PINTEREST ROUND-UP: THE WHITE COUCH DIARIES
This post includes everything that generally happens when someone is considering buying a white couch. Blood, wine, kids, dogs, fighting with loved ones. Whenever I think about trying to convince someone to buy a white couch, it usually plays out like that scene from A Beautiful Mind where Russell Crowe is frantically writing mathematical equations on the window. He's coming up with all these algebraic reasons (for buying a white couch) and nothing is making sense, so he bangs his head against the glass and starts bleeding. Then his friend yells at him and says "It's not my problem!" and throws a desk out of the window, and they start laughing hysterically about the laws of gravity and white couches and immediately go out and buy a charcoal grey couch and open a bottle of red wine (that last part was mysteriously cut from the movie).
You know how white couches have this special ability, almost like an anxiety inducing super power, where they send people into a pre-purchase panic? All of the reasons why an entire life could fall apart are usually present in the white couch conversation. For example, "If I buy this white couch I could spill wine on it and end up homeless and living in a dark alley and I won't even be able to sell it for a down payment on a new apartment because it will be so stained and dirty. My whole life could fall apart. I'll go with dark grey. Then I can meet the person of my dreams and finally get that promotion." And, if a white couch didn't make sense before dogs/kids because of wine and potential homelessness, the dogs/kids are usually the excuse why it can NEVER, EVER happen now.
Well, this post is here to ease that anxiety. Consider it the Calcium Magnesium of white couch conversations. First, I am going to post pretty pictures to look at (see below), and then I am going to say that white couches can be cleaned. It's True! And then for the big finale, I am going to spill a little secret that if you lose your job it's not because you bought a white couch, and that bleach is really not the answer, nor is it the Macaulay Culkin to a white couch's Anna Chlumsky, or the other way around because the white couch could eventually die from bee stings/bleach poisoning. It can be used, but it is better to just listen to the album Bleach while curled up on a white couch with the dogs/kids drinking a glass of red wine. R+W
Cleaning Tips For White Couches: For slip covered couches made from canvas cotton, denim or linen, unzip the covers and remove them from the cushions, make sure to zip them back before washing to protect the shape. Pre-treat with your favorite laundry spray. Wash on cold using a gentle detergent with a pre-soak and extra rinse. If any stains remain, you can use a diluted bleach solution and a q-tip to remove. If this is needed, wash again. Dry on a rack or hang and use a blowdryer, do not dry in the dryer. Put the covers back on when they are slightly damp, so they form back to the cushion/frame. You can always have the covers dry cleaned if you prefer. If you have a velvet couch that is a pure velvet dry clean only. If the velvet is a polyester blend, or of the crushed velvet variety, hand washing in lukewarm water with a delicate detergent will work. You can use a gentle cycle in the machine as well, with cool water and a delicate detergent. Hang to dry. Use a velvet or upholstery brush to brush the fibers back into place. White Leather can be cleaned using car polish (yep) or with a baking soda and water solution. Dip a rag into either solution and work leather in a circling motion until clean. Then wipe down entirely and air out (if you used the car polish) before re-use. For Polyester or Micro-fiber white couches baby wipes are perfect for spot cleaning. When in doubt You Tube is a lifesaver, and you can always call an upholstery cleaning company to come out and do the job while you take a much needed nap.
1. Coco Lapine 2. Skonahem 3. Nicest-Interiors Tumblr 4. Coastal Living 5. Design Sponge 6. Cutout 7. Domino 8. Vosges Paris 9. 1st Dibs
