How to Scotchgard a couch or any other piece of furniture.
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Did you know that you can protect your furniture at home?When I heard that you could do it, I thought it would be hard or messy.
Now that I have done it a couple of times, I can tell you that it is easy, cheap, and fun if you have kids that are leaving you alone for about an hour.
If you don't know what Scotchgarding is, it is a spray on treatment that does not leave your fabric damaged, but it makes it so that if anything is spilled, that spill will not soak in.It beads on top of the fabric.
This is a simple and straight forward way to learn.I want you to know that this is not a project to be intimidated by, even if you don't like doing it yourself.
I bought this sofa a year ago.When I divorced and moved, I lost 2000 square feet of office space so I don't have a dedicated office anymore.
Before the kids let loose on the poor couch, I had to stop dragging my feet and get my Scotchgard on.You can get a can of Scotchgard at Home Depot, or you can add it to your Amazon cart.
The very first thing that you will want to do is clean and vacuum the couch.
If it is an older couch, I would vacuum, wash, and then let it dry before doing anything else.
Unless your couch is clean, you won't get the best result that you could, according to the back of the can.
In a non-conspicuous place on the couch, you are going to want to spray a little bit of Scotchgard to make sure that the spray and your couch get along...which means no color.When it's dry, come back and check it.You are ready to move on if it looks good.
I just used my canvas drop cloth, some masking paper, and tape for the legs and it took like two minutes.I was ready to tackle the whole thing.
Now we breathe!Unless you want to get your whole family high, take a minute and get some good air going.I tried, but I couldn't see that the window is open in the picture.That's right.
It is time to shake and spray.Shake the can of Scotchgard well and then spray lightly in even lines until the whole thing has been covered.The can says to hold it like 6 inches away or something, but that seemed too close for me, so I did between 8 and 12 inches between the can and the couch at all times.
I applied a thin coat to the entire couch, then did more coats on the high-use areas, and finished up by painting the whole couch.I found that it was pretty dry by the time I got back to recoat.
I was a bit skeptical at first, but the bottle says that one can can do one whole couch, and I did both sides of the cushions.I kept coating until the can was empty.It says on the can that several thin layers is better than one thick one.
Before I forget, I wanted to sneak in here and share with you all a few of my other posts.
I left the room and let it dry.I took off all of the protecting tape and paper after going downstairs for a half hour.It may take a bit longer to dry if you live in a place that is humid.
Put it all back together.I'm happy!I don't have to worry about what the kids will do with it in the playroom.
I busted the whole thing out in an hour.I'm pretty sure it only took me that long because I was a bit of a perfectionist.Don't slap it on there.Make sure you apply it evenly.
The can said something to the effect of needing to reapply once per year, which is a bit much, I would suggest every other year at most.
You will want to maintain your couch for a long time.It will save you money over time if you don't replace your couch.This will prolong the life of the sofa.
If you need to protect your outdoor furniture, Scotchgard also comes in a UV protecting outdoor formula, which can be found on Amazon.
There are more than one way to do something, but this is the way that makes the most sense to me.Comment with any other tips that I missed...
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This idea/post was originally posted to this website on January 7, 2017) but was in need of a refresh so it is now more user friendly.
A single mom and lover of chocolate.I always have a project going, free recipe, or tip to share.Click here to read more about me.