a stain. Just make sure the cushions will come out easily. Some are made of materials you can’t or should not try to remove.

I tried to save a cushion once by cleaning the entire thing. I didn’t remove the insides from the cushion covers though, and that is what I should have done. Instead I got frustrated and put the cushions in the tub and filled the tub with water and detergent. This was a huge mistake. The cushions never dried out and I had to go get a whole new couch. Had I just removed the cushion covers I would have been able to clean them and would not have had to deal with buying new, and rather expensive, furniture.

You can get plastic cushion covers to put over your couch and chairs, but you will find that these are not very comfortable and they make weird noises. This is something you might see in a home, but they don’t make a place very homey at all. I don’t understand this, and I guess that is why these cushion covers are not very popular any more. Though my grandparents never had these in their home, I had a lot of friends who told me their grandparents did, and they always laughed about getting stuck to them when they were wearing shorts. As far as I am concerned, there is not sense in having a couch if you can’t enjoy it. If I want to sit on plastic I’ll go hang out at the airport.