EKTORP with Custom Dyed Slipcovers – 2 colors!

One post about two EKTORP getting custom dyed slipcovers. Love the bold bright colours! ~ Jules

Tiffany’s indigo

custom dyed slipcovers for IKEA EKTORP

Materials: IKEA Ektorp 2+2 sofa with white slipcover

I’ve always been a white slipcover girl, but now that life is full of the wonderfulness of kids, pups and husbands, I had to move on. I wanted the comfort of the fantastically affordable ektorp 2+2 sofa, WITH the feel of the 100% cotton slipcover, but in a color that IKEA didn’t offer, so I dyed the slipcovers myself, and it was a success!

I used 12 bottles of RIT in Navy Blue, which is actually a beautiful indigo color. And indigo is such a fantastic color to have in the home! I did the entire process in our top loading washing machine. I used 5 bottles to do the base cover, and 7 bottles to do the 11 cushion covers. I let each load sit in the dye bath for 45 minutes, then ran the cycle through to the end. After that, I washed each load with detergent twice, so that I could be sure no dye remained.

Next up: our white slipcovered ektorp chairs!

More details here. Enjoy! 🙂

~ Tiffany

Tina’s fuchsia

custom dyed slipcovers for IKEA EKTORP
custom dyed slipcovers for IKEA EKTORP
custom dyed slipcovers for IKEA EKTORP

This was a white cover for an IKEA Ektorp chair that I dyed fuchsia. I was so nervous about getting the color right and that the dye would stain my washing machine. The color turned out exactly the way I hoped and my washing machine didn’t permanently stain.

I used liquid RIT dye that I purchased at Albertson’s grocery store. RIT has a great website with recipes for many custom colors. My exact color wasn’t on their website, so I guessed a bit. I knew the slipcover was about 7lbs (shown on specs on IKEA’s website) and so I bought 3 bottles. My mix turned out to be 2 bottles of purple and 1/2 a bottle of cherry red. 1 bottle of RIT is good for 2 lbs. of fabric.

I set the washer to the largest load setting. First I washed the new slipcover then I removed it from the washer. I then filled the washer with hot water, added 1 cup of salt, 2 bottles of purple dye and half a bottle of cherry red. I stirred this with an old broomstick for about 2 minutes before I added the wet cover. Then I manually stirred the cover around in the dye for about 5 minutes before having the washing machine agitate the cover for 30 minutes, then let it drain and rinse and spin.

Put the cover back on the chair while it is still damp and let air dry. It will also tighten as it drys.

Enjoy your custom chair!!!

~ Tina Stiff