Testing Pottery Barn Performance Fabrics

As I think maybe all of us do at some point in our lives, I wanted a light, neutral sofa and can I dare say I wanted a “white” sofa? Scandalous and scary, right?

I have loved them since the shabby chic days. I loved the idea of being able to pull off those slipcovers and throw them in the wash. The problem was that my husband didn’t like that look and so we pretty much had us a 10-year staring contest over this one. Of course, I’m kidding, but this is a subject that would pop up once or twice a year and we would always come to the same conclusion. Our lifestyle (with first young kids, then teens, etc.) just didn’t lend itself to having a white sofa. And there was always something else that the money needed to be used for.

Now that our kids are grown and out on their own, things at our house have changed a little. But let me tell you sweet, gentle souls.....grown-ups spill too and in fact, we spill more than I’d like to admit! (haha) Our spills are more epic and usually involve coffee with cocoa in it, red wine or a random blackberry or blueberry. Pretty scary stuff, huh? On top of that, we’ve now added a pet to our household.

Things I had to consider were: 1) we like to sit in our living room to have coffee in the mornings; 2) we like to have a glass of wine in the evenings; 3) we may have charcuterie snacks or dinner sitting in the living room; and 4) we have this sweet, long-haired kitty that is white and ginger and sheds like crazy. I did say he is sweet, right? He is very sweet and cuddling so he’s so worth putting up with all that shedding hair. Although my heart would also love a deep green or navy velvet, the fur would have driven me nuts. So, through serendipitous changes in our lives, I’m finally going to get that white sofa. 😊

I’m also very determined to not change our lifestyle because of that white sofa. We are going to live in our house and if someone brings a baby, or dare I say a grandchild enters the picture, and a diaper gets loose, well…I’m not going to lose my mind over it.

The first thing I did when we got home was tape all the samples I liked on the wall with painter’s tape.

My first few choices in fabric were lovely linen or light gray tweeds. When we visited my sister in North Carolina we went to the Pottery Barn store in person. My sister is an interior designer so she spoke designer lingo with the Pottery Barn designer. She very privately encouraged my sister to steer me away from the fabrics I had selected. She said there had been feedback that they were not holding up as well as they’d like.  She sweetly pointed us in the right direction and gave us tons of samples to test when we got home.

We also wanted some leather side chairs so we had to also choose the color of leather. We had our living room painted just before the pandemic so I wanted everything to flow but I also wasn’t married to it. We could still repaint if necessary.

I even tested Coco’s claws on the leather sample to see how tore up I’d be if he scratched it! 😂

Doug and I both were leaning towards the ivory fabric sample. So, I set about testing the ivory fabric. I first mixed coffee with cocoa powder in it and poured it on a sample, next was a tablespoon of red wine, then I took a big, fat, fresh, juicy blackberry and rubbed it in the fabric. And if you can believe this, I went out and got some of the reddest dirt I could find and mixed a little water with it to make some mud. Here’s a picture of each one.

I cleaned the stains up right away and was amazed at how just simply blotting the red wine completely eliminated it. The white cloth literally pulled it right back up off of the performance fabric!

I then left all of the stains on the fabric overnight except for the blackberry. I was so horrified by how that looked that I had to clean it right away and I have to say, it came out like a dream.

In fact, when I worked on the stains the next day, I was shocked at how easily they all came out. Now keep in mind, that I can take the cushion covers off and wash them in the washing machine so anything super serious could be dealt with immediately.  

I was given specific instructions on how to clean these fabrics. These are straight from the sales rep at Pottery Barn so you can guarantee this is the gold standard for cleaning their fabrics:

  • Use only white cloths/towels and have an old toothbrush handy 

  • Treat as soon as the stain is created, but if you are testing, then let it sit a day so it’s good and dry 

  • Immediately, blot with cloth 

  • Pottery Barn recommends their PB cleaner but if you don’t have it 

  • Use a little clear dish soap and add a little water 

  • Apply and let sit on stain for a couple of minutes 

  • Blot with cloth and may need to use an old toothbrush to lift areas of stain (I only used the toothbrush on the blackberry because I really ground it in) 

  • You can actually apply dish soap on the spots and then run warm water over the sample and soak it 

  • Experiment with Spray & Wash too 

  • The PB rep also tested ink and had to use a toothbrush to lift the ink stains 

  • If you use a cleaner like Spray & Wash, make sure afterwards the area is washed with the dish soap and warm water, then warm water only and blot over all the cleaned area with a dry cloth 

I have had my sofas for about 5 months now and we haven’t had any major spills yet. There have been a few dirty spots here and there but everything came up with just a damp white cloth. I am very impressed with Pottery Barn performance fabrics! So, this is your sign to get that white or ivory couch if you want it! 😘

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How I Selected my New Pottery Barn Sofa