Everyone faced the problem of cleaning the sofa upholstery . When drinking drinks or during a meal on the couch, you can accidentally spill coffee, juice or drip with fat, as a result of which its attractive appearance is completely lost. Therefore, everyone should know how to clean the sofa from stains using improvised tools at home, because calling a master, replacing upholstery or buying new furniture will be quite expensive, and if you leave the stains as they are, this can create a favorable environment for the appearance of various bacteria and microorganisms.
General tips and tricks
If you are interested in the question of how to clean the sofa from stains and smell, then before you consider specific methods, you need to talk about what it will take, and also discuss general tips and tricks.
First of all, you need to prepare an arsenal to combat pollution and unpleasant odors that accompany them, which includes:
- sponge for washing dishes;
- brushes with bristles of various stiffness;
- liquid soap or special detergents;
- napkins.
When the improvised products are prepared, it is necessary to think over your further actions: with what washing and cleaning agents you will remove certain types of stains, as well as which brushes you will use. When removing fresh stains of light pollution, it is better to use soft sponges and mild detergents, and to clean the sofa from old stains, you will need more effective washing shampoos designed specifically for upholstered furniture. Next, we will consider the main types of sofa upholstery and types of pollution, as well as the main methods of dealing with them.
Removing stains from natural and artificial leather
How to clean a sofa from stains and stains from genuine or artificial leather? This material practically does not absorb dirt and other substances, so a piece of cloth dipped in plain water is enough to clean this material. For complex contaminants, you can use the old method, based on the use of beaten egg whites, which are applied to the place of contamination. A very effective way to remove dirt from leather furniture is milk. And if your child left marks on the furniture on the furniture, then alcohol will help get rid of them.
Cleaning a sofa with velor upholstery
To clean the sofa from stains at home with velor upholstery, you will need microfiber and a special solution, the preparation of which does not take much time. It is necessary to dilute a tablespoon of vinegar or liquid soap in one liter of water. When removing stains from velor furniture, you do not need to rub with great force, as this can damage the fabric itself. And in case of very severe pollution, it is better to refuse self-cleaning and use the services of cleaning companies that have special equipment and detergents at their disposal.
Removing stains from shaggy skin and suede
Furniture with suede upholstery looks very attractive and is in great demand, but it collects any dirt very well, so many housewives have a question about how to clean a sofa from stains with suede upholstery. To do this, you need a sponge or brush with soft bristles. Fresh contaminants that do not have time to penetrate deep into the tissue can be very easily eliminated with table salt or an alcohol solution.
Cleaning tapestry sofas
A very common question is: "How to clean a sofa from stains with tapestry upholstery?" The whole difficulty of cleaning this material lies in the fact that moisture must not be allowed to enter, since it leads to the tapestry changing its natural color. Therefore, any contamination must be removed using an exclusively dry method. However, the problem is that not all types of contaminants can be removed using dry cleaning, so in some cases you still have to use mild soap solutions. In this case, stain removal should be carried out exclusively with the help of foam.
So, now you have a detailed idea of how to clean the sofa from stains with various types of upholstery, as well as what it will take. Now it's time to talk about what types of pollution are and how to deal with them. Most often, people leave spots on the upholstery of their sofas from the following products and substances:
- tea or coffee;
- urine;
- beer;
- wine;
- fat;
- blood;
- ink.
Let's take a closer look at the main methods that answer the question of how to clean the sofa from stains left by each of the products described above.
Fighting tea and coffee stains
The upholstery contamination left by spilling coffee or tea is controlled with ordinary household soap. The contaminated area is wetted with water, after which the place of contamination is rubbed with soap. Next, you should carefully walk along it with a sponge or brush and leave it for a while, then rinse with water.
Removing blood stains from furniture
Despite the fact that pollution of this origin is extremely rare, nevertheless, everyone should know how to clean blood stains from the couch. First of all, the contaminated place is wetted with a copious amount of ice water, after which it is rubbed with laundry soap. This method works great with fresh spots that have not yet been able to soak into the upholstery and dry. However, what about older dirt? In this case, it is not so easy to remove it, but the problem is completely solvable. You will need to dissolve 2 tablets of aspirin in one glass of very cold water and treat the contaminated area with the resulting solution, intensively wiping the stain with a soft sponge.
Another effective remedy is saline. To prepare it, you need to dilute two tablespoons of salt in one liter of warm water. This solution must be thoroughly moistened with dried blood stain and left for one hour, after which it will be possible to wipe the stain with cotton.
If your furniture is upholstered in bright colors, vinegar will help to get rid of blood without a trace, a tablespoon of which should be diluted in 250 milliliters of water. Acetic solution is applied to the contaminated place and left for some time, after which it is rubbed thoroughly with household soap. After some time, it will be possible to completely eliminate pollution with the help of ice water.
Removing stains and odors from urine
It is quite simple to clean the sofa of urine stains, which cannot be said about eliminating the persistent smell, so you will have to tinker a lot with this type of pollution. If the stain was recently left, then first you should remove urine from the upholstery with a paper towel as best as possible. You can also dry the place of contamination with a hairdryer. The next step in eliminating urine stains will require a soap solution. To prepare it, you need to dilute two tablespoons of shampoo in one liter of warm water. This solution and a soft sponge carefully treats the contaminated area, and then it is dried. You can get rid of the smell with a light manganese solution, and when eliminating the stench with light upholstery, an alcohol solution is suitable.
Wine stain removal
If you accidentally spilled wine on your sofa, the first thing is to remove all the liquid from the furniture as soon as possible in order to prevent its further spread through the upholstery. Further, the area of contamination is sprinkled with rock salt for 20 minutes, which perfectly absorbs moisture. After this time, the stain is wiped with a soft sponge dipped in vodka. If stains remain on the upholstery after cleaning, soap foam will help to remove them.
Beer upholstery cleaning
Stains from beer on the sofa upholstery, as well as from urine, are eliminated quite easily, but the whole problem is a very strong unpleasant odor. If you don’t clean the sofa from spilled beer in time, then it will be impossible to get rid of the smell yourself without special equipment and cleaning products.
If you just spilled beer on furniture, then first you need to soak all the liquid with a paper towel, and then dry the contaminated area with a hairdryer. Next, the stain is treated with an acetic solution, which, as previously described, is prepared. This solution will not only eliminate the stain from any upholstery, but also completely kill the smell.
Removing greasy stains from upholstered furniture
If you happen to accidentally drop food on the couch while eating, which left a greasy stain, you must sprinkle it with starch, soda or rock salt and leave it in this condition for a short while. In the meantime, prepare a cleaning solution. To do this, dilute in one liter of hot water a little detergent that you use to wash dishes or washing powder and stir vigorously until a foam forms. In this solution, moisten a soft sponge and intensively wipe the stain until it completely disappears, then rinse the place of contamination with water and let it dry.
Removing ink from the sofa upholstery
A very common type of contamination of furniture upholstery are marks from a pen and marker. Many people think that it is impossible to remove them, but in practice, everything is not so bad. Any ink is perfectly removed with alcohol and any solvents. Wet a small amount of cotton wool or gauze in acetone and thoroughly wipe the contaminated area of the upholstery. This method allows you to completely remove ink traces left for a long time, and in the case of fresh dirt, an ordinary eraser, which certainly is in every person’s house, can help.
Now you know the methods of cleaning the sofa that are useful in everyday life.