FIX Ektorp sofa inner covers

I bought a Ikea Ektorp sofa after seeing its "10 year warranty" label. It took only 2 years for the cushion's inner white covers to start to tear . The cover is probably made from "non-woven polypropylene" a clothlike plastic material that I feel should not be used in sofa, because it disintegrates after a couple of years. I called Ikea for an exchange but was told that the "10 year warranty" only covers the sofa frame. 

This post is about fixing/ repairing the inner white covers. At first I used masking tape (see photo below) to cover up the small tear, but on the 3rd year more just keep popping up. 

Looking to recycle items in the home, we picked a unwanted Ikea lacy curtain sheet as a cover for the cushion, folded it and sewed it up, see photo below.

This repair is "good" for only a few more years and you really should buy a new sofa soon. My sofa was placed indoors away from any direct sunlight yet the "non-woven polypropylene" inner cushion cover starts to tear after 2 years. I managed to use this sofa for another 4 years before abandoning it after the frame's inner covers also starts to peel off (see photo below), it is just too much work (and money) to fix it further. You could cover the whole sofa with more natural and long lasting fabric like cotton (a crop that uses a lot of water), but the plastic cover (non-woven polypropylene) will still be underneath it. It is probably disintegrating into micro-plastics that could slip through the cotton cover. As the fan blows air around the living room, I imagine the micro-plastics might even go airborne? 

The external covers for this sofa is sold separately - I bought two sets of external covers so that I can wash and change them often. These covers are very sturdy (seems to be made from polyester rather than non-woven polypropylene) and will likely last for 10 years. 

Giving customer a 10 year warranty that covers only the sofa frame, implies that the designers already knew that the cushions and inner covers, will not last for 10 years. I also can't seem to find any search results about sewing torn covers for Ektorp, this may suggest that no one has ever used it for a full 10 years? If I'm wrong, and you have used it for 10 years with little or no repairs, please do let me know.

It is the first and last time I bought an Ektorp. Nowadays whenever I buy a sofa, I will examine the covers' materials closely, and will not buy sofa with "non-woven polypropylene". 

FIX broken telescopic rod antenna on pocket radio

The antenna tip on my Panasonic RF-P50D pocket radio broke off (accidentally sat on it), exposing a hole in the antenna rod, with sharp edges. This post is about fixing/ repairing the hole with sharp edges, see photo below. 

I happened to have a screw that seems to fit the hole's width of that specific segment of the telescopic rod antenna, that broke off. This is pure dumb luck; I cannot remember where did this screw come from. You should try to get a screw that allows some rotation into the hole, I only got about 1/4 of a rotation, it fits tightly such that to remove it I would need to use a piler, can't do it with my finger grip strength. If you can't find such a screw, I reckon you can try the small screws used for mounting hard disk drives inside computer towers. If the screw is too loose, you can consider applying a bit of super glue when the rod is fully extended. Don't put too much glue, in case when it dries up, the antenna rod cannot be fully retracted. 

With the screw tightly in place, I can pull/ push it to extend/ retract the telescopic rod without worrying about the sharp edges, see photo below.

If your telescopic rod antenna is totally broken into pieces, you can also purchase the entire antenna rod at online shopping websites like Shopee and Lazada, see screenshots below.

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