August 2017 - Comfort Works Blog & Sofa Resources

When should I replace my slipcovers?

Posted on August 26, 2017April 28, 2025 by Abel

If your sofa cover has a few years left or you’ve just recently bought one, it’s very probable that you have asked yourself “when should I replace my slipcovers?”. And as always, here we are to help you answer it ;)

If you have a Comfort Works cover I’m sure you already know that all our covers have a two years guarantee but of course, they are designed to last a lot longer. So what’s the magic number of years to change the covers?

Well, it depends on the use of the sofa and its covers and also on many other factors like hygiene, the daily use you give to your sofa and, of course, your decoration style. Because if you are like us, I’m sure you will love to change your covers regularly and have a new decoration style every season.

If you ask specialists or search for information about this topic you will receive many different answers.

A sofa cover is always a good idea ;)

Orientative replacement dates

Let’s begin with some general information, so we can have an idea of about when should we replace our couch covers. To set a benchmark, here’s a list of how often should we replace other house furniture.

Cushions: every 6 – 12 months (depending on usage)
Pillows: every year
Duvets: every 5 years
Mattress: every 8 years
Bed sheets: when they’re ripped or soiled beyond recovery

Of course, a sofa cover is not exactly like the above items. The materials used to manufacture it are very different and is obviously more resistant and durable (hence not as comfy). But this information helps us to have an idea about how often should we change the covers of our sofa.

How often do you change your bed sheets?

Hygiene

Dust mites, body oil, dead skin cells – all these things are accumulated in your furniture during the years and yes, sofa covers aren’t an exception. If you are like us and love to lie on the sofa, work on it, have dinners with your friends while watching football matches then you might consider washing your covers more frequently.

It’s very important to wash your sofa covers every 3 – 6 months (depending on the use of the sofa), to assure it is completely clean. Something we also recommend is to have more than one sofa cover. So you can have one in your sofa while you wash the other. This also will help you change the decoration of your living room more frequently, and that’s always a good thing :)

A good way to keep your sofa new and clean is with our liquid and stain proof fabrics:

Decoration

Also, if you love decoration maybe you will love to know that with a sofa cover you can change the decoration style of your sofa in a fast and easy way. Just change the covers and you will have a new sofa. Easy, right?

Change your sofa cover and have a new living room immediately

Final Conclusion

If your cover looks completely new, there’s really no need to change the sofa covers at all. There are times where people would get two main sets and change them every 6 months or so, so that probably would last them a good 5-10 years. If you only have one set of slipcovers, then you might have to replace them every 3 – 5 years but this really depends on how much wear and tear occurs.

A good way to keep your sofa clean is washing them regularly (this is more easy with a sofa cover which you can wash in the washing machine). Also, covers are the best way to increase the useful life of your sofa and the best option for those who love to give your living space a makeover.

We hope to have answered your questions. If you have more queries do not hesitate to contact us through info@comfortworks.com.au or our social networks. We have accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Snug fit slipcovers vs loose couch covers: An upholstery alternative?

Posted on August 12, 2017April 28, 2025 by Chuck

What exactly are snug fit slipcovers and is it always better than loose fit slipcovers? This blogpost would show you what the differences are.

If you haven’t already come across our previous article on “What exactly is a slipcover?”, do check it out to gain a better understanding of how it’ll become the new alternative to upholstery.

Or if you prefer a quick video guide, check this out:

In a nutshell, a slipcover / loose cover (UK/AU) or sofa cover (popularised by IKEA) are simply removable, protective covers that go over your sofa.

Traditional Loose Fit Slipcovers

Most of the time when something thinks of a sofa slipcover, it’s instinctive to think of a round arm sofa that has pleated skirt and piping.

Something like this:

Or the Rachel Ashwell classic – shabby chic sofas with a predominantly white palette, and slipcovers typically accompanied with frills or ruffled skirt.

But it doesn’t mean that it’s always like that.

In 2016, we were inspired by the Gervasoni Ghost Sofa but were astounded by the crazy price tag of over 2000EUR.

Staying true to our roots that beautiful things need not be exorbitant – we hacked an IKEA couch into the ghost sofa. You may recall seeing this result:

Not too shabby eh?

Transition to Snug Fit Slipcovers

Interestingly, “snug fit slipcovers” is just a term that isn’t used widely by everyone yet but has existed for quite a while already.

We first coined the term with our Manstad sofa covers when we created slipcovers for it in individual parts.

You see, the trick to making a slipcover as upholstered/tailored looking as possible is to break down a sofa into smaller parts and giving each part a slipcover.

This was the end result for our first Manstad Snug Fit covers:

In fact, we took inspiration from an IKEA model known as the Karlstad, which works exactly in this concept. The IKEA Karlstad is a best sellers that has been included in the discontinued IKEA Sofa circa 2016 in several parts of the world.

Here’s a quick look at the IKEA Karlstad:

The Karlstad sofa was also incredibly popular for being one of the most easily hackable couches. You could:

Swap the legs out
Switch out slipcovers of your choice
Add tufting buttons to cushions

Most importantly, it paved the way for the snug fit slipcovers of today.

Ushering in Custom Snug Fit Slipcovers

IKEA has snug fit slipcovers then, but can this be applied to made-to-measure covers that are traditionally loose?

The short answer is – yes.

“But I don’t want to take my sofa apart”, might be something you’d say.

And that’s okay, because you don’t have to.

At Comfort Works, we’ve worked out a way to make snug fit slipcovers that are easy to put on and does not require you to take the sofa apart.

IKEA had actually done this before the Karlstad – their Karlanda (Karlstad predecessor) actually had a single frame cover which would go over the armrests as well as the body. This means no disassembly whatsoever.

The finishing touch was just Velcro on the underside of the base – many other sofa brands (Muji, Lorenzo) make theirs the same way.

And if your sofa doesn’t originally have Velcro, you just need to staple them on. Here’s a tutorial on how to apply Velcro on Sofa.

Easy DIY Velcro Stapling

And that’s pretty much it. Just because you have a slipcover, does not mean it has to be a loose couch cover :)

Wanna learn more about slipcovers? Discover how our slipcovers are made here.

IKEA Lugnvik sofa bed review: Distasteful but practical?

Posted on August 7, 2017April 28, 2025 by Yousra

[sg_popup id=”3″ event=”onload”][/sg_popup]We briefly reviewed the Lugnvik a while ago when ranking the best sofa to replace the Manstad and the Lugnvik was not the winner.

Aesthetics

I think that design wise, IKEA wanted to keep it simple here, this isn’t really the kind sofa with a Wow or OMG-what-sofa-is-this reaction. It is not really surprising since IKEA doesn’t go crazy when designing sectional sofas, the only exception would be the Moheda with its classic english round arms (also reviewed in our Manstad Clones post).

The Lugnvik sofa bed is currently available in 2 colors only: Granån Black and Granån Red, but don’t worry about the lack of color choices, this wouldn’t be an issue anymore since we are launching our Lugnvik custom slipcovers very soon, so stay tuned :)

Score: 7/10

Practicality:

Compared to other sectional sofas from IKEA, the Lugnvik is bit different and tricky at first when it comes to converting it to a bed. When first pulling the seat towards you, you will get access to the storage first, in order to complete the transformation of the sofa into a bed, you need to fold the back frame downwards. What I like about the Lugnvik is that the chaise is modular and you can easily put it on a left or right configuration, whatever floats your boat :)

Although the Lugnvik is a sofa with a dual function (storage/bed) which makes it very practical, you cannot unfortunately get both functions at the same time, it sucks to know that you have to move from the bed every time you want to access the storage compartment.

Score: 7/10

Comfort

Here comes the part of testing the Lugnvik, the seating is pretty comfortable but not as deep as we expected it, we liked the height of the armrest, not too short and not too tall. But the pillows are really thin which gives you a feeling that they are non-existent and will definitely cause you back pain if you lay on them for more than two hours. We highly recommend buying or having additional pillows in order to get enough back support.

The Lugnvik bed isn’t really spacious as there is only enough place for one person. Personally, we wouldn’t use this bed for an everyday use, it’s best for a guest room if you invite friends every now and then, especially drunk ones :)

Score: 5/10

Ikea Lugnvik in Black – Photo credits: IKEA

Price

Costing $499 in USA, €349 in France and $649 in Australia, the Lugnvik is cheaper than most sectional sofa beds from IKEA, and looking at all the functions it has, the Lugnvik is suitable for students and is definitely a sofa to consider if you have have a low budget or a small living space. When talking to some of our customers who own a Lugnvik, they wish it was less cheaper since it doesn’t offer the most durable and comfortable pillows and bed.

Score: 6/10

Conclusion

Well to be completely objective, the Lugnvik sofa bed is exactly what it is – nothing more, nothing less.

Does it allow you to sleep on it? Yes. Is it comfortable, nice to look at or affordable – that’s where it becomes more of a grey area.

Here’s our verdict in summary:

Aesthetics: 7/10
Practicality: 7/10
Comfort: 5/10
Price: 6/10

Overall Score: 6.25 /10

We hope this review helps you better with your Lugnvik sofa purchase. Let us know what you think in the comment section, we would also love to hear your experience if you already own a Lugnvik :)

Slipcoverability:

We thought of giving this sofa another chance, since it’s actually quite popular and many of our customers have asked for us to create a slipcover?

Lugnvik sofa bed in Kino Khaki slipcovers from Comfort Works

How much does a custom slipcover and sofa cover cost?

Posted on August 5, 2017April 28, 2025 by Chuck

Generally, slipcovers cost should always be divided into three parts:
1) The cost of fabrics
2) The cost of labour
3) Shipping / Transport

In most cases and for the purpose of production only, we can take shipping out of the equation for now.

Having said that, let’s see what goes into each of the components.

Cost of Fabrics

The first question you need to ask here is “How much fabric is needed to make my sofa slipcover?”.

Needless to say, the more fabric used the more expensive it would be.

This is why so much detail is needed when making a slipcover – down to the pleats and piping used.

In Australia and similarly in the United States, the cost of fabrics start from between $20 to $40 a metre. This means a loveseat that requires roughly around 10 metres of fabric would cost between $200-400.

The thing is that fabrics do not make up what slipcovers cost entirely.

In fact, what sets each retailer apart is how much they charge for labour and these can vary quite a bit depending on who you end up having your custom slipcovers made from.

Slipcovers Cost – Labour ONLY

In 2016, we spent a bit of time working directly with upholsterers from Australia and the US. we found out that labour is charged as low as $800 and can reach up to as high as $1200.

Add the cost of fabrics and shipping to that and it’s equivalent to buying a new couch ($1000-$1600)!

Nope, money still not growing on trees

But is this truly the case, and is there no way of getting a more affordable solution?

There actually is, and that’s getting custom slipcovers made online.

Finding Affordable Slipcovers

Comfort Works always had the vision of making slipcovers personalised to your tastes while not costing an arm and a leg. This started with IKEA sofa covers, and more recently we found ourselves managing to save more sofas in the world.

Getting custom slipcovers from online shops is really nothing new, here are some that have been around even before Comfort Works:
– Slipcovershop.com (USA)
– Needleandshears.com (USA)
– Slipcovermaker.com (West Michigan, US Only)
– Potatoskinstoronto.com (Canada)

As we Google around though, it seems that there hasn’t been a supplier that’s from Australia that does this – guess we’re the first :)

But the initial question remains unanswered – how much do slipcovers cost, if purchased online?

If were were to compare with the the above e-stores including Comfort Works, it would be around US$500 on average to get a sofa fully recovered with the most basic cotton fabrics.

You’ll be able to spot a few “starting from $300” cases but after taking everything into account from seat/back cushions and pleats/piping – US$500 is a conservative price. If you were to go for something premium say, a linen blend then it could go up to around $900 – but it shouldn’t go beyond a $1000.

Liege Biscuit Custom Slipcovers for Lovegrowswild

It’s always advisable to get synthetic blends as these are a lot more durable than 100% cotton, despite being a bit dearer. After all, if you’re spending hundreds on a product that enhances the centrepiece of the living room, you should get something timelessly beautiful right?

Now that you know how much slipcovers cost, discover how slipcovers are made!

Happy designing :)