DIY Upholstery Cleaning at Home | The Leather Laundry

Upholstery Cleaning – DIY At Home

Who doesn’t find comfort in a clean and cozy sofa? A couch that smells fresh and clean is like sipping a cup of calming tea, warm and soothing. So what happens when, as it is wont to happen, you accidentally spill something on your sofa? Or your favourite couch or recliner starts getting dirty with age? Or your couch is so full of dog or cat hair it can almost qualify as a family pet? Do you hire someone else to clean up your sofa? Maybe have it all together reupholstered? That could cost you quite a tidy sum. Why not learn how to DIY it?

First things first: read your couch’s tag. It will tell you what can and cannot be done to it.

• W means you can use water to clean it
• S means do not use water to clean it
• WS means either water or solvent based cleaners won’t harm your couch
• X means no water or solvent, vacuum only

Now with that in mind, you can start! For cloth upholstery cleaning:

1. Vacuum your couch first. This will get rid of debris that might harm the fabric of your couch.
2. Go over your couch with a clean white towel. This will get rid of those bits the vacuum may have missed. And use white or light coloured towels because some colours may bleed into your couch.
3. Sprinkle your couch with a healthy heap of baking soda. If your couch needs a bit more “muscle” to get rid of that funky smell, try mixing a bit of borax in your baking soda. As well as some powdered cloves and bay leaves and a bit of cornstarch as well. These ingredients will make your funky sofa smell fresh and clean.
4. Let all that powder sit for 20 minutes or so.
5. Vacuum with a brush attachment very thoroughly.

Now some people swear by white vinegar and baking soda, especially for stains. Again, please keep in mind the kind of cloth your couch has before trying this concoction out. Better safe than having a spotty sofa. To get rid of stains:

1. Mix a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid, a tablespoon of white vinegar, a teaspoon of baking soda, and a cup of warm water in a spray bottle. Do this over a sink. Mixing an acid (vinegar) and a base (baking soda) can be a very bubbly affair.
2. Test this solution on a hidden patch of cloth, maybe at the back of the sofa, to see if it is compatible with the fabric.
3. Once deemed safe for your upholstery, spray this concoction directly onto the stain and wipe gently with a dry, clean, white towel.

If you don’t have these ingredients readily on hand or you need something to clean a fresh spill or fresh dirt up quickly, you can use baby wipes. These handy dandy things will do in a pinch. And you know these things will be gentle on your favourite couch.

There you have it, DIY upholstery cleaning that you can do safely and will not cost you an arm and a leg.

Source

Guest Blogger : Lily Williams