If you have cats and dogs running around the house, you may worry about keeping your investment furniture in tip-top condition. While pets are bound to come with a little mess, there are ways to reduce their impact on your favourite furniture by ensuring you’re buying the most pet-friendly option. Here are our top four criteria to consider when choosing a new sofa that will suit both you and your pets…
Colour
We’re not saying you need to perfectly colour-match your sofa to your pet so they’re camouflaged! But if your cat or dog does shed hair, if you choose a similar shade to their coat it will certainly make life easier and mean less hoovering and lint-rolling. For instance, don’t go for a dark charcoal fabric if you have a white dog. Instead opt for beige or light grey. Or if you’re wanting to go bold, colours like mustard and sienna would work better than darker green and blue.
Texture
Some fabrics naturally pick up hair, dander, dust and dirt particles more than others, so to avoid this with pets it’s best to stick to a shorter pile and tighter weave. If you run your hand across your fabric samples, you will be able to feel the difference. This will also help with pets who like to scratch and claw at fabrics as the material will be harder to pull and snag. Make sure to keep their claws trimmed just in case and divert their attention away with toys! Our polyester and Aquaclean® velvets, or our cotton linens are good options.
Follow this same advice for sofa accessories like cushions and throws, making sure to avoid any textural details such as tassels, which will attract chewing and pulling from your pets.
Durability
Rub Count. You may wonder, what on earth is that? Well, it’s a very important number to consider when selecting your fabric, particularly when you have pets that may scratch or rub on the sofa. The higher the number, the more hardwearing the fabric is against abrasion, meaning it will stand up to more use and slow the sofa’s signs of age, so you can have a good-looking sofa for longer!
Any number over 25,000 is suitable for regular use in the home, but if you have a busy household with pets or kids, it’s probably best to go higher. All our fabric rub counts are above this threshold so you can rest assured they’re made for plenty of lazy days on the sofa with your pet. Our highest come in at an amazingly durable 100,000! You can find each rub count listed on our fabric sample pages.
Stain-resistance
Accidents are bound to happen with pets, whether it’s them jumping up with muddy paws after a long walk or toilet-training problems. So it’s vital to choose a fabric that has more resistance to stains or can be easily cleaned. It’s worth keeping in mind that polyester is a naturally more stain-resistant material than cotton, but our ultimate option for stain worries is the Aquaclean® velvet we offer across our Urban Collection. This clever technology allows you to clean stains with only water! You can watch videos of it in action here.
But if your heart is set on a sofa in our Snuggle Collection (without the Aquaclean® option), consider whether the sofa has removable and washable cushion covers and whether it can be dry cleaned.
If you have any burning questions or would like any further guidance get in touch by emailing enquiries@roseandgrey.co.uk.
