Sofa covers for pets: which fabric should you choose?

A cat that has claimed the arm, a dog back from its walk: a sofa gets lived on. No fabric ‘stands up to everything’, and we won’t pretend otherwise. But some save you a lot of time, and a cover takes the knocks instead of a sofa that costs twenty times as much.

What pets really need from a cover

Four needs, in this order, from what our customers tell us:

• stopping liquids — water from the bowl, mud, accidents
• getting pet hair off without spending the evening on it
• a cover that isn’t pushed out of position with every jump
• washing often without damaging the fabric

Our first choice: EasyCover™ Waterproof

It’s the only fabric cover in our range with a truly sealed surface: a membrane stops liquids, even if they’re left there. Its non-slip underside grips the furniture through constant comings and goings, which matters as much as the waterproofing when a dog jumps on and off twenty times a day.

It’s fitted in pieces rather than in one go: four for an armchair, five for a 2-seater, six for a 3- or 4-seater. You can also buy just the seat, if that’s the only place your pet settles.

→ EasyCover Waterproof Sofa Cover

The alternative: water-repellent jacquard

If accidents are rare and you mainly want time to react, water-repellent fabric is more than enough. Liquids bead on the surface, and a quick sponge on a fresh stain saves taking the cover off. It’s also the more supple of the two, so the quicker to fit.

Its limit is clear: a puddle left for a long time soaks through. Water-repellent fabric buys you minutes, not hours.

→ Water-Repellent Sofa Cover

Faux leather, when pet hair is the problem

Another sealed surface, and above all a smooth one: hair doesn’t cling to it, it sits on top and comes off with a damp hand. For a long-haired cat, it’s often the fabric that changes everyday life.

Two honest caveats: it gets warm when you sit on it for a long time, and it can’t go in the washing machine — damp sponge only. It’s available for dining chairs, cushions, click-clack sofa beds and tub chairs, but not as a full sofa cover.

Which fabric holds on to the least hair

In order, from easiest to most demanding:

• faux leather — smooth surface, one wipe of the hand is enough
• plain stretch — tight knit, the vacuum cleaner does the job
• water-repellent jacquard — the woven texture holds on to a little more
• velvet and fleece — they clearly hold on to it, but a damp glove or a rubber brush gets it off

A word on colours: a very dark plain shows light hair, a very light plain shows dark hair. Marls and patterns hide both — that’s the real tip from experience, and it applies to every fabric.

What about velvet?

It’s beautiful and very soft, but it isn’t the first choice with a pet that jumps up every day: it holds on to hair and keeps the marks where they’ve been. Keep it for less exposed rooms, or for the armchair the dog hasn’t claimed yet.

→ Velvet Sofa Cover

Is the sofa really protected?

Let’s be clear: a cat that sharpens its nails on an arm will mark the fabric in the end, whatever it’s made of. What the cover changes is what takes the damage. It wears instead of the sofa, and it can be replaced for a fraction of the price of the furniture — that’s its whole point in a home with pets, far more than any promise of invulnerability.

If your pet has a favourite spot, a throw laid over the cover adds a layer you can wash separately, and take off when you have guests.

If your cat uses the sofa as a scratching post

No fabric stops a cat that wants to sharpen its nails, and the cover won’t prevent it. What it can do is limit what it costs you.

• Find its spot. A cat usually sharpens its nails in the same place, most often a corner of an arm. A scratching post placed right next to it gives it another surface to use.
• Avoid looped fabrics in that spot. Chenille and bouclé fabrics have loops that its nails catch and pull.
• Replace only the damaged piece. EasyCover™ pieces are also sold singly, from 70 × 70 cm, the size of an arm piece in the sets, to 110 × 240 cm: if the cat always goes for the same arm, you change that piece, not the whole sofa.

Care, in practice

• Brush or vacuum dry before washing: wet hair gets embedded
• Treat fresh stains by blotting, without rubbing
• Machine wash at 30°C, without fabric conditioner, and air dry
• Put the cover back on while it’s still slightly damp: it tightens back up by itself
• Faux leather: damp sponge, never the washing machine

The fabric-by-fabric detail is in our guide how to care for and wash your sofa cover, and what to do in a hurry in everyday stains.

Ordering the right size first time

Measure from one arm to the other following the shape of the sofa, arms included — the method is in our guide how to measure your sofa — and go up a size if in doubt. Delivery is free on orders of £85 or more, and you have 30 days from delivery to change your mind (return postage is at your own cost).

If you’re torn between two fabrics, our cover finder settles it in three questions, and you can email a photo to contact@thesofacoverhouse.com for advice: we reply 7 days a week.