Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Ugly Couch

Exhibit A: Extremely ugly beige corduroy IKEA couch that has lost the stiffness in its cushions.





Now, I couldn't really do anything about the limp cushions, but....


Add eight packages of pearl grey RIT dye, and you get....

Exhibit B!

Cuter grey couch!
c

Oddly approves.

I'd never dyed anything quite so large, and I learned a few things:
  • Do it in smaller batches in the washing machine. I split the cushion slipcovers into two parts and did them in a couple of batches.
  • Before the washing machine drains, set the dial back to the beginning and run it through again for a deeper colour. That way the fabric spends more time in the dye solution.
  • Run your washing machine through with bleach TWICE afterwards. I did it once and then washed something and the water was grey.
Sorry about the crappy photo quality - I only had my cell phone.

2 comments:

  1. It's funny. I googled my couch to get another matching and my exact existing sofa came up as 'ugly sofa'.
    I was laughing pretty hard.
    and then you had the dying idea and I've wanted to do this for yrs! Only I wanted baby or navy blue. Either way i'm gonna use your idea and then try to fix those damn back cushions! Lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's funny. I googled my couch to get another matching and my exact existing sofa came up as 'ugly sofa'.
    I was laughing pretty hard.
    and then you had the dying idea and I've wanted to do this for yrs! Only I wanted baby or navy blue. Either way i'm gonna use your idea and then try to fix those damn back cushions! Lol

    ReplyDelete

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