I have loved the look of white slipcovers for years. However, I was always afraid of the maintenance, but earlier this year I decided to take the risk and invested in four of these chairs and opted for the white slipcovers. However, we use them daily for meals, and with spills and wear and tear, I find myself washing them once a month. To me it’s worth it because I love the look so much.
I’ve experimented quite a bit with how to keep them looking bright white. Last week I came up with a formula that got out stubborn stains and returned them to their original bright and white color, I just had to share it with you.
Up until last month if I was in a hurry I just threw all four of them in the washer, added a cup of bleach, and washed them in warm. Then I found a secret weapon! My neighbor turned me on to this laundry bar. I found it for under a dollar in store at WalMart. However, I couldn’t find it online for that price, but in store it’s a steal of a deal.
To use the bar prior to throwing them in the washer, wet the fabric wherever there is a stain and rub it with the bar. If I don’t have much time for soaking I’ll use the two above products and they come out pretty well….
But here’s the combo that I came up with last week that got them looking brand new! Below are the three ingredients that I used.
I used my new secret weapon laundry bar in two different ways. I spot treated the stubborn stains and then broke off a piece and threw it into the wash with the covers and the rest of the ingredients. The package says to grate it into the water, but I was lazy and just threw a cotton ball sized junk into the water. And adding the 1/4 cup perioxide with the Oxi Clean really activates the cleaning power of the laundry powder. They came out so incredibly white. Here’s the quick reference recipe.
You have to try it, it’s incredible! The other thing I battle daily is keeping our sweet doggies hair off of them. If he walks by and brushes against them, he leaves a trail of hair that sticks to the covers. My house cleaner turned me on to a easy, quick, hair removal secret I wanted to share with you.
Buy inexpensive cleaning gloves, put them on, and rub anywhere on any furniture or fabric, and they attract the hair! That’s it, rub them where ever you see hair, it’s so quick and easy and works like magic. I also found this hair removal brush at HomeGoods, which works just as well, sometimes if I’m in a hurry I use that instead of putting on the gloves. But as you can see we have a lot of white fabric between the slipcovers, and drapes…so if I’m doing a lot of fabric, it also works great on the couch too, I put on the gloves. I think it’s faster if I’m doing a deep cleaning on a lot of fabric.
Click here or on the picture below to see a video of me demonstrating the two different techniques.
I linked the products below for easy ordering.
I used the washing technique on my ikea slipcovers, but as always read the washing instructions on your covers before trying this. Enjoy your bright white slipcovers!