The sofa in your living room is exposed to many factors that make it wear and tear faster. You might be very careful while using it, but accidents do happen. Wine spills and mud prints are part of normal life.
The best way of keeping your upholstered furniture in top condition is knowing a few cleaning tips to get rid of unwanted substances that find their way on the furniture.
By working fast, engaging a regular cleaning pattern and understanding the nature of the fabric, you are able to remove stains and spills easily.
Here is how to clean your upholstered sofa
Vacuum the upholstery often
Dirt gives your sofa a rather unpleasant appearance. It also makes the fibers that make the nice upholstery wear off.
To loosen the accumulated debris and dirt, use a stiff-bristled brush or upholstery attachment with your vacuum. To clean nooks and crannies that may be difficult to reach, use a crevice tool.
Cleaning your upholstered sofa with baby wipes
Surprisingly, baby wipes can clean your sofa effectively. However, before embarking on cleaning all the sofas, test a small area to determine whether the wipes are safe for use on the fabric.
Baby wipes are good for polyester, cotton and leather because they contain a perfect mix of soap and water. Place a small travel bag of baby wipes in your living room to help remove accidental spills as soon as they happen. You can clean coffee drips before they have time to settle on the fabric.
Refer to codes while cleaning your upholstery sofa
For the best results, it is good to adhere to what the manufacturer states about their product. If your upholstered sofa is described as ‘W’, it implies that you can clean it using water.
‘S’ implies that you skip water and use solvents such as alcohol and other non-water-based products. Clean your sofa by covering the fabric with a light spray of the solvent, then blot the area using a sponge or clean cloth.
If your sofa is rated ‘S/W’, it means that you can clean it with water or solvents. However, ‘X’ implies that you should only stick to vacuuming.
Avoid scrubbing the stains
You may be tempted to scrub tough stains. Avoid doing this, as grinding the fabric can damage it or push the stain further. Consider applying a stain remover. Let it settle, then blot the stains gently.
For your blotting needs, avoid using a bristled brush or other coarse cloth. Instead, go for microfiber clothes. If the fibers feel stiff after you are done cleaning, loosen the material by using a soft brush.
Removing pet hair
Let your fuzzy friends get cozy with you without worrying about their hair! To get rid of the hair, make use of some rubber gloves. All you need to do is rub them all over the areas littered with hair and static electricity will do the rest of the work.
You can easily vacuum the hair as the resulting current moves all the hair close to the surface.
A DIY solution could also work. Make your very own by mixing fabric softener with water. Spray it on affected areas and wipe off using a clean cloth.