Ms. Nancy's Nook : Save That Couch!

Do you have a fabric couch, chair, and/or love seat? Does your fabric couch collect countless lint balls? If so, you can identify with my dilemma. Try my tips to get your couch fuzz-free!

When I bought my couch, love seat, ottoman, and recliner several years ago, I was so excited to get to choose the style, the color, and the fabric, along with the pillow fabric. I really like the country look, so I chose accordingly.

I was told that I had made a great choice, and that the fabric I chose (an olefin fabric) would never wear out. What the salesman did not tell me, however, is that the fabric would soon be covered with lint and fuzz-balls!

Lint on my couch - yes, it does resemble snow!

I tried vacuuming, but the lint wouldn't come off. It was stuck tight! I couldn't pull it off by hand, that would take forever!

It tried this d-fuzz-it tool. It's great on sweaters, but it wouldn't work on my couch.

My husband bought me this battery powered Remington shaver, but again I had no success! It would take off a little of the fuzz, and then the batteries lost charge fast!

Thank you, Charlie, for trying!

Next I tried this black block. It's like black styrofoam, and it worked better than the other methods. The problem was: it is very hard on the hands, fingers, and wrists! Also, little bits break off as you rub it on the fabric, creating quite a mess!

I tried to get others involved in helping to de-fuzz the couch. Grand-kids Mia and Alex helped for awhile, but they thought it was too difficult, also. (Yes, I did reimburse them for their trouble!)

When I complained about the couch, others in the family tried to convince me that it looked okay, and said just don't worry about it. Still, it bothered me.

When I was visiting at my son Joshua's home, I talked to a professional couch and carpet cleaner about some tips. He said his company does not remove lint from olefin fabric. If he cleaned it, he said it would look the same when completed. He said removing the lint is so labor intensive, it would be cheaper to buy a new couch than to pay someone from his company to remove the fuzz! I must say I was disappointed at this point and thought about buying a new couch.

When I returned home, I bought another Lint Remover that was supposed to be super charged. After reading the package description more closely, I found out it was recommended for sweaters and not upholstery. I returned it without opening it.

I got on my computer and researched lint removers and came up with this model that I ordered from Amazon:

Home-it Fabric Shaver Clothes Shaver Lint Remover Electric Cord and Cordless from Home-it

I found out that it's better to get an electric lint remover because the batteries lose charge so quickly. This one is electric, but you can also use batteries.

Why do I like the Home-It Fabric Shaver so much?