Learn how to clean a linen couch, chairs and more! Whether you have Restoration Hardware furniture or linen slipcovered furniture of any brand, these tips and tricks will make your upholstery care so easy!
While linen can feel intimidating to clean and care for, it doesn’t have to be that way! Learn how to care for Restoration Hardware Belgian Linen and so much more.
It has been quite a few years now since we took the leap and purchased several pieces of Restoration Hardware furniture.
I know some folks thought I was crazy for purchasing “white” pieces, but after giving it significant consideration, I felt confident in our decision.
We wanted timeless pieces that could transition with our style and family, so we were willing to make an investment.
One of the most commonly asked questions I receive is how we keep our furniture so white, so I thought I’d share the details of how we clean our Restoration Hardware linen furniture.
I love RH style and have chatted about other subjects regarding their furnishings before. Be sure to read all about my love/hate relationship with this store, as well as how to seal a Restoration Hardware dining table.
Restoration Hardware Belgian Linen
We purchased Belgian linen slipcovered sofas and dining chairs so that we could easily clean them or if worse came to worst, we could replace them.
We also eventually purchased an upholstered headboard for our master bedroom in Belgian Linen Sand. I just can’t get enough of this warm style and color!
Thankfully, to date we haven’t had to do either! I’ve been incredibly pleased with how easily they spot clean with water. We’ve spilled wine, soda, mac and cheese, had chocolate faces rub against them, etc.
While these tips work for cleaning Restoration Hardware Belgian linen, they will also help you clean any linen couches, chairs, ottomans and more!
I love linen so much, in every area of our home! Read all about our Linen Bedding, too.
At nearly five years, I feel like its time to clean our love seat, which gets the most use. There are no stains, but the arms are starting to look a little dingy overall. I’m a little scared to wash it in fear of the massive steam that will likely follow, so I’m going to start with a mild upholstery cleaner.
We’ve had great success using it on our deconstructed chairs, which have required routine cleanings, the fabric has been less forgiving than Belgian linen.
How to Clean Linen Furniture
- Vacuum. It keeps dust particles out of the fabric, making it appear brighter.
- Soak up the stain with a white cloth by blotting (don’t rub).
- Spot clean with distilled water and a white cloth.
- Use a mild soap, distilled water and a white cloth. (I was told this over the phone from one of the RH representatives.)
- Last Resort – Dry cleaning any linen slipcovers that can be removed.
- Or, machine wash on cold and hang to dry. Note that you should do all pieces in the set so that the color is consistent.
One thing to keep in mind about cleaning your Restoration Hardware furniture beyond vacuuming and spot cleaning is that doing so will remove the protective finish that we’ve come to love and appreciate.
Fabric contracts when washed and dry cleaned. Use a steamer to loosen the fabric and tug.
I can only hope that they’ll bottle it and share it with us someday, but until then, we live in our home and enjoy our furniture.
We don’t live in a museum, nor do we treat our home like one. I am not my mother’s daughter when it comes to furniture, protecting it with a blanket until company arrives.
We have been successful machine washing our linen, steaming and tugging to loosen the fibers. Proceed at your own risk.
Maintaining Restoration Hardware Linen
Linen will wrinkle. That’s the beauty of the natural fibers, and the joy of this casual look! Just like your linen clothes, linen sheets and more, it’s important to be aware of this trait before purchasing.
I embrace the look of linen rather than stress about steaming it. If wrinkles bother you, I’d avoid the linen fabrics because they almost always look less than perfect.
Our dining chairs are always a hot mess because the girls love hiding under them and where the fabric is tailored at the leg of the sofas, we brush past frequently and they tend to curl.
Frequently Asked Questions
Try a baking soda paste! As with many natural cleaning options, a little baking soda and vinegar can go a long way.
First, blot the stain to remove remaining moisture. Then add a little sprinkle of baking soda, moistening with a damp sponge. A little vinegar can help activate the stain removal, as well.
Surprisingly, yes! While this fabric has a delicate look, it holds up beautifully to daily wear and tear.
As with clothing stains, always blot, then gently rub a pasta of cleaning solution into the stain to attempt removal. For linen, try a paste of baking soda and vinegar or a basic dish soap. A mild detergent can also work wonders!
Love cleaning tips? Check out my Folex post to learn why it’s my favorite cleaning product!
If you have Restoration Hardware linen furniture, I’d love for you to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.
You can find even more decor, high end dupes and furnishings inspiration in our Facebook group, Simple Steals!
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How to clean white linen curtains? Belgium…
Those can be dry cleaned!
JUST got my 2 belgium slope arm linen slipcovers back from the cleaners..avoided this major clean like the plague, but since we were leaving town – I thought it could be a good idea… THEY SHRUNK BY 4 INCHES!!! I am not sure what the heck went wrong..but I am sick right now thinking I am now going to need to get 2 replacement slipcovers aka $3000++.
What the heck! Restoration Hardware….it is slipcovered because we need to remove it!! I get slipcovers bc I have dogs and kids and life!!! Unbelievable!!
Yikes! I’m assuming steaming doesn’t help compensate for that much. We washed and ironed ours and had to steam to get them to fit right.
I purchased mine in Belgian Linen for the same reason – dogs, life etc. I washed mine as they became dirty beyond spot cleaning. I called RH before I did this, they said not to dry clean them ( because I thought about that). So I followed the instructions on the inside of the slipcovers. I washed them, gentle cycle or hand wash can’t remember. Laid them to dry. ( bought special wrack for this as my couch is 9ft and I have two chairs) I had to stretch the fabric to get it to fit as mine shrunk also several inches all over. It was all I could do to get them back on and every time since when I’ve needed to clean them. I too tried steaming them to get them to stretch back out, not always helpful. Have tried putting them back on slightly damp, but still requires a lot of pulling ~ so much so I’m concerned I’m going to rip it. Corners don’t line up correctly, can’t get it to fit the back of the chair to pull it down, pipping doesn’t line up correctly, corner stitches holding the skirt corners have come off and aren’t approximated like it was when purchased, sofa cushion is short on the sides leaving inches of gap space that wasn’t there when purchased. I thought these slip overs should have been preshrunk fabric. Was considering calling about it. I’ve had mine for ~ 5 years. Still shrinks every time I wash it. Didn’t spend a lot of $ on furniture for the covers to shrink like that. In my opinion, if it is a bad batch of fabric or an error (fabric wasn’t preshrunk) covers should be replaced at no charge because obviously you cannot wash them – and expect them to fit. If I had known, would have made a different purchase.
Unfortunately linen is challenging because you can’t preshrink it. By nature it changes with washing. What did you use to wash it with?
Oh this terrifies me! Dogs and kids here too! Everything was easy with this fabric until 6 months ago. Now what to! 9′ couch and 2 huge chairs???? The bottom cushion on the couch is Huge!!! Not sure how we could get a cover back on. Dry cleaning shrunk the linen?!
That is EXACTLY what happened to me. So frustrating!
Wondering if RH helped with your situation S I am faced with the same right now and feeling so sad and frustrated!
Julie: our Restor Hardware sofas are a yellow linen/cotton, tightly stapled around the frames. Our darling dwarf rabbit just peed on one (!), and I’m afraid water or vinegar will destroy it/make it much worse. I called Ethan Allen furniture store, and their cleaning book recommends dry-cleaning-type solvents, so I looked online & found Blue Coral upholstery cleaner (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009IR0PQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER), which gets great reviews for this kind of thing. What do you think of it for this kind of job?
Thank you for such timely posting!
I would use what they recommend if it’s their furniture. No one will know their fabric better. There are really great dry cleaning solvents available, I just haven’t personally used them.
Love the idea of getting the cloud in white.. wondering if daily use (from jeans, feet on couch, etc) is noticeable against the material? Doesn’t need to be flawless at all times (what’s the fun in that!?), but in between dry-cleaning the slipcovers, just curious on how noticeable “daily use” is on the covers. Thanks!
We have a lot of indigo denim and haven’t had much of an issue. The sand linen hides everyday “dirt” pretty well.
Has anyone actually washed the Restoration Hardware Belgian linen slipcovers yet. I have a 9 ft sofa I want to wash but want to know if it is going to shrink. Can anyone tell me if they have washed them and how they turned out.
I did and it worked perfect, it just required ironing and steaming for it to fit correctly.
On a 9′ sofa?! Ours needs total cleaning. After 3 years the protection has worn off on the couch and two huge chairs as well. So scared of washing. Did you use cold with detergent? Is dry cleaning safer? Our cleaners says dry cleaning for grease, coldcwask for everything else.
Sorry. Have to add: We have Belgian linen in sand.
I just bought a very gently used couch and love seat in the sand washed linen. I was scared to wash all the covers but figured the worst thing that could happen was nothing. I used a small amount a laundry soap in a bucket and saturated the stains with a soft face cloth. I only rubbed slightly but again, made sure stains were saturated. I took off all the pillow covers and did them in a load together. I have a soak option so I added 2 tide pods, deep water fill and soaked them for 20 minutes. I then added another tide pod and washed  on cold and hand wash cycle. I removed, flattened out wrinkles with my hands and laid to dry on my laundry rack. I did the same process with the cushion covers and actual slip covers on couch. I put cushion covers on when they were almost dry but did put couch covers on right after I took them out of wash. Those were the hardest to get on and straight. It took some time and I would work on it, smooth them out then let them dry and do it again. I am soooo happy I washed them. Almost all the stains came out, they smell amazing and for less than 800 for both I got one heck of a deal. I will probably wash them every year or so just to keep them clean and smelling fresh. I hope this helps someone.Â
Hi Lauren. I came across your post when doing a search for washing RH linen slipcovers. I also purchased my RH sofas secondhand. I have washed all the cushion covers in cold water successfully but I am really scared to wash the frame covers because of anticipated shrinkage. I know that I can probably fit them back on the frames while they are still wet but I’m worried about the length being too short. How did you keep the length from shortening after washing? Did you weight it somehow? Your comment was very helpful to me and is giving me courage! My sofas will really look brand new if I can wash the frame covers. Thank you!!
I used Woolite and steamed to loosen the fabric