HOW TO CLEAN A FABRIC COUCH
It always happens in slow motion. A glass of red wine is knocked out of a guest�s hand. A soggy soy sauce-dipped piece of sushi slips from your chopsticks. A bowl of powdery cheese puffs tips over and scatters. In a matter of painfully drawn out moments, your once pristine sofa looks like a Jackson Pollock painting. It�s time you learned how to clean a fabric couch.
Not all sofa messes are a dramatic event, however. Sometimes they�re just the product of a busy month where cleaning your couch wasn�t at the top of your priority list. We�ve all been there. Whether looking for advice on general maintenance or you need help spot cleaning after a certain toddler decided the sofa upholstery was their personal napkin, we worked with our in-house experts to put together this comprehensive guide.
HOW TO CLEAN A FABRIC SOFA LIKE AN EXPERT
GENERAL CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE
Picture this: your in-laws are coming for a visit. You�ve spent the week scrubbing the tub, dusting baseboards, and buying all of their favorite snacks. After a night of jubilant conversation and the perfect meal, you go to set up the Soma sofa bed. That�s when you see them: the crumbs. You forgot to vacuum in the crevices of the sofa, and now your in-laws can see that they were right about you. This is all to say that regular sofa cleaning and maintenance is crucial to not only elongating your sofa�s life � but yours too.
To avoid these kinds of nightmare situations, make general cleaning and maintenance a regular part of your sofa care routine. Start by vacuuming every two weeks or so. Use the fabric attachment or a soft brush head to vacuum up any of those telltale crumbs, dust, or other dry messes. A reminder: please make sure your vacuum head is clean. Rubbing a dirty vacuum on a sofa you�re trying to clean is the most Sisyphean task.
After you vacuum, take this opportunity to flip, rotate, and fluff your removable cushions. If you want some expert insight into the art of fluffing pillows, check out our in-depth blog post.
DEPILLING
Like your favorite sweater, your fabric couch can experience the annoying phenomenon known as pilling. Tiny balls of loose fibres and threads form when a surface undergoes repeated friction. Although it�s a common occurrence for all sofas, you can limit pilling as much as possible by choosing a high-quality couch. How can you tell if you�ve got durable upholstery on your hands? The Martindale test. It�s a universally-recognized unit of measuring the durability of fabric based on how many times robotic discs can oscillate abrasive materials against the upholstery before it shows signs of distress.
Look for couches with a Martindale rub-test of 25,000 rubs or more. To put that into perspective, Article sofas are typically Martindale tested to withstand up to 100,000 rubs. Go us.
The appearance of pilling makes your sofa look older and more worn than it actually is. Nobody wants that. It�s time for a trip to the salon. Insert fun and flirty makeover montage here.
The first thing you�ll need in order to remove pilling on your sofa? A depiller. This is a common item you can get for around $14 at most big box, sewing, or craft supply stores (New York Magazine shares their favorite model here.)
Start by pulling the fabric taut to ensure there are no wrinkles. If you�ve ever tried shaving a curved area like around your ankle, chin, or cat�s armpit, this step will make a lot of sense to you. Once you�ve done this, use scissors to cut off any longer loose threads. Take your depiller and run it over the surface of your sofa in light, circular motions. We don�t want any nicks, so make sure the depiller is barely touching the fabric. While your first depilling session might be a bit longer, regular trims will reduce the time needed for any future maintenance. Now that you�re done, all that�s left to do is run your hands over your newly soft and smooth couch.
To sum it up:
- Vacuum every two weeks
- Fluff pillows and cushions
- Use a depiller on a regular basis
OUT, DAMNED SPOT: SPOT CLEANING YOUR FABRIC COUCH
Sometimes a member of royalty accidentally tips their glass of cognac onto their host�s chesterfield. And sometimes you bite into your personal deep dish pizza too fast and spit it out onto your white sofa. Both situations call for quick reflexes � and some focused spot cleaning.
The best time to learn how to clean a fabric couch is not when tragedy strikes. It�s right now. The few minutes it will take to read through these instructions now will save you a headache, and heartache, if the worst case scenario happens in the future.
The first thing you need to do is check your manufacturer�s cleaning instructions. They know what�s best for your particular piece, so always follow their care guide first.
For most messes, the following steps will gently but effectively work for your fabric. To start, grab a soft, lint-free cloth or paper towel. Use this to absorb any liquid, whether it�s pizza grease or your prized Merlot. Whatever you do, make sure you don�t blot or rub. Rubbing will only cause the stain to go deeper into the fabric. Leave the cloth on the spot until as much of the liquid is absorbed as possible.
Next, mix a drop or two of dishwashing liquid into a cup of water. We recommend doing this in a lidded mason jar or Tupperware so you can shake it without making an even bigger mess. Shake until bubbles form.
Take your cloth and dip it into only the suds of this mixture. Gently blot the stain, making sure not to saturate the fabric.
Once you�re satisfied with the state of the stain, you�re ready to dry. Either let the fabric air dry or use a blow-dryer on the lowest heat and power settings to speed things up.
If you�ve got an extra stubborn stain on your hands, it�s best to contact a professional upholstery cleaner.
What are your ideas with regards to Fabric Couch Cleaning?
You don't need to invest all your time scrubbing a textile couch clean. With a little preparation as well as creativity, it can be very easy to maintain the comfort as well as pleasure of your couch from being impacted by dust, family pet stains, as well as smells. In order to keep it tidy and fresh scenting, you will need to make sure that you take the adhering to steps on a normal basis.
Smells are one of the most common issue with fabric-based furniture. Whether you have kids or pets, they produce a smell. You can in fact take the odor to the sofa with you when you move it, if it is covered. The more expert firms will certainly remove any type of odors with their vacuum.
It is common for people to have pet spots on their fabric-based furnishings. Pet dog dander can conveniently be gotten by the couch, and also it will certainly remain there for a very long time. If this is the case, you ought to make use of the steam cleaner, which is specifically developed to remove dander. Animal stains can likewise be eliminated with any kind of fabric cleansing solution.
By adding water and also a small amount of bleach to your material cleansing remedy, you can eliminate the discolorations on your couch. This method will benefit any tarnish that is on your couch. You can also add a coat of stain protector on your sofa to prevent any kind of discolorations from coming back after a while.
Before you select the type of cleansing service you will certainly use, see to it that you check out the label on the fabric couch. This will certainly ensure that you are utilizing the best cleaning option for your sofa. Likewise, you want to see to it that you are making use of the proper cleansing option for the specific fabric that you have on your couch.
Some spots can come out with cleaning agent alone. You will require to have the tarnish remover with you when you tidy. On fabric-based furniture, the most effective thing to do is to get a dustcloth as well as use it to clean the discolor. You can likewise index make use of bleach to cleanse the stain. This will aid to clean the stain as well as prevent it from coming back.
Smells that are caused by germs may likewise appear on your sofa. If you have a dirty sofa, you will certainly want to cleanse it as soon as possible. There are some rug cleansers that can aid you with this task.
If you do not have the discolor cleaner available, you can still care for the stain with water and mild soap. When making use of soap, make certain that you utilize a low-toxin kind of soap. Doing so will certainly make the soap neutral, as well as it will certainly not trigger any kind of harm to the furniture.
If you are using discolor eliminator, make certain that you follow the instructions very carefully. A great deal of the tarnish eliminators contain peroxide that can be very harmful to the textile. It can likewise create the fabric to take in the chemicals. If you do not want to try to remove the discolor on your own, then do not utilize the discolor remover on the material.
For stains that are not quite so hard to eliminate, you can attempt applying white vinegar to the tarnish. By getting a plastic scrub brush and scrubing the discolor, you can get rid of the discolor. Although the acid in the vinegar will cause some discoloration to the textile, it can be gotten rid of with detergent. You will intend to wait a number of days for the tarnish to totally dry prior to making use of one more cleaner.
Fabric-based furnishings can sometimes be tough to clean, especially if you have a tarnished couch. If you have actually currently cleaned the sofa a few times, you can use a stain eliminator on it to make it look all new once more. Nevertheless, if the tarnish is really poor, you will certainly need to hire an expert carpeting cleaner to clean it.
Dog hair, pet dog dander, as well as animal hair fibers are challenging to clean if you have a fabric-based couch. When you work with a specialist carpeting cleaner, they will have the ability to eliminate these irritants from your sofa.
I hope you enjoyed our article on Fabric Couch Cleaning. Thanks a lot for taking a few minutes to read our piece. Be sure to pause to distribute this blog post if you enjoyed reading it. I take joy in your readership.