Fair Trade Shopping

Comfort Works IKEA Slipcovers: Made in China, not Australia

Update:  On  4/1/2013 I received a great and detailed email response from the owner of the company explaining that as they grew they did have to move the manufacturing to Hong Kong, but they established their own workshop, manage it, and are going to update their website to provide more clarity. 

Yesterday I shared our new leather couch cover from Comfort Works, the “Australian” company known across the blogosphere for custom IKEA slipcovers.  What I didn’t get into was the disappointment I felt when the cover arrived and I saw it was Made in China, not Australia.

Comfort Works Sofa Cover Made in China | The Borrowed Abode

I read the Comfort Works “About” page, the FAQs, and even their Facebook profile in an attempt to learn about their company before purchasing from them, and I (mistakenly) believed the products were made in Australia.

The Comfort Works Facebook page states “We are an Australian-based and owned online workroom designed to produce custom made IKEA Sofa Covers, Curtains, Pillow and Cushion Slipcovers.”

Australian-based and owned.  That seems to be the key, as now I realize they’re not saying anything about manufacturing, just business headquarters.

In the “About” section of the Comfort Works website, I read “by luck, we discovered family of talented seamstresses with superpowers to turn sheets of fabric into a wonderful pieces of cover. This was the beginning. Every piece of soft-furnishing is carefully hand cut and made with expert attention to detail, within our very own small workshop – that’s right, no outsourcing, nor any use of third party suppliers.”

When I read that, I naively assumed that meant they found seamstresses in, and had their own workshop in, Australia.

So what do I want?

Though I am far from perfect when it comes to ethical shopping, I try to make educated decisions and avoid purchases of unethically produced or Made in China products as much as possible, especially when there are alternatives available.

When I do end up purchasing something Made in China, I like to know I am doing so ahead of time.

I would have liked the Comfort Works website to be more transparent about the manufacturing of their goods, letting consumers know that their workroom and seamstresses are located in China, but that (hopefully) they have taken steps x, y, z to ensure ethical labor practices are followed.

Because Ryan loves his bachelor-days sofa, I still would have ordered the leather cover for him, because he really wanted it.  I just would have appreciated being a more well-informed consumer. The omission of information leads me to believe they have something to hide. 

My email to Comfort Works, sharing my happiness with the product but disappointment in the Made in China aspect, and asking for more information about their production line / factory, has not been answered yet. 

 

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23 Comments

  • Reply Christina @ The Scrappy Housewife at 10:59 am

    When their website says “not outsourced”, it leads people to believe that it’s not made in another country. At the very least they seem shifty.

    • Reply Jane at 11:11 am

      When I re-read their site after the box arrived from China, I felt that way too. I’m definitely confused.

  • Reply Iesha at 3:11 pm

    Hi Jane… interesting, I went to the Comfort Works… well I tried to. The account has been suspended. What do think that’s about?

    • Reply Jane at 4:02 pm

      That’s really weird, I tried and got the same thing too. I have no idea. Probably just a weird coincidence.

  • Reply Amanda B at 4:33 pm

    I live in Australia and anything made here is so expensive generally.. but that was very misleading of them, you have every right to be annoyed and have a right to an answer.

    • Reply Jane at 11:47 am

      Yes, I just feel they should be more transparent about their supply chain.

  • Reply Skooks at 5:00 pm

    I hope you’ll do a follow up post about this if they do ever get back to you. Definitely seems shady.

  • Reply Ainhoa at 5:36 pm

    Oh my gosh, they sent me a cover in exchange for a video & a review post… I had no idea! How could I not have noticed this?! Thanks for letting us know… I’ll have to update the review post.
    It’s too bad… I really like the covers, I wish they were more transparent regarding their practices as well.

    • Reply Jane at 11:49 am

      I really like the covers as well. I do hope I hear back from them.

  • Reply Margaret at 8:46 pm

    The waybill/customs paper says $100 value, not $400. That is probably not too legal. Again, shifty.

    • Reply Jane at 11:49 am

      That’s a good point.

  • Reply Ashley from The Kitchen-Sink Chronicles at 3:03 am

    A shame… this is why so many people dislike major corporations. 🙁

  • Reply Update: Comfort Works Slipcover Manufacturing Details The Borrowed Abode | The Borrowed Abode at 12:34 pm

    […] today I received an email response from Rachel at Comfort Works, the slipcover company that I discussed last week.   I appreciated the amount of detail that they provided, and though they did not ask me […]

  • Reply glick at 3:57 am

    I purchased a slipcover from Comfort Works and I, like you, was disappointed to find out that the cover was manufactured in China.
    Unlike you experience, however, I was not happy with the cover I received. When I contacted customer service to let them know that my cover was not the same “leather” as the sample they had sent, I was told that they had “improved” the material. We ended up with an unusable piece of trash. They would not reimburse us for a custom cover.

    • Reply Jane at 9:11 am

      Oh gosh, I’m so sorry to hear you had a bad experience!! I can see how that would be extremely frustrating.

    • Reply Henry at 1:40 pm

      Hi Mr/Mrs. Glick!
      Wasn’t aware that we actually sent out a different material to our samples because we literally discard all the samples we have every time we have a new batch of material which differs from our previous dye lot.

      Could you please get in touch with us via info@comfortworks.com.au and quote your invoice number, we will do whatever we can to right things up.

      Speak soon,
      Ben Shears

  • Reply Christiane at 3:19 pm

    I too had the unpleasant surprise to realize today that the covers are made in China and not Australia which really annoyed me. Had I known the covers were made in China, I would not have placed the order. Also, the invoice accompanying the package had a value of 109 dollars which resulted me being fined €136 by the german customs… The covers are nice enough but do leave a bitter after taste… In fact I cannot bring myself to use them. For those interested, I have found a Swedish company who does make covers for Ikea sofa and they are made in Sweden: http://www.bemz.com

    • Reply aliya at 11:47 pm

      A Swedish company Bemz make covers in Lithuania, not in Sweden!

  • Reply Andrea at 6:55 am

    I have also been disappointed with Comfortworks covers as the quality and weight of the covers is not the same as the samples. I contacted customer service to be told that fabric batches change and there were no guarrentees the fabrics would be the same. The fit is also lacking. It has left me with a very bitter taste in my mouth. I have ordered covers from Bemz in the past and been very happy. I wish I had read you article and comments before I had ordered!

  • Reply Andrea at 4:10 pm

    Hi I left a comment last night. While I stand by my comments, I respectfully ask that they not be published as I am still negotiating with Comfortworks to remedy the situation. I would rather allow them opportunity to remediate the issue before expressing my disappointment online.
    Kind regards Andrea

    • Reply Jane at 3:31 pm

      Hi Andrea, I’m curious if they ever remedied your ComfortWorks situation. Unfortunately I didn’t see your comments until now.

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