Follow-up: When Your Nice Things Get Ruined...

A few weeks ago, I posted this blog  about the problem with having nice things- they inevitably get ruined. Well, it happened... our puppy had an accident on our new couch, smack dab in the middle of the cushion. 


Unexpectedly, my husband did not freak like I thought he would, (YAY!) probably because Stewie, our Yorkie, can pretty much do no wrong. In Stewie's defense, he was recovering from a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection), and certainly did not mean to have an accident.


Ok, so your BRAND NEW couch has been soiled. What next? I decided to read the directions attached to the label under the cushion:

• Even though these cushion covers have a zipper, they should never be removed for the purpose of washing.
• When trying to clean a spill, blot, don't rub with water only.

Seriously? While my husband is banishing Stewie to his crate in the garage, I take in a deep breath and remove the cushion. It says not to wash it, but I have to do something! First, I do as they say and try blotting with a clean rag, wet with water. It's not working.... I decided that, at this point, it's already "ruined", so I might as well try some cleaner. First, I put a clean white towel into the cushion cover, so that my spray wouldn't bleed through to the good side. Then, I got out my trusty Spot Shot. I lightly sprayed the spot, and started "blotting", not rubbing with a ShamWOW . After a few minutes, it looked much better, just wet from the spray. I had some errands to do, so I left it to dry. A few hours later when I returned, it was dry and looked good-as-new again! Literally, you couldn't see anything wrong with it. I was AMAZED and so thankful!

I've been using these products religiously for all of my carpet stains for about the last 4 years, but I never expected them to work this well on my brand new upholstered couch. So, if you have a Pottery Barn, brushed canvas, upholstered couch, and it gets "ruined" don't freak out! Try SpotShot and a ShamWow. 

FYI, I was recently at my local PotteryBarn looking for some pillows to help my couch not blend in so much to our unpainted walls :) and the store associate in their design department told me that the upholstery material is the same as their slipcovers, which are machine washable. She said that she had washed her cushion covers, and they came out fine. However, she did suggest that you wash all of them, even if only one is ruined,  because they will fade slightly. I think I'll continue to stick to the method I described above, and only if that fails, try washing them.

Here are some pictures from our new living room. I still need to paint, or at least get some paintings hung on the wall, and find some lamps, but it's finally starting to feel like home! And, it's been a sanctuary for the few hours my husband gets to be there.

 I'll post more pictures as I continue to "finish" this room.