In a fit of madness I decided to put all the cushion and seat covers off the sofa in the wash. Its now started raining, boo, I have no central heating so no radiators to put them on. I really want to put them in the tumble dryer so they can be back on the sofa as soon as, but couldn't find any washing instructions to say whether they would shrink or not.
Should I risk it or am I going to have to light a stupid fire?

I don't think I'd risk it. We lit a fire last night, so you won't be alone!

Lol, glad I'm not the only one with primitive heating arrangements (I love it most of the time really). It's just it's not that cold right now and the burner is so efficient the place will be baking before long! I so should have though about drying arrangements before I put them in the wash.

Theres a good chance they will shrink if put in the drier. You could, if desperate, put them on a low heat so the excess water is dried off but they are still quite damp. Then put them back on the settee. Covers are supposed to be damp so they shrink dry to give a nice tight fit.

Gosh, I'm glad you posted with the tip about shrink drying. I've had them over the fire and they were drying pretty quick, I've just put them back on now and they just fit. If I'd waited for them to dry completely I think they would have burst when I tried to zip them. Thanks guys!

I often wash my sofa seat covers & tumble dry them (on high heat). They do appear to be a little smaller once dried, but they seem to be smaller if line dried too, I think it's due to them shrinking back to the origional size .
Being sat on must stretch them out a bit - the same as clothes, if you put a tight pair of jeans on, in a couple of hours they have loosened up & washing them will take that stretch back out.

My last sofa used to get the covers washed & tumble dried often ( the kids were young- it was cream ) - it had a dry-clean only warning on it, they were always fine.

Just make sure that when washing/drying them the zips are done up and undo/do-up the zips carefully when putting covers back on , as you tend to get loose threads that catch in the zips (washed my covers loads thanks to the dog peeing on them!).

ETA, hubby used to work as an upholsterer, the covers are meant to be a tight fit, there is a knack to getting them back in again.