Best sofa material for house with dogs?? (odor, cross, keep)
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My leather is 17 years old and would look like new were it not for some frame sag on the large sofa. I have never found it to be uncomfortable and it is much easier to clean than fabric. Ugly? Guess it is a matter of personal taste.
Top Grain Leather is very dog friendly......I was afraid about scratches....one of our dog has really strong nails.....the sofa seems to be very resilient....not a single scratch or blemish....the other dog is a real nester....but when on the leather....she doesnt do that.
From what the sales lady told me.....top grain is the strongest.....I didnt know that they split a hide and get three layers and the second and bottom are less strong.
Contrary to some peoples opinion....the leather couch is the coolest seat in the house in the summer.....the dogs tend to gravitate to it like they do to the tile floor in the mud room.....and in the winter it is warm ..... I love it. Perhaps some people would prefer an artificial synthetic fabric......but I am enjoying the leather couch......and it is beautiful.
huh! learn something new every day..... had NO idea what top grain meant.... just figured it was some sort of marketing term for the leather sofa industry....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Narfcake
Not only is there split leather, but more recently, there's also "bonded leather".
Fancy name for scrap, though, because indeed that is what it is. It's the scraps of leather that's blended with polyurethane to offer an appearance of leather, but with none of the durability, as the surface is all plastic.
huh! learn something new every day..... had NO idea what top grain meant.... just figured it was some sort of marketing term for the leather sofa industry.......
Top grain is the best quality because its the thickest leather. I love our overstuffed leather couch and chair in our family room. We did pay extra to get top grain & I'm glad we did. I just treat the leather about once a month to keep it clean and in good condition. We had microfiber before & no matter how much I vacuumed it, I could never get all the dog hair off!
We have microfiber and it has not stained but it or the cushion holds the smell. After repeated accidents and cleaning with enzyme the sofa has funk. Smell is like a dirty vacuum bag. So microfiber covering is durable but the cushion absorbs the pee and the smell starts. We've had it 5 years.
I'm looking to change to good quality leather. The cheap leather scratches easily.
I live in a condo with my 1 1/2 yr old Shih Tzu that loves to sit on the furniture and I have a microfiber sofa. While the sofa cleans up well the self whelp stays dirty and gross looking. I also have 2 shelties (granddogs) that like to come and stay on the weekends. I have a leather ottoman and plaid club chairs that look great. Not sure I can do a leather sofa with the leather ottoman. Any suggestions?
We have microfiber and it has not stained but it or the cushion holds the smell. After repeated accidents and cleaning with enzyme the sofa has funk. Smell is like a dirty vacuum bag. So microfiber covering is durable but the cushion absorbs the pee and the smell starts. We've had it 5 years.
I'm looking to change to good quality leather. The cheap leather scratches easily.
I understand what you are going through. We have microfiber and it always looks like we have small kids. OdorBand for pets (Home Depot) helps with the funk but the smell never truly goes away. Its in the cushion wrap. We tried soft leather and yes it scratches bad. Look at Macy's the have clearance centers ( they are closing a lot of stores across the board and liquidating) Hard leather is the way to go all the way around if you can afford it. Its pet and kid friendly.
Your husband is supposed to keep you warm...get a quilt and snuggle up. Train the dogs to stay off the furniture.
There's no magic fabric that will hold up 'well' to a couple of 50 lb dogs. Yes, the leather will show scratches and the microfiber is probably your best bet but in a short amount of time it will still look like you have dogs on the couch.
I agree about the fabric.
What we do, instead, is add a cover to furniture that dogs are allowed on. On the couch downstairs, which they are freely allowed on, we have a canvas cover AND a dog blanket over the couch. Both can be thrown in the washer, and neither is important if it gets damaged. And, they are easily replaceable, altho I haven't had to do that yet.
I have a microfiber sofa, love seat, and matching chair, all of which I purchased when I had two dogs who weren't shedders. They've since gone on to their great reward and now I have a wonderful dog who is a shedding fool. In spite of all the latest and greatest grooming tools, she still spews hair everywhere. And she's not the type who would be shaved.
So I got throws from one of the mail order catalogs that we all get in the mail - can't remember whether it was Kimball, or Carter, or just which one, but one of them. I got a sofa sized one, a love seat sized one, and a chair one. They're made of a washable lightweight twill-like fabric. It's been a great solution. The label said "dry clean" but I throw them in the washer and dryer and have had no problem at all. I vacuum them before I put them in the washer, though, to get off a much hair as possible.
I've also put a fleece throw (got 'em on sale at Ross) on each piece of furniture so that she can do all her rooting and digging on those. And the furniture hasn't picked up any smells or stains, but then she is a very tidy dog - doesn't roll in unspeakable stuff or anything like that.
So far, so good.
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