How to Stop Sofa Cushions from Slipping with Velcro Tape

Here I show you how I stopped our IKEA Friheten sofa cushions from slipping with a PR sample I received of heavy duty Velcro tape. This is a 1 minute fix and I compare it to standard stick on velcro I already owned.

We've had two IKEA sofas now and to be honest, I haven't been very impressed with them. The cushions have always needed plumping and the IKEA Friheten leatherette is far to slippy for words.

However, we loved it as a sofa bed while borrowing our brother in law's apartment in Spain a couple of years ago. Then by chance, we stumbled across it in IKEA one day when we were looking for a new sofa for our living room.

We've now had it nearly two years and the cushions are always slipping off.

So, we've been working through our house snagging list and I thought I'd test the *very small* Heavy Duty PR sample I got of some Velcro tape.

I'll be honest, when they said they were sending it, I thought I'd get a roll to work with. And two patches isn't much to work with. You can buy it in larger quantities of course.

But I didn't even have enough for this. I needed one more patch, so I reached in to an old bag of ordinary stick on velcro tape I'd bought on ebay. So I can talk to you about the difference.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A REGULAR STICK ON VELCRO TAPE VS HEAVY DUTY?

The difference I read was the heavy duty strap is meant to hold a 7kg weight. The ordinary one is for 300g.

Obviously if you can add a few stitches, even by hand where possible will reinforce the strength.

The heavy duty strap was far more sticky with a slight gummy feel. I could tell it would be difficult to remove. The ordinary one came off the cushion and stayed on the strap when testing.

HOW TO APPLY A VELCRO TAPE TO A SOFA CUSHION

First, divide your velcro tape from loop to hook.

Stick your hook part of the velcro tape and stick on the sofa where your cushion will lie. Make sure it won't be visible.

I also liked how to black blended in with the sofa.

Peel the other section's sticky paper covering off and apply it directly on the first part.

Now gently position your cushion where you want it, then push hard on to the velcro tape.

This will stick to the back of the cushion.

You may want to add some stitches where possible, but would never sew in to the leatherette section. If you can run the cushion cover under the sewing machine, even better.

I then had to use the ordinary one, repeating the method above. As a test, however, I removed the cushion after and it peeled off the back off the cushion.

There doesn't seem to be much issue, however, as the weight will always be pushing against it and not down.

It would be more beneficial to use a much deeper velcro tape strip and one that's continuous. And perhaps two strips, one above the other.

📖 Printable Card

PIN THIS VELCRO TAPE HACK FOR LATER