How to find a slipcover that fits your sofa

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

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

1. Getting a Slipcover that Fits
2. Can My Sofa Be Slipcovered?
3. How Much Will it Cost?
4. Are Slipcovers Worth the Investment
5. 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