How to Protect Your Furniture: 8 Tips
One of the cringiest things is walking into a room with a nice layout and elegant furniture, but then that thing sticks out like a sore thumb. A stain and now unforgettable memory of the time you ate ice cream in your bed. Scratch marks your cat left on the furniture. These two examples and many others are why you need to protect the furniture in your home.
Learning how to protect furniture is almost like learning what to buy or what food items or activities should be near your furniture. It’s so easy that there isn’t even much work to do. Just some reading. Here are tips for you to learn how to protect the furniture in your home, specifically fabric furniture. Read these articles for information on taking care of wooden and garden furniture.
How to Protect Furniture in Your Home
General Tips
Get Tenant Insurance
There is a higher chance you can lose your furniture to fire, vandalism, or theft if you are a renter. This is because renters live in shared residence buildings with so much out of your control. One really general way to protect your furniture if you’re a renter is by getting renters’ insurance. In the case of fire, theft, or damage, your insurance company will cover the costs of your furniture.
A lot of young adults are passing on paying renters’ insurance because it costs money, but the average cost is about $20 a month. It’s worth spending a little extra money because you don’t want to end up paying thousands of dollars if your furniture is destroyed or stolen!
To learn more about tenant insurance in British Columbia, click here.
Think Before You Buy
An easy enough rule to live by. This is a tip that allows you to prevent furniture damage and staining rather than having to go to extra protection measures and worry after your purchase. In fact, part of protecting your furniture is buying pieces that are less likely to end up damaged.
While you’re still in the stage of buying new furniture, it’s better to choose furniture that will stay looking new for as long as possible.
First, if you have young children, you should resist buying the most delicate furniture pieces with intricate textures or light colors. Avoid white pieces, because an accident with a single crayon will leave a mark that’s hard to get out.
Second, if you’re trying to avoid the situation where your cat or dog messes around with your furniture, make sure to avoid buying a lot of wood pieces, especially for furniture that will go in common areas for your pet’s play area. Scratch marks show easily on wood, and this isn’t something you can clean off.
Stains
Spray Products
It’s an absolute lifesaver to use stain protection, such as Scotchgard, so you prevent stains.
For getting stains out, you shouldn’t dab a cloth with water and soap over the mark, because you risk spreading the stain. If you’re looking for protectors after stains, you can get out stains with Resolve spray or even Tide to Go.
Avoid Habits and Activities that Stain
It may not be so obvious, but changing the way you do things and where you do things are a sure way to prevent stains. Now that the sofa and, even bed, are basically designated eating areas, eating is one of the most common ways to ruin your fancy furniture pieces.
When you know you’re eating food that stains easily, then it’s good to avoid eating anywhere else but your kitchen or dining table. While soups, saucy foods, pizza, ice cream, and jam are some of the biggest culprits, dry foods, fruits and vegetables are your friends. It takes more discipline for someone who’s used to slouching on the couch or bed when eating, but you can have full confidence you won’t get food stains if you avoid eating there.
Second, if you are doing any kind of craft or messy activity, it’s best to stay away from your furniture. It’s very comfortable to get cozy in bed and do some coloring, but it won’t be worth it to get marks on your duvet.
Slipcovers
This will totally bring back memories of your grandma’s house and her clear plastic-covered couches and rugs. Thankfully, there are modern and stylish methods to accomplish the same thing. Slipcovers are fabric, meant to cover couches and armchairs. They are also designed to protect your furniture from a worn-out look. If you stain it, you could always buy a new cover, which is a lot cheaper than buying a new couch.
Cover your couch or bed with throw blankets and pillows
A clever way to cover your couch from stains is with throw blankets and throw pillows. If getting a blanket is not just for decoration but for protection, then it’s better to get a larger one. This way you can cover more surface area. For couches, it’s best to cover the backrest part as well as the seat, because it works for protecting a larger area. It even adds more decor!
Pets
You may not think it, but purposely buying extra accessories to occupy your pet will protect your furniture. Until your pet is properly trained, redirect them away from furniture areas so they don’t have accidents on the sofa.
Scratching Posts
Buy a scratching post for your pet cat. This will be great to entertain your cat, but it is also a place for them to scratch something other than your furniture. Place the scratching post near the couch so that they will get used to this idea and eventually won’t seek to scratch the furniture.
Dog or Cat Bed
Getting your pet a bed is not only important for their comfort but also gives them a designated place. This is what trains them, as they will eventually learn that they have a place to go. Without a bed of their own, they are more likely to go on your sofa or bed because they have nowhere else to go.
