How do I cover sofa corners that my cats have destroyed?

Question

I have a sofa and a matching chair in a light brown chenille.  My parents gave them to us.   Our cats have destroyed every corner of both pieces. It the rest of the pieces are still nice.   I know it my fault. It I need to get creative here.  Help!!!

Jodi · Answer

Not sure how extensive the damage is but you may have to resort to hanging afghans over the parts the cats got too. Afghans can also help to keep the cats from getting to the 'scratching post' corners to begin with. I have 2 cats, one who has 24 claws! Neither have clawed our furniture. No clue why. One is 4 and the other is almost a year old. We do have several scratching posts and cat condos. Now to be honest, I have a small church pew in my front hall that the outside edge of is pretty worn down from being clawed!

Pogonip nevada · Answer

I recently read a post by a blogger who cut out the bottom of the seat cushions and used the fabric to patch the shredded areas. It looked really nice and who ever sees the bottom of cushions anyway?

Mae Robinson · Answer

If it is against the wall where no one sees the back you can cut a piece of the fabric and make a patch....I did.

Barbara R · Answer

I used iron on patches that I found in the fabric depts of stores. I matched the color perfectly (get the extra large). Be careful not to get your iron too hot, or it will melt the couch fabric around it, using a med hot iron and just the tip of the iron to first go around the edges, then do the center. It worked great and nobody noticed and you won't have to cut into your cushions or sew anything. The cat won't come back and scratch it because is it slippery material. I ended up doing that in all 4 corners, but it was worth it and easy!

Laurie Powell · Answer

I would make some pretty toss pillows. Or buy them if you don't sew. Then use matching fabric or take a couple pillows apart to use the fabric. Hem the edges, use Stitch Witchery, if you don't sew. I use those screw in upholstery tacks to attach it to the furniture. BEFORE this happened to me I put heavy clear vinyl to wrap around the corners & used the same upholstery screws. The clear makes it nice because you can't really see it! I hope this helps!

861650 · Answer

How To Train A Cat: Purchase a small squirt gun. These things sometimes leak so I set it in a small bowl. When the cat starts to scratch, squirt them really, really good and say, 'no, no' in a firm voice. (do not use their name) when doing this. Keep a paper towel handy to wipe up water. You must be consistent. Do it immediately or they will not understand. Hope this helps.

Marc Fisher · Answer

If the damage is close enough to the bottom edge of the sofa heres what we do at My upholstery shop. Unstaple the black dust cover on the bottom of the sofa about a foot each direction from the damaged area. Then unstaple the upholstery fabric about the same amount. You can do this with a ice pick and needle nose pilers(We use a staple removing tool) Pry the staple up with the ice pick, and pull it out with the needle nose.
Then pull firmly on the fabric and stretch it to where to damage is past the staples. Restaple the fabric, then the dust cover. You can get a hand stapler form lowes or home depot. Of course, we use a professional pneumatic stapler. You may have to unstaple more fabric to get the desired result. Of course the very best thing you can do Is replace the damaged section with a piece of the original fabric. If no original fabric is available we also us the back of the sofa to replace damaged pieces then replace the back with sommething as close as possible. Its not rocket science to do this correctly .

Wanda sinnema · Answer

depending on the style..... if the damage is on the arm,, find some fabric to coordinate,,,, make a patch to cover it on both ends and sew on . find someone who does this sort of thing....,,,,trick is to MAKE SEVERAL THROW PILLOWS of the same fabric.. so it has a coordinated look..... ULTRA SUEDE is often a good option..

Wanda sinnema · Answer

also cats DO NOT LIKE DOUBLE FACED TAPE.....you can put some on the corners to prevent clawing .....another TRICK,,,, put a bit of high powered cayenne pepper on a damp paper towel,,, pat a bit of it on the area you want them to keep away from.. they won't go back once they have licked it...also works for the YARD and dogs too..

Ann1145578 · Answer

I will be interested in trying at least one of these remedies. The squirt bottle has done absolutely no good. I think the double sided tape sounds like a plausible solution. Also, a slip cover may be our best bet, because the cat has clawed all 4 corners of the sofa. Thought about using a permanent marker the same color as our brown leather, but there's still the shred problem.

Gigi · Answer

Thank you so much for all the great ideas.  It was very helpful.  
Gigi

Barbara Valenti · Answer

My cat was de-clawed!

Tina Hill · Answer

de-clawing a cat is equivalent to chopping off the last digits ( where your finger tips and finger nails are ) of a human's hand .... I do not recommend it and in some states it is illegal . it causes arthritis later in life and messes with their normal gait , hurts like hell , can get infected while healing and may cause a complete change of personality in your animal . that sweet kitty may suddenly begin biting folks because their first line of defense is now gone . 
 My cat is afraid of the dog training clicker , all we have to do is show it to her and whatever mischief she is up to comes to a screeching halt . Now about your furniture , They make stretchy faux suede form fitting slipcovers in all kinds of colors and patterns. Most are machine washable or dry cleanable and fit like a second skin on the furniture . for the times when no one is home we use double sided sticky tape ( in the cat section of our local walmart) and have an abundant amount of scratch friendly items in the livng room for our kitty to claw , when we first got her ( she had spent the first half of her life in a shelter cage) we had to train her to claw the scratch pads , so treats were a big reward when she was a good girl .... now if we have been out , when we walk in she makes a HUGE point of running to scratch pad and showing us What A Good Girl she is and that is our clue to treat her . The water gun trick works as well if you put a wee bit of vinegar in the water .... if they have to clean them selves repeatedly for being spritzed with vinegar for naughty behavior they will put 2 and 2 together and stop doing the naughty things ... not too much vinegar but enough for a bit of aroma to it ... don't drench them either , just aim well . Good Luck

Lmo32676695 · Answer

my upholstery folks added stiff plastic corner guards (like for wall edges) and cut down an secured to the edges. works fabulous. i picked up a few more to finish some other spots. works for me

V Smith · Answer

If you want to replace the fabric you can harvest some new fabric from the back of the sofa and then replace the fabric on the back of the sofa with something close to the original.

How do I cover sofa corners that my cats have destroyed?

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