Just Heard on TV: "Forget EVERYTHING you know about Slip Covers!"

[ChoralScholar]

Is there a large perception problem with slip covers that I am not aware of? Common misconceptions?

The commercial ends "We'll change the way YOU look at slip covers FOREVER!!"

Hard up for commercial material I presume.

[ForrestGump]

1. Darn. And it took so long for me to learn it all, too

:-(

[ChoralScholar]

2. I took a class on them in college.

But now... forgotten. Sad, really.

[Heidi]

3. What is Rabrrrrrr's position on slip covers?

Rabrrrrrr is the Lounge's taste and etiquete compass! :thumbsup:

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. As long as they aren't plastic, they're A-Okay!

Assuming we're talking slip covers on furniture like couches and chairs.

A slip cover is a great way to change the color and feel of a room without the expense of buying new furniture, or even to hide shitty upholstery. And the beauty of slip covers is that one's furniture can change color a great many times throughout the year for little expense. I don't have any since I have nice leather that I don't want to cover up, but we used to have a slip cover on our futon and frame which was quite nice.




Plastic/vinyl ones, though - infinitely tacky and most utterly disgustingly horrible. Absolutely verboten, and are a mark of a very unclassy aesthetic. And, oh, I'm sure some people will say "But I have small children who might get it dirty if I didn't have plastic!" to which I have to say not to let your children be on any furniture you don't want stained. That's what my mom did, and even though she had bas taste in color (it was the 70s, so we had lime green, lemon yellow, and orange furniture that makes me shudder to think about), she didn't cover it with anything - and we knew damn well we didn't go near that furniture with food.

That's how you solve that problem.

Our possessions should not rule our lives - if one so fears staining something that one has to adjust one's life to the material thing, then that material thing needs to go, because it rules your life. And putting plastic on it isn't the solution at all.

[Heidi]

8. I am nominating this thread,

despite the fact that your mother apparently eschewed avacado in favor of lime green, lemon yellow and orange. :thumbsup:

(As an aside, I must say that parents who have both "untouchable" furniture and children could use a bit of guidance in the Project Management department.)

Kicked and nominated.

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. I agree with you partially

I think that if parents who have untouchable furniture all over the place, and no "regular" furniture, that's bad.

But we had the good furniture in the living room - that was the only taboo area for food. The rest of the house, including the finished basement where the TV and pool table and recreation was all located, was game for anything. So in that situation it worked, since it was only one room with nothing of interest to a child anyway that was forbidden for food and roughhouse.

But yes, I have seen families/homes in which EVERYTHING ruled the people in it, and the kids had to be careful around EVERYTHING, and the parents were forever gasping and making little noises for fear that their child might spill the milk, drop a cookie, or God forbid, put their feet on the furniture.

That's just awful.

But having one or two verboten areas is just fine, and any child (short of ones with brain problems) can be taught to stay away and be nice to that furniture.

[Heidi]

10. If it's any consolation, I feel the same way

about furniture and cats. I hear so many of my friends (and my own mother) bitching because the cat can't keep his/her claws off of the drapes, leather sofa, etc. Our cat is five years old and is engaged enough in other pursuits that he has never even attempted to claw the sheers (we don't do drapes) or our leather stuff, including the office chair, dining room chairs and my prized red leather reading chair. For what it's worth, we had The Wiley and Excellent Cat Named Ginger before we had nice furniture. No regrets.

[bleedingheart]

11. My mother in law paid a lot of money for someone to cover a sofa in yellow

silk....

she then has a coronary at the thought of anything staining that damn sofa.....so now instead of enjoying this sofa she is a slave to it.

Things wear out as they are used...nothing is more pathetic than getting someone's antique linens that have rarely if ever been used....it is even worse if those linens are just rotting from age...because it was a waste of money to have them to begin with...

I received as wedding gift an entire set of Lenox china...I use it...and if something breaks...who gives a shit...at least I used it.....in fact I use it more the older I get and because I have a dishwasher with a china setting now...

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. Damn right! I use my china a lot, too

I remember my mom - the one of the lime green and lemon yellow chairs and the bright orange wingback chair - pining away for nice china for years. She finally bought herself a set in the early 80s, and got a service for 12, I believe.

Mom died in 2001, approx. 20 years later, and she used that china 3 times, because she was so afraid of damage. And one of those times was a couple weeks after my dad died, when I made a nice dinner for mom and I said, "You have the china, you need to use the china". That was 1994, and it was the last time that china has ever been used.

I'm with you - what's the fucking point of having it?

Hell, I even use my china when high schoolers are over. Gasp!

If it breaks, it breaks - who gives a fuck? it's gonna break someday. Either it breaks because I'm using it (which is why it was made), or it will break when the molecules finally fall apart in a million or so years. Either way, it ain't fucking permanent.

And might my couch get stained? Fuck yeah, you betcha. Or, I could not use it all, and it will fall apart in a few hundred years on its own in storage, never used.

Goddamn, life is only lived once - use the china and drink hot chocolate on the nice couch where it's comfy and relaxing and play with the kids in the grass and don't worry about getting your clothes fucking dirty.

[AllegroRondo]

4. What about those of us who dont know anything about slip covers?

Should I go out and learn something, then forget it?

[Z_I_Peevey]

5. No. I refuse to let go of my slipcover worldview.

I spent a lifetime building it, dammit.

[skygazer]

7. Wow, it's a brave new world out there

One day at the laundromat, I noticed a box behind the counter full of hangers. The slogan on the side said, "A better hanger for every occasion" which got me thinking about hangers, how you could make them better (the ones in the box were the standard metal hanger and didn't look real earth-shattering to me) and whether or not it really qualifies as an "occasion" when you use one.

Advertising is strange.

[bleedingheart]

12. I am a hanger snob...I have come to really love the padded ones

they don't put nasty marks in sweaters or certain types of fabrics...

plus they don't leave marks if you decide to beat your children with them.... ;-)