How Durable Is a Micro-fiber/ Micro-suede Sofa?

We have a dark green one and LOVE it! My baby is always spitting up on it, and we get ofther stuff on it, and I just use a baby wipe, and it comes right up, not a single stain on it. We have moved a lot so its gone in and out a lot of doorways, no rips. would recommend

Leather is the best for kids and dogs. We've had a leather couch for 9 years and everytime people come over they comment on how it still looks new. We have a dog that sleeps on it. 2 boys under age 7 and I ran a day care in my home for 3 years. EASY to clean, pet hair doesn't stick and looks great. The only downside is that leather can be cold.

We have tan microfiber in the playroom and I do NOT love it! It doesn't stain, per say, but there are obvious places where my youngest (15 months) has drooled on it! I have cleaned it with a steam cleaner and any "stain" comes up, but it gets water marks easy, hence the slobber marks. I would not get microfiber again.
In our family room, we have chenille couch and it has held up very well! It is a dark tan and has other colors woven through it. I have not had any problems with slobber stains on it.

love our microfiber sectional - very durable and we picked a caramel sort of color.

I vote leather. MUCH more durable and easy to keep clean.

We have 2 sets.... the family room set that is 11 yrs old and still looks great and the formal area set that was custom made and about 4 yrs old...still looks brand new and yes we use the formal area.

I have 1 teen and 3 dogs. Can't say enough about the ease of leather.

We had a brown microsueade sectional in our living room, and it did pretty well! Cleaned pretty easily, and took jumping from the kids like a champ.
Only downside of the sectional was with all of the jumping, the sections would slide apart sometimes.

Check the fabric and make sure it is machine washable. We had one we bought because it was supposedly so easy to clean. It was our first microfiber couch. It was a disaster!!! And a HUGE waste of money!! Four months after purchasing it we sold it on craigslist. It was not machine washable and every cleaner, even the stuff the store gave us, left water marks. It always looked dirty and stained. It was really awful. I decided I would never get another couch made of microfiber. Wouldn't you know it? The ONE couch my hubby and I both liked only came in microfiber. Since the store had a satisfaction guarantee in writing (I would have to pay a restocking fee, but it could be returned), I conceited, especially after talking to the sales person. This one could be washed and dried in the machine. It could be wiped with a cloth. She even showed me in the store. I reluctantly agreed and this time I was VERY pleased. We love the new couch. It's microsuede, which is microfiber with a suede appearance. Over a year later and it still looks new. I can wipe up spots or if it's a big mess, throw the cover in the washer. I learned after the fact that the tags are labeled S, W or SW. S - solvent cleaners only (other cleaners leave a water mark) W anything water based or SW - solvent or water based. I believe this couch is marked SW. Just shop carefully. After the first incident I would have said "Never again!", but now with two kids, potty training and a 100 lb dog who climbs up when we aren't around, I can't imagine using anything else.

We did one of these that was similar way back when they first came out. It was HORRIBLE. We had cats then just like now and their back feet would make little holes when they would jump on and off. We've never had issues like that with any other couch with normal uphostery (sp?)

We have a red microfiber sectional from RC Willey. We've had it for 6 years, during which time I've gone from 1 to 3 kids who are now 7, 5 & 3. Our couch has held up extremely well through 3 rowdy kids (2 are boys). The shiny spots and water marks that people have mentioned do happen, but they are so easily cleaned up, we haven't minded. If you are a perfectionist, it may bother you - but I look at my couch & unless I'm really up close & looking for stains, I can't see them. They are very light & blend in with the differences in the nap of the fabric, which makes the fabric vary from light to dark. I'm fairly picky and it doesn't bother me at all. I give it a touch up every few weeks and I've had it professionally cleaned a couple of times, which makes it look just like new (shiny spots all gone). It has been great & very forgiving with kids...it has even survived permanent marker a couple of times (it left a small mark, but within a few months, it was gone). Great & economical way to go, but not completely maintenance free. I would definitely do it again with small children.

We have two sets that we bought from Sofa Mart, and we LOVE them! They are so comfy, and we've spilled many times over the years. They clean very easily. Our DD uses our couch as her playhouse, so it gets plenty of wear.

On the other hand, we bought one from American Furniture that tore and wore out very quick. I think it may depend on the quality of the couch to begin with.

Micro-suede and micro-fiber STINK!! We bought a couch with the micro-fiber and we didn't even have kids yet and it all got shinny and dirty and disgusting looking. The piping got shinny and then wherever you sat it got yucky looking and eventually stayed that way. We had bought a dark brown couch. It still showed the dirt. We got rid of it between our 1st child and the twins. We got a leather couch and that lasted a long time! I am all for leather with a family.

I have an off white, micro-fiber sectional and I hate it! It has seams unraveling, an unreal amount of pilling of the fabric, bare spots already, and I can't get it clean anymore. This was a high dollar item from a reputable store and I bought the insurance that would replace anything that went wrong. They claim everything is "normal wear". It is now just over one year old.
We are empty nesters with a declawed cat and a small very lazy dog. I had my carpets professionally cleaned yesterday and asked them to do the sectional as well. They refused to do it, saying I would not be pleased with the results. They also recommended to make sure my next set was not microfiber.
My last set of furniture was a beautiful brocade that was 15 yrs old and still looked great when we passed it on to kids. Unfortunetly, my disability required a change of furniture. I began having a great deal of difficulty standing up from the old set.

I had a microfiber couch and it was easy to clean but got kinda dingy after a while. I had a roommate that was not the most careful with other people's things, or her own. Long story. JC Penney has a couch that comes with stainguard and if they can't get the stain out they replace it. I would recommend something like that. We bought our couch from costco and it has the stain guard on it. If you want something durable then I wouldn't go with the microfiber, especially with kids and a dog. Get the stainguard and use wine away whenever possible that stuff is great on dark stains.

We have a microfiber couch. It is not hard to clean, but it gets dirty very easily. I have two tweens and a 4 yr old. I have cleaned it once in the two years we've had it and it needs to be cleaned again. I clean it by hand with upholstery cleaner and a cloth.... on tough stains I used a scrub brush... and it held up just fine.

Me and both my parents have microfiber. I have a 4 and 7 year old and it does great. You can scotchguard and should scotchguard anything you buy.

We have had our dark brown set for 6 years and absolutely LOVE them. We have a 4 year old, 2 dogs, and a cat, They are super easy to keep clean and very durable. Once my daughter decided to use one as her "drawing board." I googled and found that hand sanitizer gets ink out, it worked beautifully and there was not mark left. I HIGHLY recommend.

I've had a micro fiber sectional by signature by ashley for literally 5 years.. we have a 2 year old, pets etc and this thing still looks amazing. It lost it's "suede" but it still looks great and is SO comfortable.. go with a dark brown, we've had baby puke, cat vomit and so many other things happen to this poor couch and it's been so easy to clean and keep up. Way cheaper and more comfy than leather!

We have 2 love seats and a chair in our family room that are used by our 3 & 6 year olds all the time. Ours are a hunter green kind of a color if I had to call out a color & they are all Micro Fiber. We have had the furniture for 7-8 years now and it's held up very well. It's been spit up on, bottles have dripped on them, we allow our kids to eat snacks on them and drink on them too and having said all this, I am kind of a neat freak. We did have the extra 5 year protection spray put on the couches and had the company come out once when I couldn't get a stain out. They were able to get it out. We did not pay a ton for the furniture because I like to get my use out of something I really like, but not get in trouble from the hubby when I decide I want something new down the line.

I vacuum it to make it look nice (with a handheld tool) or you can literally wipe your hand across it to make it look nice and fresh. I had to put one cushion cover in the washer once and was certain it would be doomed. I tumbled in the dryer for a few and let the rest air dry and good as new.

I would absolutely get Micro Fiber again.

We have a microfiber set and it's has held up remarkably well. With a good wash down and vacuuming it looks practically new again, and it's nearly 5 years old!
Considering we have 8 children age 12 and under, as well as two dogs, that is REALLY saying something!!
We got ours from Ashley, and went with a dark brown. I am glad we went dark, though snot shows up more easily. Bonus there is it is easier to see to wipe off. :) I'm sure you can imagine what kind of wear and tear comes with a houseful of a lot of small children! There are a couple of spots on the arms of the couches that are getting kind of a shiny look from having been washed so many times, but it really isn't noticeable unless you are looking closely.
We also have a faux leather sectional in our family room and that poor thing has not held up as well as we'd hoped. It actually made me really glad we didn't make the investment in real leather. Scratches show up fairly easily and I am one of way too many people who have had someone puncture furniture with keys in the pocket.

We've had a taupe colored microfiber couch from Crate and Barrel for 5 years and it's a godsend. Just bought the matching swivel chair last year because the couch held up so well. We also have a microfiber platform bed from Pottery Barn. Love it. There are various levels of quality of microfiber, so my advice would be to study the quality and company that you are purchasing from. Any type of thin fabric will tear eventually. As for stains, there is no better fabric out there.

P.S. we also have a dog and cat; no issues at all in that regard, either.

I think the really big "draw" for microfiber furniture for people who have kids, is that it's generally inexpensive to buy and you can at least TRY to clean it yourself--as opposed to other fabrics which can never get wet.
For my money--leather has been the way to go. Nothing is easier to care for than leather furniture!