The sofa is undoubtedly the most important piece of furniture in the living room. It is big, cozy and immediately attracts everyone’s attention with its appearance. There you can sit and talk with friends or family, watch TV and snack, put your feet up and relax after a long day at work or even take a little nap. If you have pets and you let them jump on the sofa, you can then cuddle with them too. But then you also have to clean the fabric sofa regularly.
Over time, this piece of furniture can get pretty dirty and even smelly. Food leftovers and animal paws leave unsightly stains. Human and animal hair, as well as dust, slowly accumulate in the joints. After all, the sofa feels less comfortable and instead feels pretty gross. If you feel like your beloved fabric sofa is slowly turning into something you don’t want to sit on, then it’s probably time for a thorough cleaning. You do not necessarily need chemicals or special expensive cleaning services. You can also clean your fabric sofa with ordinary household products. In today’s article we will show you easy, effective, quick and environmentally friendly methods on how to make your furniture shine again.
Fabric sofas get dirty very quickly
Clean dust and dirt from fabric sofa
Every cleaning, be it floors, appliances, electronics or furniture, starts with a thorough dusting. Almost every surface requires a different cleaning tool and approach. A microfiber cloth, for example, works wonders when cleaning shelves and devices. Vacuum cleaners are best for floors and carpets. Electronics, on the other hand, require careful cleaning with a soft brush and special spray. Fans, air conditioners and their vents are best cleaned with damp paper towels or baby wipes.
However, neither brushes nor microfiber cloths help to remove dust from upholstered furniture and fabric sofas. Certain baby wipes can even damage the fabric! Dust settles in the seams and edges of the fabric and is very difficult to remove. To remove all the dust from your sofa, armchair or other soft furniture, you can use the following methods:
Wine and grease stains are the most common and most stubborn
vacuum cleaner
There are vacuum attachments on the market that are specially designed to grab into the fibers of the upholstery fabric and suck up all the dust. Of course, this also collects the remaining coarse dirt particles such as food crumbs or dust bunnies. However, for this method to be effective, you also need a powerful vacuum that won’t quickly overheat on this high setting.
Static Electricity
Remember when we learned about static electricity in school? We had balloons over our hair, rubbed a piece of wool or felt, then glued them to our heads, curled hair or a thin stream of water on them. These experiments were not only fun, but also taught the youngsters about static electricity. If you thought back then that this knowledge would never be useful, then you were definitely wrong.
You only need a pair of rubber gloves for this method. Put them on and rub them all over the sofa fabric. Through static electricity, the gloves will attract any tiny dust particles trapped in your favorite sofa. To clean them afterwards, simply wait for the static to dissipate, then simply shake off the dust outdoors.
For particularly stubborn dust, lightly dampen the gloves and repeat the process. Incidentally, this method not only removes dust, but also human and animal hair, which, as animal lovers well know, is particularly difficult to remove from fabrics.
Any rubber gloves can be used for this purpose
As you remove dust and hair from your sofa, don’t forget to do the same for your throw pillows and fluffy blankets. Remove the seat cushions and also clean the undersides and backs. Although these are usually not visible, there could be a lot of dust and dirt underneath and behind them.
Cleaning the Fabric Sofa: Also, don’t forget about the pillows and blankets
Remove stains from fabric sofa easily and quickly
Once your fabric sofa is cleaned of dust and dirt, it certainly still doesn’t shine. You might notice annoying stains or feel an unpleasant odor. Before we continue, we recommend that you look for a small label on your sofa. It should list the type of material and recommended cleaning methods. Manufacturers are now required to add these labels. If you’ve clipped it in the past, you should be able to find information about your product on the manufacturer’s website.
Depending on the type of fabric, the cleaning methods vary greatly. Removable covers, for example, are best cleaned in the washing machine at 30 degrees. Others, however, should not be exposed to this common method and must be hand washed. If you’re unsure whether or not a cleaning solution will attack the fabric of your sofa, simply try it on a small patch on the underside of a seat cushion. If the fabric fades or discolours in any way, then it is better to buy a special cleaner or opt for professional sofa cleaning. Here are a few proven household cleaning products that can work wonders when cleaning a fabric sofa:
You can easily clean your fabric sofa yourself
Homemade stain remover
All you need is a spray bottle, 3/4 cup warm water, 1/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon dish soap. You can also add a few drops of essential oil of your choice if you wish. Shake well to mix, then spray onto stains and rub in with a brush, sponge or microfiber cloth until stain disappears. Rinse with a little water, blot with a dry cloth and allow to air dry.
If the stain persists, simply repeat the process again. You can also increase the amount of vinegar. Never use apple or wine vinegar, colored washing-up liquid or essential oils on light colored sofa fabrics as these can leave stains. For white fabrics use white vinegar and rubbing alcohol from the pharmacy in a ratio of 1:1.
This spray is well suited for almost all fabric furniture
Homemade odor eliminator
Sometimes stains are not the problem or they are simply removed but an odor still remains. To remove unpleasant odors from your sofa, simply cover the affected area or the entire sofa with a light layer of baking soda. Rub the powder in with a brush and then leave it on overnight. Don’t forget to block your child or pet’s access to the room. After the baking soda has sat for a few hours, simply vacuum it up.
Yet another use of baking soda
Homemade sofa deodorant
The method outlined above should remove all odors from your fabric sofa. If you want extra deodorizing, simply fill a cloth pouch with baking soda or activated charcoal and dry aromatic herbs. Mint, lavender, rose petals, lemongrass, rosemary and cardamom offer strong and lingering scents. Tuck the sachet under the seat cushions and change it occasionally as the aroma wears off.
Relax with pleasant scents around you
This is how you can effectively, quickly, easily and cheaply clean your fabric sofa! If you do it right, your furniture will end up looking brand new.
