Available now in a choice of 15 beautiful colours, there is everything from vibrant lilac, passionate purple, cool natural, capaccino coffee right the way through to ravishing mulberry and even masculine black .

You simply won’t be able to stop yourself from stroking and touching – the feel and handle really is just so soft. Here is a comment from one of our consultants:

I had my first order in this fabric today and could the customer leave it alone, would she eck! She kept stroking it on her lap as if it were a cat! At this rate we will need new books as they’ll become bald with all this stroking. I’m going to get a pair of trousers made in it if thats the effect it gets!!!

Best of all though is the outstanding washability. Most fabrics lose their life and body after a visit to the washing machine. The new luxury cord velour comes out looking brand new, fluffy soft and vibrant. With no shrinkage, this fully washable fabric is quick dry making it practically perfect for a busy home.

Right now, the cost of covering any chair is £159 while a sofa is either £289 or £339 depending on the sofa size. Save even more by covering any sofa plus two chairs at just £599.

You will be impressed and tempted to cover your sofa and chairs in this brand new luxury fabric from Plumbs. Find out what all the fuss is about by requesting a visit from a Plumbs local consultant. They’ll bring the fabric to your home!

Request a visit here…

Offering an alternative solution to replacing a tired sofa or chair, Plumbs loose covers are hand crafted from start to finish and made to measure, which means that they look, fit and feel as good, if not better, than the original upholstery. Plumbs even offer co-ordinating curtains!

From on-trend botanical prints and opulent purples and deep reds to countryside-inspired florals and natural fabrics, Plumbs diverse loose cover collections offer something for everyone.

If your furniture is over ten years old then re-upholstery could be the perfect way to bring a well-loved sofa or chair back to life. Re-upholstery allows you to keep all the original features of your existing furniture, including the shape, comfort and style, but in a brand new fabric.

Plumbs upholstering services range from standard recovering to complete reupholstery including any wooden features, studded work and button backs.

Read More Here…

However, the slouchy, ill-fitting look some sofa covers create means living rooms may look more shabby than chic. But a snug-fitting cover in a modern design can transform a plain room into a stylish one, with little cost or effort.

Made to fit a variety of sofas, chairs and ottomans, loose furniture covers come in a range of colours and patterns to suit different decorating styles.

“With sofa covers, you can protect your much loved peice of furniture from wear and tear, your little angels and hairy four-legged friends,” says Chris Plumb.

There have also been many other additions in fabrics in the last 12 months including cut velvets and soft chenilles. Velvet covers are now one of their best selling fabrics and available in 25 colours.

Save Our Sofas gives you advice and ideas of ways to keep your old sofa, giving it a new lease of life, or provide environmentally friendly ways for disposal if it is beyond repair.

Plumbs, along with Save Our Sofas believe every sofa deserves a long life in a good home.

Watch the new Plumbs TV advert here.
 

Although there are plenty of local and even regional companies in the market, Plumbs is the only manufacturer of fitted furniture covers to offer a nationwide service. Each week about 25km of material is converted into more than 1000 made to measure loose covers for armchairs and sofas.

Started some 45 years ago and still owned by the Plumb family, this Lancashire factory has over 300 staff on the payroll. But this is only part of the story as there are another 150 self employed consultants who deal with customers in their homes. Consultants show customers fabric samples and photographs demonstrating the different fabrics on offer and generally giving advice on the available options. After agreement is reached, the consultant measures up, sends in the details and will ultimately fit the products once complete and shipped.

With over 1000 orders a week to process and at least 200 designs and colourways to contend with, it follows that holding stock of raw material is hardly practical. Instead, Plumbs uses its experience to forecast the likely demand for each fabric and colour alternative which it then passes on to its four major and 16 minor suppliers. It takes around four to six weeks to process an order, from the moment measurements come in from the consultant to the point of delivery. The first stage of the process is to check the measurements and set up the documentation. During this time we expect the material to be delivered from the supplier just in time to go straight onto the Lectra cutter.

In a process still very much dependent on skilled sewing machine operators, of whom the factory employs more than 70 plus a few other machinists installing zips and making-up valances, there is a limit to how much automation is possible. But over the years Plumbs has invested heavily in state-of-the-art automatic cutters from the French manufacturer, Lectra – machines that even ten years ago had a £100,000 price tag. “We have worked closely with Lectra for 15 years,” said production director Arthur Diamond, “and now have seven of their cutters. Because each order is unique, every job has to be cut single ply, but even so our productivity in this area has risen enormously.”

It’s not as simple as saying the Lectra machines have made a four-fold improvement in productivity as savings at the cutter need to be offset with time spent in the firm’s drawing office working on CAD systems to feed the cutters with digital data. But, overall costs and training timescales are down, plus, by using a computer to arrange the numerous pattern pieces on the fabric, maximum material utilisation is being achieved.

One of the biggest problems Plumbs has is appealing to a younger market. When they think of Plumbs loose covers, many people think of the brown knitted stretch fabric on granny’s favourite chair. However, with the continuous development of polyester knitted fabrics, a high quality cover with little stretch is now available with all of the easy-care benefits and they still account for 50 per cent of sales. But nowadays there is much more interest from the market in cotton fabrics which has seen the Traditional Cotton brand grow enormously.

For those customers who want a tighter fit from their covers, but without going all the way to re-upholstery, Plumbs is busy building a network of what it calls ‘technical designers’. So far there are 155 of these independent re-upholstery specialists who receive firm orders, generated in the normal way, but who make the covers to much tighter tolerances. Rather than have the field consultant measure up, details are passed to the technical designer who takes his own measurements.

There is an increasing demand for full re-upholstery which Plumbs now offer as a service throughout the United Kingdom.

Plumbs has a terrific reputation, as a completely dependable, friendly, family run business. An obvious extension to the loose cover range are curtains; not the imported, ready made variety, but rather a top of the range product complete with a full design and fitting service. Currently, curtains such as these account for around twelve per cent of the total sales which includes our internet curtain ordering service.

The life of an order in the Plumbs factory can be seen here 

 The January 2009 Country Living runs a great article ‘Recycled Chic’ on page 27. The essence of the feature is about finding and restoring interesting furniture tracked down through charity shops or ebay.

You may not need to trawl through ebay looking for ‘elegant upholstered pieces simply in need of new covers’ as Country Living journalist Caroline Reeves suggests. Take a look at what’s already in the family. Now picture that interesting old couch transformed with a new fabric outer and looking just like new. How would it look in your living room. It’s worth considering.

 Good Housekeeping January 2009 edition number 1 tip on page 66 – “Expert updates on a credit crunch budget” is….yes you’ve guessed it….”Give your threadbare sofa a new incarnation by shielding the shabbiness with removable washable loose covers.”

Who am I to argue with Good Housekeeping journalist Samantha Trapp.

Best wishes one and all for a very Happy Christmas and remember, if it’s all starting to look a bit tired and worn in the new year, just follow the advice of the home magasine experts and consider loose covers or reupholstery to breathe new life into the look of your home.

As time goes by daily life can cause stains, damage and wear. It’s important to know how to remove, clean and refit.

However you may not need to remove and wash your covers at all. By using arm covers and following the tips below, you really can keep that showroom finish.

How to keep the showroom finish for years and years:

• Loose cushion covers can be rotated regularly and reversed to give even wear.
• Plumping up the cushions regularly helps to keep the covers looking full and fitted.
• Regular redressing of the loose covers can really help in maintaining appearance. This includes straightening the seams. Any excess fabric can be tucked into the pockets between the arm or back and the seat area.
• Keep out of direct sunlight. Fading is unavoidable on any fabric exposed to direct sunlight for long periods.
• Accidental spills can be spot cleaned very effectively if you are quick. It’s a good idea to do a test in a small area which isn’t visible.
• One chenille and velvet fabrics, the pile will flatten with use. This can result in a ‘shaded’ area where there is contact e.g. on the arms. This is normal with this type of fabric but vacuuming with a brush attachment can help.

Top Tip: Vacuum your covers regularly using a brush attachment. Accumulated dirt in the fibres can cause wear.

How to machine wash your covers:

• Use a colour enhancing liquid detergent.
• Check the wash label in the covers just to check that they can be washed. Some heavyweight fabrics are dry clean only.
• Typically the correct temperature is 30 degrees C. The same is true if hand washing.
• Lightly spin or line dry cotton covers.
• Run a cool iron over cotton covers while damp.
• Polyester covers should be dried on the line and do not need ironing as they are almost always crease free.

Top Tip: A good tip is to wash all components of the cover at the same time. With all that fabric this may be easier said than done.

How to re-fit your covers:

• Remove all loose cushions. Find the sewing label and stand at the back.
• If there is a zip undo it. Pull the cover down over the back until the cover fits snugly along the top edge.
• Continue to pull the cover down over the arms and seat base tucking in firmly where appropriate. There is usually a gap between the arm or back and the seat base. If the covers have piping, make sure the piping sits correctly on the arm scrolls.
• Pull down and smooth the fabric and make sure the valance sits straight at floor level. Close the zip if there is one.
• Finally pull on the separate cushion covers and make sure the piped edges are straight, and replace the cushions.

Top Tip: The sewing label is almost always at the back of the cover in the centre. All that fabric can seem a bit daunting. Stand at the back of the chair or sofa, find the label and it will soon fall into place.

If Loose Covers are damaged:

• If snagged threads are caused accidentally on stretch (polyester) fabrics, draw them through to the reverse side i.e. so the thread is on the inside.
• Arm covers are a great help to protect and prolong the life of covers.
• If the damage is serious be careful to make sure that any replacements are colour matched to other covers. You may need to send a sample.

Top Tip: Avoid sharp objects – If you have cats try and discourage them from scratching. There are a few products available and some good advice at catscratching.com.