Sofa nightmare

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It has been through a lot (15 cats I'd guess) and the arms of it have stuffing coming out of them. The upholstery itself is still there but just hanging off to the sides barely on one side still attached with the wooden frame showing.

At present it has a slipcover over it so you cannot see how horrible it is beneath it.

Said slipcover (slipcover #5) is shot and I've ordered a new one.

However, I wish there was a way I could some how fix this up a bit some how.

I thought about getting some spray on adhesive to stick the sagging upholstery on the sides back in place and buying some sort of fabric to also place over the areas that are badly clawed (measurements about 25X12" both sides). I've also considered making some sort of protection for the arms and perhaps afix them with either upholstery tacks or the same adhesive spray on glue. I have a sewing machine (an old Singer) that works well and I was a pretty good sewer in my day so I think I can handle making a couple of panels that would fit the areas that I want to cover up.

This might work or or might not work, worst case scenario is that I'll end up with a bigger mess than I started with which seems almost impossible at this point.

Any folks out there know anything about fixing this sofa up a bit or should I just put the new slipcover on it and shut up about "it"?

Thanks for any help at all!

[X_Digger]

1. Depends on how much 'surgery' you're prepared to do.

If you're just interested in making it smooth / intact under the slipcover, you can remove all the torn bits, lay in new foam, and take an upholstery needle and stitch on canvas or strong cotton duck patches.

If you're looking to get back to not needing a slipcover.. well, that's a lot more involved.

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2. Thanks

I realize it is not possible to get it "new" looking (it is quite old; bought in 1988 I believe it was).

So, I'd need to remove what I can see with scissors and have patches made and ready to be sewn on I take it.

Any ideas/info. about using spray adhesive?

I'd like to save this sofa as it is very comfortable and has several uses oddly and I really do not want a new one. Although it looks just awful, it is actually very clean as I paid extra $$$ when I bought it to have it sprayed with a solution that makes it easy to clean which I have done more than once believe me.

Thanks for your tip! I do appreciate it very much!

[X_Digger]

4. Oh I hear ya.. they don't make them like they used to.

Patches you can make from a canvas dropcloth bought from a home improvement center. Use the singer sewing machine to hem them to fit oversized*, or get some fray check liquid or tape if sewing scares you.

You would still need some hand stitching though- spray adhesive just won't hold the patches in place. A simple whip stitch with an upholstery needle and good cord would take care of it.

* You want the patches to be oversized to reach past the torn fabric back to intact areas.

[CountAllVotes]

6. The sewing machine is an ok idea

I just cannot sit on the floor for any length of time (and get up too for that matter).

I could make the patches and try the fray check liquid on them to attach them to the sofa.

I'd do the whip stitching but I can see that this would involve hours of work and I don't have any help with this nightmare of a "project".

Isn't it sad that one cannot buy a decent sofa any longer?

This one is particularly nice as it has an incliner on the left side of it and if you flip back the cushions on the back, you have yourself a nice single bed that I've slept in many nights when the pain in my spine is so bad I can't sleep in the bed.

Thanks again!!

[Warpy]

3. The spray adhesive might allow the ripped foam to be laid back in

but a patch of material the same weight as the upholstery should be applied over it. The adhesive won't last by itself.

Then again, a trip to a thrift shop might net an intact couch to put under the slip covers. It's what I have, the upholstery under the slip cover pristine but butt ugly.

Most furniture being made today just isn't worth reupholstering, so slip covers are the way to go.

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5. Thanks Warpy

I think you are right about furniture today (POS most of it). I paid about $700.00 for this sofa in 1988 (or 1989) which was a whole month's pay for me at that time.

I may have found some heavy duck cotton fabric on ebay. The colors look pretty close.



I can buy one yard of this (36X57) for about $13.00.

My goals is to fix this up and slipcover it with the new slip cover which is en route hopefully.

The actual material the sofa is made of is a very heavy strong fabric that has taken lots of abuse as you can see from my shameful picture.

My problem is that I cannot bend/sit for any length of time so I wonder if I'd be able to stitch it up by hand. It could take forever plus there are lots of loose staples floating around too (not at all safe!).

Ah what a fine mess I have on my hands.

The cat could care less of course.

I recently managed to train her to not claw the sofa (much) any more.

Oddly, she (nor any of the other cats I've had for the past 12 years or so) are not the least bit interested in my recliner that I bought at a medical supply place. It cost close to $900.00 and none of the cats have liked it enough to claw it fortunately.

I don't know what sort of fabric is on said chair, perhaps microfiber?

Thanks again and any more thoughts/tips are helpful!

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7. Oh what a difference a slip cover makes ;)

I was going to do the whole thing, buy the duck cloth, the thread, the needles, the foam, etc. and fix 'er up good.

Then I began to add all of these items up and OMG.

I had ordered a Sure Fit slip cover on ebay already and was hoping it would help some.

It came today and I went to trim off all of that old foam and hanging upholstery and figured I'd do the best I could with my sofa because as I said, I really don't want nor need a new one.

I was really shocked to hell and back when I cut the foam/upholstery from the arm in the picture in my first post on this. Beneath that falling off stuff is the wood frame. It has some very sharp and very strong nails exposed on it; seems they were pulled loose! This was a sure sign that my old cat, Mr. Flame, the 20 lb. Flame Point Siamese cat that I had the pleasure of having for 12 years worked it over good and then some! *eek*

He was doubtlessly the culprit -- the only cat I've ever had that weighed that much (solid muscle btw) that could have pulled the steel nails loose with his giant claws which was my horrific "discovery" re: this sofa nightmare today.



Poor Mr. Flame, he loved to claw so very much and yes, it just makes me sad again just when I thought I was beginning to get over my loss. Oh well, Flame was never yelled at nor corrected for clawing this sofa. I knew it was pointless given his purrsonality (not exactly a Mr. Nice all of the time), but my what a very fine cat he was -- a tribute to his species, the Flame Point Siamese (not sure he was a full-blooded one but he must have been close!).

Next time around (after this slip cover is dead and gone), I suppose I'll be buying a new sofa. As for the late Mr. Flame, the stupid sofa was worth every cent I paid for it even if it had served no other purpose but for Flame to claw the hell out of it when no one was seemingly looking ...

Mr. Flame. May you RIP.

[X_Digger]

8. Niice! n/t

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9. My one remaining cat agrees

She's thrilled, absolutely thrilled! I can't keep her off of the sofa now. I set-up a new little bed on the good end of it for her and she's smitten I tell you, just smitten.

Being she not the "culprit" in this matter I'm not worried about her clawing it as she goes for the cardboard ramps (I have about 5 or 6 of them in the garage ready to go for her should she need a new one).

I must admit I too am "smitten" so to speak. It looks so much better!

I went to a furniture store the other day and they had one sofa for sell only, it was white with huge green stripes on it and it was actually a love seat being pawned off as a sofa.

Thanks for you help and yes, cutting all of that old upholstery off and getting rid of that foam (only to expose nails that look like they've been worked over with a claw hammer) was a very good idea indeed.

I may go further with this. I have ordered a used book from Singer about how to reupholster things. It is an old book and apparently a good resource. Looks like it will tell me everything I need to know/do and it was less than $5.00!

Thanks again!!

[X_Digger]

10. Any time! Another book recommendation for ya?

http://www.amazon.com/The-Furniture-Guys-Book-Lerario/dp/0688137660/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382641855&sr=8-1&keywords=the+furniture+guys

^^ That book is awesome for doing furniture repair.

But you have to say 'horse haahrrr' correctly for it to work. (Inside joke, if you ever watched their show.)

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11. Thanks!

I'm not a fussy person. I'll look for a used copy of this book to add to my seemingly new collection of upholstery books!