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For most Indians, the sofa is the centerpiece of their living room. Indeed, the sofa serves multiple purposes, whether it’s at home or office. While a sofa might undeniably be the most important furniture at office or home, we often overlook the fact that it’s often overused and hence, like any other thing, prone to wear and tear.

This makes it imperative for us to care for our sofa and ensure that it appears inviting and relaxing to both, visitors and household members.

There’re many ways to maintain your sofa in order to ensure it looks new and serves well. One such a way to maintain your sofa and give it a facelift or even decorate it specially for various occasions is by using sofa covers.

Understand What is Sofa Cover?

If you’ve never used a sofa cover and don’t know what it does, here’s some useful information. In simple words, a sofa cover is like a garment that covers your sofa fully or, in some cases, partly.

A sofa cover is also known as a slipcover in India and abroad. This cover is not to be mistaken with the upholstery that covers your sofa. While the upholstery is a permanent feature, a sofa cover can be placed and removed whenever necessary.

Generally, sofa covers are available in various shapes and sizes to fit different types of sofas. They’re made of cloth or synthetic leather and other materials too. The most common sofa covers are however made of fabric.

Sofa covers are designed to protect the sofa while lending it a fresh, inviting and aesthetic look. Additionally, it also serves as a cover for damaged upholstery. Sofa covers come in various styles, colors and designs, which makes it possible for us to decorate the sofa according to the season or occasion or festival, if needed.

Primarily, sofa covers aren’t expensive. They can be easily laundered to remove stains and odors, if necessary. Since sofa covers are inexpensive, you can have two or more and use them interchangeably. Additionally, sofa covers also blend in with the overall décor of the room.

Benefits of Using Sofa Covers

Surely, you might wonder if there’re any benefits of using a sofa cover. As a matter of fact, there’re several benefits of using a sofa cover either at home or office or both. These benefits would surely attract you to buy a superb sofa cover.

1. Enhancing Looks of Your Sofa

The primary function of every sofa covers or slipcover is to enhance the looks of your sofa. Usually, the upholstery of every sofa undergoes severe wear and tear over a span of time. This can make your sofa look dirty and unappealing to visitors as well as household members.

Using a superb sofa cover can help overcome this issue and enhance the looks of your sofa almost instantly. A fully covered sofa cover or sofa cover with frills can conceal ugly wooden legs of the sofa that may have gotten spoiled due to weather or sustained damages due to rough use.

2. Protective Covering for Sofa

A superior quality sofa cover also serves as a protection for the upholstery of your sofa and its cushioning. If persons using the sofa are prone to spilling or wetting the sofa for any reason, a good sofa cover is the first line of protection.

Waterproof sofa covers are also available, providing an extra layer of defense against spills and moisture.

Sofa cover absorbs any liquids and prevent them from staining the upholstery and seeping into seats that could be made of rubberized coir or synthetic foam. This, in turn, protects your sofa from developing offensive odors.

A sofa cover can be easily washed manually, in a machine, or at a laundry. The upholstery can’t be removed and washed for obvious reasons.

3. Defense Against Allergens

If you have pets, surely, they too love to use the sofa. While this may seem fine with you as a pet owner, remember that dog and cat hair can cause severe allergies to a lot of people.

Using a sofa cover can protect your family members and visitors against such allergens and pet hair. You can use the sofa cover in two distinct ways here.

A sofa cover can be used when pets will be sitting or lounging on the sofa. That way, you’re able to maintain the upholstery clean and free of pet hair and allergens.

The other way is to cover the sofa with pet hair and allergens on the upholstery so that they don’t affect family members or visitors.

4. A New Look for Every Occasion

India is a land of festivals. And we have various occasions too such as birthdays, anniversaries, engagements and weddings or even get-togethers and parties. You can use different sofa covers or sofa mats or sofa throws for different occasion.

That adds a festive note to the celebrations and other events. A lot of Indian festivals involve decorating the house and especially, the living room area where we entertain guests.

Using different sofa covers can add to the festive feeling and hence, make such celebrations more enjoyable for all. Since sofa covers are affordable, it’s easy to own more than one for each household.

5. Conceal Inherent Imperfections

Sofa covers are a superb way to cover up imperfections in your sofa. For example, rubberized coir seats tend to sag over a period of time. Depressions and inflations can develop in synthetic foam seats and backrests.

There could be minor or large scratches and defects in varnishing of the wooden parts of the sofa such as the armrests. All these and more inherent imperfections in your sofa can effectively be covered by simply using a fully covered elastic sofa cover or sofa throws.

While it’s important to address these imperfections and get the necessary repairs done, it’s not always possible due to time or money constraints. In such cases, a superb sofa cover from a renowned company can prove to be your sofa’s lifesaver.

How To Buy The Best Sofa Cover?

As you might clearly see now, using a sofa cover is not only advisable, it is also important nowadays, given the varied uses of the humble sofa. This brings us to the question, how to select the best sofa cover?

If you’re planning to buy and use a sofa cover soon, read further. In this comprehensive guide, I will discuss in detail, the points to focus upon and consider while buying a sofa cover.

Understanding these could help you to get better value for money while making the humble sofa, a cherished possession and adornment in your living room at home or visiting room at workplace.

In fact, you should also read this article fully, if you own a sofa and wish to give it that facelift it desperately requires.

1. Number of Sofas

The first thing to do when choosing the perfect sofa cover for your household or office needs is by finding the number of sofas and chairs on the premises that would need the covers.

This is important since some people own two or more sofas, depending on the size of their living rooms. A lot of visitor areas at offices also have more than one sofa and several seats or chairs.

A lot of sofas also come with matching chairs. Hence, it’s important to count these in as well, when buying the perfect sofa cover. That’s because using sofa covers and chair covers of the same color and same style could help maintain uniformity in the home or office décor.

Surely, you wouldn’t like the home or office to look shoddily decorated with sofa and chairs not blending in to match the overall décor of the room.

If you own two sofas, it’s also likely they’re of different types and made with altogether different materials. However, this isn’t any cause for concern.

You can count both in because sofa covers are available for all types of sofas. In fact, they can help two different kinds of sofas blend and complement each one using a sofa cover and matching chair covers.

2. Finalize Your Budget

Finalizing your budget for sofa covers and chair covers if any, is the second and most obvious step. Obviously, you need to have some estimates on the expenses that decorating and protecting your sofas and any accompanying chairs would entail.

However, there’s nothing to worry about when you’re finalizing the budget because it’s possible to buy Premium quality sofa covers for less than Rs.1,500 each and chair covers for as less as Rs.700 each.

Visit both offline and online sofa cover store to get some estimates of how much sofa covers will cost you. Check also if some online or offline stores are willing to give an additional discount on specific credit cards and debit cards or on loyalty programs.

You could also look for lower prices during promotions and festival seasons when all stores and manufacturers have annual sales, if you’re willing to wait for such special offers.

Finalizing a budget can help you to get the best sofa cover and seat covers or chair covers if any, at the lowest possible prices.

While looking for lower prices is good, ensure that the sofa cover is also of superior quality. That’s because the market is flooded with loads of local and imported cheap sofa covers that look attractive but tear or get damaged or don’t deliver on their promises.

3. Learn About Sofa Cover Materials

As I mention earlier in this article, sofa covers are available in variety of materials. Fabric is the most common though you can find those made with synthetic leather or canvas, among others. I will list some of the commonest materials used in making sofa covers and chair covers. That way, you could decide on the material that suits your needs the best.

• Polyester: The most common and top favorite among users. A lot of sofa covers are made of polyester since the fabric is glossy, available in countless shades and patterns, easy to clean and also waterproof to a great degree. However, polyester can develop static clings and seating might become uncomfortable due to the smooth surface.
• Cotton: Usually, cotton sofa covers are best suited for India and its climate. As a natural fabric, cotton sofa covers are breathable and have a slight rough surface making them more comfortable for seating. These sofa covers are available in various shades and patterns. Unfortunately, cotton sofa covers tend to be bulky and consume lots of storage space. They can get stained easily and will develop wrinkles if used for long periods or after a wash.
• Linen: Linen is the worldwide favorite for bedding and household fabrics. Linen is also versatile and can be put to several uses. It has a natural texture and comes in various shades and patterns. Linen sofa covers can easily blend with linen curtains and other furnishing. Sadly, linen by nature, can develop stains and absorb liquids easily. It can’t be washed easily and hence requires expensive dry cleaning from laundries.
• Synthetic Leather: Ideal for office sofas and to a great extent, some household sofas too, synthetic leather gives that glossy and evergreen as well as expensive look. Synthetic leather in India is available in various colors and also designs. Though synthetic or ersatz leather provides excellent protection against moisture, spillage and other hazards, this material can develop tears and peel off at places spoiling the décor. Synthetic leather can also emit a strong petroleum odor in your premises
• Genuine Leather: A genuine leather sofa cover might cost a small fortune. However, if you’re having a superb sofa and wish to give it that rich look, I suggest you opt for genuine leather sofa covers. These sofa covers are available in various shades, depending on the tanning and dyeing processes. While leather sofa covers are superb because they’re natural and also glossy, the flipside is that maintenance can cost a lot. They need to be polished frequently to prevent fungal growth on the surface. Genuine leather sofa covers could give off a raw, hide-like odor that man persons, especially vegetarians or those of religious bent of mind might find undesirable.

 4. Know Your Style

There’re many styles to select from when buying a sofa cover. The commonest comparison is usually between modern and classic styles. Classic styles are usually those with classic details like tufting, piping, or button-down closures. Modern ones are those having clean lines, minimal designs, and a focus on texture.

Additionally, we have trendy ones such as those for kids with cartoon characters, alphabets, numbers and gaudy shades. Then there’re sofa covers that come in flashy sporty designs with flashy colors and shapes for younger people.

Also nowadays, we can get bubble sofa covers which look amazingly modern yet classic and trendy. As a matter of fact, bubble sofa covers look elegant and comfortable too.

5. Ease of Use

Yes, you might find the best sofa cover that meets most of your needs. However, it’s also important to ensure ease of use. Surely you wouldn’t want a sofa cover that’s a hassle to put on or take off and maintain over a span of time.

Ease of use also means that a sofa cover should come with detachable parts that could be lost over some time and render the whole thing useless.

Another factor to consider is the time it takes to dress your sofa in a superb sofa cover. Generally, a single person or two should be sufficient. The sofa cover should have stretchable elastic bands where needed so that it can be extended to cover all areas of the sofa.

Another feature to look for are bottom frills. These can prove very useful to hid anything you’re keeping below the sofa or even damaged legs of this furniture piece.

6. Colors and Shades

Obviously, you have some favorite colors and shades and if you live with a spouse and other family members, they’ll have own preferences. However, these matter little when it comes to selecting a good color and shade for your sofa cover and chair covers, if any.

That’s because the sofa has to blend in with the overall décor of the room where it’s placed. Hence, the sofa cover you plan on buying has to be in sync with the overall décor too.

To ensure that the sofa cover seamlessly blends in with the overall décor, select colors, patterns or shades that match the wall and other decorative items in the living room or visiting room.

Avoid gaudy or loud colors and shades because they could make your sofa stand out like a sore thumb amidst the room. That means, your expense on a sofa cover would be fruitless.

If you’re not sure whether the sofa cover will blend with the overall décor such as wall paint, curtain and floor, among others, the best is to opt for neutral colors such as black or brown or even deep purple and navy blue.

Buying an excellent sofa cover of neutral shades can ensure your room looks chic and well appointed, even if the walls and curtains are of different color.

7. Measure Your Sofa

When choosing the perfect sofa cover, it's essential to measure your sofa to ensure a proper fit. Depending on the type of cover you're buying, you may need to measure various dimensions like overall length, seat width, seat depth, back height, and arm height.

Most sofa covers come with specific measuring instructions to guide you through the process, ensuring that you get the best fit for your furniture.

8. Select the Best Source for Sofa Covers

Finally, coming down to the actual process of buying a sofa cover. This can be a very interesting but also an intimidating journey. The reason is simple: there’re countless companies and sellers, both online and offline making claims and counterclaims about their sofa covers.

This often makes it hard for us to shortlist the best possible source. Sometimes, we might get swayed by the cheap prices that one seller offers and at other times, factors such as shades or styles might influence our judgment.

Therefore, I suggest that you explore the extensive range of attractive and reasonably priced sofa covers at HOKIPO. That’s because they’re a renowned and trusted company in the field of sofa covers and other furnishing accessories. You can also buy HOKIPO’s range of sofa covers online or from a reputed online store such as Amazon India.

Another excellent feature of HOKIPO is that you can easily find matching chair covers for any accompanying chairs of the sofa and for other purposes as well. Reviews of HOKIPO online show their customers are well satisfied with the products. What’s more, the prices displayed on HOKIPO include a superb discount too.

Caring for Your Sofa Cover

One more important element I will add in this guide. While you might buy a superb sofa cover and any chair covers with full enthusiasm and spend a lot of money, caring for these products is equally important.

Without proper care and maintenance, you could end up damaging the sofa cover permanently.

Therefore, always read the sofa cover handling and maintenance manual carefully, read and follow the instructions.

There’s no point in spending on a superb sofa cover and letting it go waste merely because we didn’t follow proper care and maintenance instructions the company suggests. If in doubt, read online and find proper care details or call the company if you have the number.

Wrap Up

This comprehensive guide on how to choose a perfect sofa cover could help you in getting best value for money and the best sofa cover for your needs. I also suggest you read some of the blogs available on the HOKIPO website to expand your knowledge of sofas and sofa covers.

It’s worth remembering that a sofa, regardless whether at your office or home is a representative of your overall personality and life. A well-maintained sofa can give a good impression to your visitors while a poorly kept one can do the exact opposite.

You can easily avoid such silent judgments by using superb sofa covers and seat covers. As I mention earlier, they’re affordable to almost every sofa owner.