July 2017 - Comfort Works Blog & Sofa Resources

Why you should never eat on your sofa

Posted on July 21, 2017April 29, 2025 by Chris

We’ve all been there. A long day at work, aching feet, and a deep yearning to be comforted. So we head home and crash on the sofa. Turn on Netflix and dial up a pizza. And that couch is so comfy….why bother moving? Well here’s why!

1. STAINS!

Having food or drink on your sofa is a Sword of Damocles over your colour coordination. I wish you the very best of luck if you like curries or wine.

Yes, you could do your best to clean up the stains with water / vodka / vinegar / steam / the trusty baking soda routine or even the heavy duty stuff like Wine Away.

But I, being a lazy soul, would simply opt for a stain and water resistant slipcover.

2. Pests.

No, we’re not talking about your kid coming over to grab some food, or Fido demanding a snack. Ants and cockroaches are the first pests to show up in search of dropped crumbs and other flavorful offerings.

By eating on your sofa, you’re basically laying out the welcome mat for these disgusting friends. Pretend that there’s a large photo of a cockroach just above this paragraph if you want.

3. Germs!

Let’s face it, with a soft fabric surface your sofa is probably not going to be wiped down with the same regularity and care as your kitchen counter.

And that does add up! Your sofa is FILTHY and is one of the dirtiest places in your house with 12x the amount of germs as your loo. Or as this TV host found out, 5x the hospital hazardous amount.

Even if you aren’t resting your food on the cushions directly, you’re still at risk of picking some up from idle hands.

Best way around it? Regular deep cleaning, twice a year or more.

4. It’s bad for the waist.

A study by John Hopkins University has identified that you’re way less likely to identify how much food you’re eating, if you eat while watching TV. Make it a regular habit, and you’ll soon find yourself with pants that don’t fit and a strange lack of energy. It’s a self-fulfilling cycle as the less energy you have, the more tired you’ll be at the end of the day, and the more likely to have a TV dinner.

Solution? Make it a habit to eat at the dining table and put away all devices. Focusing on what you eat really does improve the experience with the side effect of making you mindful about sinful food.

Hopefully this has made you more mindful of the dangers of couch eating. Like my grandmother always said, “when the wind changes, you’ll be stuck doing that for life”. I’m not sure what she was on about, but perhaps you won’t end up like this poor lass, who snacks on sofas. Literally.

How to DIY simple upholstery without sewing – with slipcovers!

Posted on July 8, 2017April 28, 2025 by Chuck

If you’re thinking of rejuvenating your couch and looking for DIY Simple Upholstery, then this is the place. With custom slipcovers – it’s easy!

Why Upholstery is No Longer as Popular?

It usually comes down to what you’re comparing it to, but with the advent of technology – buying a new sofa altogether nowadays is fairly cheap. Sometimes a new sofa costs only as much as upholstering an old couch altogether.

Also with many new sofa brands, there’s now the option of removable slipcovers which are easy to wash and allows the sofa to live longer.

Washing your covers isn’t rocket science

In a way, upholstery has become relatively expensive (close to a $1000 just for labour alone, whereas you can buy a sofa at IKEA for half the price). Not to mention that traditional upholstery usually requires your sofa to be sent elsewhere for a few weeks, leaving your living space empty for a while.

Getting an upholstered sofa can be quite impractical to maintain, especially when it gets dirty as you can’t really wash the fabrics.

People won’t go to an upholsterer unless it’s a sofa that can’t be recovered superficially, usually because all or part of the frame is broken.

But the good thing about upholstery though, is that it always gives a sofa an incredibly tailored look – which is always pleasing to the eye.

Why are Slipcovers the Upholstery Alternative?

Besides being easy to wash and significantly less expensive (if purchased from online retailers), slipcovers can actually look as good as upholstery when made really well.

It’s a little bit unfair but bringing IKEA back into the picture – you’ll find that many of their sofa models are slipcovered like so:

Soderhamm Corner Sofa in Liege Biscuit fabrics Karlstad Sofa in velvet Emerald fabrics and DIY tufts Manstad Slipcover in white bycast leather

That’s right, you can even slipcover a sofa in bycast leather, how neat is that?

If you do scrutinize further you can definitely see some wrinkles which is a small caveat when it comes to leather slipcovers. It really comes down to how much of a perfectionist you are and how much you’re willing to tolerate.

So if you really a super snug fit for your sofa, you could always use a staple gun to do some DIY Simple Upholstery :)

DIY Simple Upholstery couldn’t be Easier

This blogpost will henceforth teach you how to recover a couch without even needing to sew.

What you need are:
– Custom made-to-measure slipcovers
– A staple gun
– A friend or two to help you out

DIY Simple Upholstery is essentially just putting slipcovers on and tightening spots that look too loose. And this can be easily done in 3 steps with a staple gun.

Step 1:

First you need to put the slipcovers over your sofa

Step 2:

Then you flip the sofa over

Step 3:
You’ll just need to staple it at your discretion, but at Comfort Works we prefer flexibility. So we used velcro instead.

Staple velcro onto sofa at desired fit

So lastly, all you have to do is just fasten the slipcovers onto the velcro. Whenever laundry day comes, you get to remove it super easily!

By default, all Comfort Works’ Custom Snug Fit Slipcovers are sewn with a velcro (unless otherwise requested) and we’ll throw in a roll of velcro for you to staple onto the underside of your sofa’s base.

Besides IKEA, people who own a Pottery Barn couch or Muji sofa even would realize that this is the future we’re headed to. Getting a slipcover that’s removable and easy to wash makes the most sense long-term.

Hopefully this post was informative and if you’d like to learn more this option, you can check out this other post:

“What is a custom slipcover?”

How to find a slipcover that fits your sofa

Posted on July 1, 2017April 28, 2025 by Chuck

Finding a slipcover that fits your sofa can be hard, but in reality it’s actually quite easy.

Comfort Works Custom Slipcover Before & After

First and foremost, you have to set your expectations straight to know what you’re after.

Here are some typical reasons why you should be getting a slipcover that fits your sofa well.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Getting a Slipcover that Fits
Can My Sofa Be Slipcovered?
How Much Will it Cost?
Are Slipcovers Worth the Investment
Does a Slipcover Fit Easily on my Sofa

Getting a Slipcover that Fits

Then you’ll get an awesome (and almost brand new) looking sofa, without actually buying a new sofa
You save the costs and time to having your couch re-upholstered somewhere (usually in the thousands!)
You’ll be doing your part for the Earth by not adding more waste to the landfill
Get several more years or until your sofa breaks down before actually having to buy a new sofa

Just like with any other purchase, it comes down to what’s available, how much a slipcover would cost, whether it’s a good investment long-term and how easy it would be to take one home and put it on yourself.

Cool, so what’s the next step?

Can My Sofa Be Slipcovered?

With the above in mind, you’ll need to find out whether your sofa is slipcover-able.

Depending on the structure, it is very possible that slipcovers can’t actually be made for your couch as not all sofas were created equally.

Given the nature of sofas and how innovative their design can be, around 80% of them should be fairly similar and straightforward.

To give you an idea, here’s an infographic of what Comfort Works is able to help you slipcover online:

If you do happen to have a recliner or wingback chair, all hope isn’t lost.

There’s still companies such as Surefit, Wayfair and Overstock that sell Universal (Ready-made) Slipcovers that are very affordable, and can fit practically any sofa with its elastic fabrics. The only thing is that it may not be a fabric you’ll like, and the final look of the sofa may not resemble the original very well.

When that becomes the case, you may have to spend a bit more on re-upholstery or a new piece of furniture instead.

How Much Will it Cost?

The range of prices would depend on where you’re getting the slipcovers made from.

The best slipcover fits will come from your local seamstress or upholsterer as they’ll be able to work directly with your sofa physically. Most likely they’ll come over, put fabrics over the couch and pin over the entire furniture. They’ll then take those pieces and sew them up, turn it inside out and voila – that’s your slipcover.

It’s more time-consuming than I’ve explained it, but you do pay for what you get.

Typically sofa slipcovers locally made can cost around $800 (in Australia and the United States) just for labour alone, fabrics would be an additional $300 and up depending on the quality or type.

If you do it online however, it is very possible to get the same custom sofa slipcover for under $600 – all inclusive of workmanship, fabrics and even shipping. It comes down to choosing which company you want to go with online :)

Are Slipcovers Worth the Investment

And do slipcovers really work?

Finding a slipcover that fits is one thing, but making sure what you spend on it would last you a good amount of time is another.

While upholstery would give you the best look for a sofa, it’s going to be a pain once you spill anything on it or if your pet cat decides to go claw-happy on it.

Custom slipcovers give you that flexibility of removing and washing or replacing whenever you need to.

This also means you don’t have to lug a giant couch onto your frontyard, or go to the store to spend $2000 on another sofa.

In all honesty, the prices do work out about the same:
– A good sofa that lasts about 10 years would cost $2000, meaning a cost of $200/year
– A good slipcover that lasts around 3 years would cost $600, meaning a cost of around $200/year

But once again, you know for a fact that no matter how good an upholstered sofa is – it’s going to wear and look tired after 3 years or so.

Getting a slipcover (if the sofa doesn’t already come with one) will definitely be a great investment to prolong the life of your couch.

Does a Slipcover Fit Easily on my Sofa

That really depends on the people that’s making slipcovers for you.

Generally, the universal / ready-made slipcover that fits over the couch quite easily since the fabrics are larger and more elastic. It is quite annoying to tuck in the excess fabrics though if it’s a lot larger than the actual frame.

With custom slipcovers, you can ask your supplier to put zips at the back of the cover to make it easier to slip them on. Generally the more snug the slipcovers, the better the finish like so:

Hopefully this post has been informative enough to guide you into getting the best slipcover for your sofa – which we believe would be custom made slipcovers :)

Ready to get yourself a slipcover that fits your living space?

Get your personalised couch covers here