Pet Friendly Sofa Guide

What Should You Look For in Pet Friendly Upholstery?

Pet friendly upholstery should help manage both everyday wear and mess. For homes with cats or dogs, look for a smooth, tightly woven fabric that reduces opportunities for claw snagging and is durable and easy to maintain.

Fabrics with a high polyester content can provide good durability and make regular cleaning easier, while water- and stain-resistant finishes can help with spills, wet paws and other pet-related mess.

No sofa fabric is completely scratch-proof or stain-proof, but these qualities can make a sofa more practical for everyday life with pets.

What Fabrics Should Pet Owners Be More Careful With?

Fabrics with pronounced loops, loose weaves or highly textured surfaces are more likely to catch on pet claws and become damaged over time.

This includes many bouclé and loosely woven fabrics, where claws can catch and pull individual threads or loops away from the surface.

If you have cats or dogs that regularly use the sofa, it is generally best to avoid these fabrics and choose a smooth, tightly woven fabric instead. If your pet does not scratch, climb on or sit on the sofa, fabric choice may be less of a concern.

Is Pet Friendly Leather A Viable Option for Pet Owners?

We previously offered and tested pet friendly leathers, but found that it performed worse than our pet friendly fabrics.

After discussing this with our sofa factories and leather suppliers, we reached the same conclusion: pet friendly leather is generally less scratch resistant than tightly woven pet friendly fabric.

If your pet rarely uses the sofa, pet friendly leather can still be considered. Otherwise, we generally recommend a smooth, tightly woven pet friendly fabric for better durability.

Match Sofa Upholstery Colour to Your Pet's Fur Colour

Pet hair is more noticeable when it strongly contrasts with the sofa colour. If your pet sheds regularly, choosing upholstery in a similar tone to their fur can make loose hair less visible between cleans.

Lighter upholstery tends to hide light-coloured fur better, while darker upholstery is generally more forgiving for darker coats.

Removable Covers Make Pet Damage Easier to Manage

For homes with pets, we generally recommend fully removable covers as a useful fail-safe. If repeated scratching damages the fabric or a pet accident leaves a lingering odour, you can replace the covers instead of the entire sofa.

If you want to wash the covers, our pet friendly fabrics are best dry cleaned, as machine washing may cause the backing layer to become detached. Some customers do machine wash them, but we recommend doing so with caution using the lowest spin speed and fastest soaking time.

Flexible Seat & Back Cushions Make Cleaning Easier

Pet hair, crumbs and dust often collect in the gaps between sofa cushions. With loose, removable seat and back cushions, you can simply lift the cushions out to vacuum and clean these areas more thoroughly. This is much harder to do when the cushions are fixed in place.

If pet urine penetrates the sofa covers and soaks into the foam, it can leave a lingering smell. If the sofa is designed with loose, removable cushions, replacement seat and back cushion infills are available for purchase from us, so you can replace only the affected part instead of the entire sofa.

Consider Climbing and Perching Behaviour

Cats often perch, climb and jump onto sofa arms and backrests. For cat owners, we generally recommend thick armrests and a substantial back frame, which provide a wider and more stable surface for this behaviour.

Low Sofa Legs Help Keep Cats From Going Underneath

Some cats like to crawl underneath sofas, where they may scratch the fabric or base frame from below. In more severe cases, they may even reach and damage the foam or other internal parts of the sofa.

For cat owners, we generally recommend sofas with low floor clearance to make it harder for cats to get underneath and cause this type of damage.

Reapply Water & Stain Resistance as It Wears Off

Dogs tend to bring more dirt, moisture and everyday mess onto the sofa, so water- and stain-resistant upholstery is especially useful for dog owners.

The protective treatment on pet friendly fabrics can gradually wear down with regular use, often within around 6 months to 1 year depending on usage and cleaning.

When you notice liquids absorbing more quickly instead of beading on the surface on the sofa fabric, consider reapplying a suitable fabric protector to restore water- and stain-resistant performance.

Choose a Low-Profile Sofa If Your Dog Uses It

Seat height is generally a more important consideration for dogs than cats. Cats can usually access higher sofa surfaces more easily, while smaller, older or less mobile dogs may find a high seat more difficult to get on and off.

If you want your dog to join you on the sofa, we generally recommend a lower-profile design to reduce the amount of jumping required. Pet steps or a ramp can also help where needed.