The sofa cover says its dry clean only, does that mean it can go in the washing machine?

Yeh, but just a 30c quick wash with a gentle cleaning agent.

The thing about washing machines, one of their defining features one might even say, is that they’re kinda wet. Not dry.

I mean, yes, technically it can go in the washing machine. So long as you’re not planning on switching it on.

And I suppose taking this to its logical conclusion, it can go in the washing machine and you can switch the machine on and wash the thing. It’ll likely be ****ed afterwards of course, but you can do it.

The sofa cover says its dry clean only, does that mean it can go in the washing machine?

Only if you don’t turn it on

its a bit like ‘can I hit this double?’ for the first time. You know you want to….

Bloody hell how big is your washing machine?

Don’t put your cover in the washing machine btw, from experience it’ll almost certainly shrink and/or be wrinkled as hell forever even if it is supposedly machine washable. So if it says dry clean only, I think you’d be an idiot for trying to machine wash it.

I had a bed with a cover over the frame/headboard that was dry clean only. It was white and always looked filthy where my hair touched it. It shrunk slightly but was fine once ironed and stretched over it again.

Depends how much you like the sofa and prepared to risk it.

its a nice sofa and a good washing machine,but not that big
But just goocled ‘Enzymatic cleaners’, and they sound great for cat smells,maybe better than washing machine on 30, so may give that a go first

Mrs DB would – she can’t be faffed with stuff like this. 9/10 it’s OK. Another option would be to do them by hand in cold water using a suitable detergent ^

Turn your covers inside out and wash at 30c, this is what we do with our Next sofa and comes out lovely every time.

My mother does furniture restoration and she advised to do it.

IANAFR

Mrs DB would – she can’t be faffed with stuff like this. 9/10 it’s OK

That’s my approach to washing stuff, inc shoes. I might drop the temp to 30C if I remember….

But just goocled ‘Enzymatic cleaners’, and they sound great for cat smells,maybe better than washing machine on 30, so may give that a go first

Asks for advice.

Receives advice.

Decides to jump on Google and then do the opposite.

Why did you bother starting this thread, even? You could have just googled it in the first place and saved both your own time and everyone else’s.

was googling this when it got deeper
but yes i need to know these things. and suddenly realised how much help all you guys are here.
and rather than get some corporation’s targetted advice, such as ‘you must always get a qualified bike mechanic to check your tyre presssure before going for a ride’ or ‘this product may contain traces of nuts’ it seemed like i could get a straight(er) answer here
but if it offends you, dont feel the need to reply

I’m not offended, I just don’t see the point in asking for help if you’re then going to ignore it.

If you want a ‘masses’ solution then you can google it. If you want personal experience, recommendations and advice then you can ask here. To do the latter and then still go ‘well sod it, I’ll do what I want anyway because Google’ seems rather silly to me. It’s like you’re not looking for advice, rather you’ve made up your mind before you started this thread and you’re just seeking validation for your decision.

You might well get away with it and it’ll be absolutely fine. You might well irreparably ruin your sofa. The entire question is based on speculation. An expert might be able to differentiate between different sofa manufacturers or cloth types or something but you haven’t provided that information so it’s guesswork. Your ‘sofa cover’ could be wool, hessian, PVC, polycotton, silk, leather, banana skins, human skin, tissue paper or butterflies’ wings for all anyone else knows. Is it safe to machine wash the cover when the washing instructions explicitly tell you not to? Who the hell knows.

But I’ll bet dollars to donuts that you do it anyway despite any advice anyone here gives to the contrary.

I’d do none of the above and clean it in situ with a Bissell or Rug Doctor upholstery machine, if it’s still on the base it’ll be more likely not to shrink or distort.

Six years in the textiles industry now. So I’ll offer a bit of advice on washing delicates. How did I end up doing this?

If I wanted to wash something in the washing machine that should be dry cleaned.

Inside out.
Wool wash. Cool. Under 30deg. It’s a gentler cycle.
No or very low spin. And drip/line dry.
Don’t tumble dry.

Spinning things fast can really **** things up.

As mentioned, rug doctor.

Last time we cleaned our carpets the “dry clean only” sofa got done too. Worked a treat, although you have to do a few dry passes with the hand tool to get enough moisture back out for it to dry in a sensible timeframe.

Go for it.

Maybe get this to help with the drying afterwards

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dolls-House-Miniature-Washing-Line-And-Posts-/154311780966?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

I washed a pair of dry clean only curtains in the washer.

I now have a smaller pair of curtains.

We had a sofa which survived our twins’ formative years that was dry clean only. The covers were washed a great many times in our washing machine and survived. I am sure we were just lucky though.

and rather than get some corporation’s targetted advice, such as ‘you must always get a qualified bike mechanic to check your tyre presssure before going for a ride’ or ‘this product may contain traces of nuts’ it seemed like i could get a straight(er) answer here
but if it offends you, dont feel the need to reply

Its more like ‘do not use DOT4 brake oil in these mineral oil brakes’. Do you know what – for some manufacturers it might not matter, for some it might be OK as a one off for a short period if you are very careful, for some it might be a very expensive mistake. So unless its horrendously expensive is it worth the risk?

Actually,

Dafuq is a “sofa cover” anyway?

thanks brant for the advice, those settings helped
I put a cushion cover in the machin and it came out fine, so therest went in.
Also good to know what the other options are.

Six years in the textiles industry now. So I’ll offer a bit of advice on washing delicates. How did I end up doing this?

I’m only three years in the textile industry but I just bung everything in the washing machine, usually at 30deg. Did my sofa covers when I bought a second hand sofabed and they were fine.
.
(NB i’m only the accountant and know bugger all about textiles other than the prices…)

it also depends on how heavily soiled it is and what detergent/soap etc you are using, if it were me I’d use either a small amount of old-fashioned soap flakes or the washing egg that we have http://www.ecoegg.com