How to clean the sofa at home?

Any sofa with constant use will inevitably be contaminated. But this does not mean that every time you need to call for the help of specialists or simply ignore the spot that has appeared. Accurate knowledge of problem solving techniques will help you handle any dirt on your own.

It is quite difficult to wash a sofa full of dust to the limit with folk remedies. It is more correct to use an ordinary vacuum cleaner, and in order to better cope with its task, wrap the nozzle in a layer of gauze soaked in an aqueous solution of salt. Per liter of warm water take 2 or 3 tablespoons of salt, depending on how much pollution.

Such a step will help remove dust and make fresher upholstery. It is undesirable to vacuum sofas upholstered in velvet or velor, this may disturb the normal structure of the nap.

Without a vacuum cleaner with dust, too, it is quite possible to cope. On a liter of water at room temperature, put a couple of teaspoons of salt and add 30 grams of vinegar. In the harvested composition moisten unnecessary old sheet or other fabric, squeeze it out so that the surface was only slightly damp. Having laid out the fabric on the sofa, they begin to knock it out, from time to time the cloth is rinsed in clean water.

Lint-free coating clean soap solution with a brush. If the soap does not help, try replacing it with dishware. When you beat the foam, grease the stains with it for 5-10 minutes, then immediately rinse with warm water and dry with a hygroscopic cloth.

Upholstery with nap is cleaned with a foam sponge, on which the same solutions are applied. Light furniture will have to be washed completely, only under this condition, the occurrence of divorces is excluded.

Much can independently wash soda and vinegar, especially if you add to them and detergent. On a liter of water put a teaspoon of soda, the same amount of detergent mixed with vinegar. The billet is stirred and then applied with a brush to a dirty place. It is advisable to move the brush when cleaning. only one wayThis will reduce the risk of divorce.

When there is no desire to use powders or to prepare complex mixtures, many stains can be cleaned at home quickly using Vanish. The drug is dissolved in water (one part of the product to 9 parts of water), then gently and without excessive effort remove dirt. Using Vanish Oxi Action, You can remove fresh contamination from various products, but this tool has a bad effect on silk and leather.

Specified in the instructions, the amount of solution you need to beat and get a foam. Then this foam with the help of a brush smears not only the stain itself, but also the fabric adjacent to it. Within a few minutes most of the pollution will turn pale, and after a quarter of an hour it will be impossible to notice them. Then it remains only to dry the sofa, and the problem is completely solved.

A sure way to get rid of the stain left by fruits or juices - use ammonia. It is mixed with vinegar in equal proportions (both components take no more than 30 or 40 grams), after applying the solution to the stain they wait for drying and wash the problem area with warm water.

Liquid ammonia can be dangerous, all manipulations with it are carried out in rubber gloves, wear a gauze bandage or respirator on the face. If dizziness or burn occurs, do not self-medicate.

The same ammonia can be used differently: one part of the reagent is mixed with one part of water, lubricate the sweet spot and allowed to dry, and then washed the residue with clean water. Older pollution is also removable, but it will take 40 minutes to wait. Residual moisture from the upholstery is removed by pressing the dry towel for a few seconds.

Hydrogen peroxide will remove fresh bloody stains; When cleaning, keep the napkins ready to take off the rising foam and prevent it from getting dirty in other places. Peroxide should be added until the spot completely disappears, when it disappears - wipe the problem area with a damp cloth and dry it.

Water copes with many pollutions, but it is necessary to apply it only with full confidence in the final result. Stubborn stains, with rare exceptions, cannot be removed with water alone.

Using the steamer, you can not just cope with various types of dirt, but also refresh the sofa to its original state. A stream of heated gas will disinfect furniture and will be able to expel all unnecessary odors from it. But note that you can not use the sofa, as usual, right away, it must first completely dry.

Cleaning the soft sofa at home should be careful, because many of the tools for inept use only harm. And the drug that helped in one case, in another situation, often turns out to be powerless, in spite of any effort. First of all, three points should be clarified:

• what stain you are dealing with;
• it is fresh or already ingrained;
• features of upholstery products (depending on them, these or other methods are sometimes impossible to use).

Whatever means is chosen, it must be applied to the entire contaminated surface. It is advisable to use a soft brush, it will improve the contact between the drug and dirt. Whether it was possible to cope with fresh pollution, it becomes clear after 15 minutes, and old spots sometimes make you wait an entire hour. Until the cleaning agent soaks the stain by 100%, does not react with the dirt, wash it off prematurely.

The hostess to help the following recipes:

• Effectively remove the fat stain can baking soda. Fresh dirt sprinkled with powder, which is distributed as evenly as possible. After about five minutes, the soda that has absorbed the fat is collected with a brush, and the fabric itself is moistened and dried. Chewing gum should be carefully peeled off (tear, scrape); if a stain remains after it, it is removed with liquid soap and acetone. There is another way: the gum is cooled with a bag of ice or something frozen, and then it is simply cleaned with a knife.
• Instead of a knife, you can take a nail file, toothpick, chisel. Clean up the last remnants with dry napkins or soft-broom brushes, and, if necessary, wash them with cold water. Similar methods will help to remove the paraffin crust. If poured tea or coffee, then you need to use soap suds or to prepare a solution based on vinegar and soda.
• Bloody traces are removed with laundry soap dissolved in water, and dried drops can be easily cleaned with a salt solution for an hour. It can be replaced with aspirin (pill in a glass of water). Fresh blood stains are removed with a paste of talc and water, and after drying, the drug is brushed off.If there is no talcum powder, starch or corn flour will serve as a substitute.

• From the children's urine (and not only from the children's) helps a concentrated solution of soap in the water. Another way: immediately blot the stain with a napkin, apply alcohol or a weak citric acid on it. Or use any concentrated stain remover. Still help funds for the carpet and liquid soap.
• A sponge-applied aqueous solution of dishware will eliminate dirt, and the same agent must be mixed with soap to remove any cosmetic cream residues.
• Having dissolved in water a detergent and a couple of tablespoons of vinegar, you can easily cope with the traces left by beer. Vinegar will remove its smell. But red wine can be scrubbed with a cloth soaked in a mixture of vodka and salt. As an option, it immediately get wet, cleaned with a cloth moistened in salt water. White wine is perfectly cleaned with a cotton pad dipped in alcohol.

• Mold is removed first with a dry cotton pad moving from the borders to the middle. Then the lesion is treated with a solution of alcohol, rubbed with one drop of vegetable oil. After 1/3 hours you will need to blot his excess with a napkin.
• Chocolate scrub toilet or liquid soap. Stains from it, as well as from jam, jam and condensed milk, preferably a little dry, so that the dirt is not smeared. Then the crust is removed and the remaining trace is washed off with soap. Chalk, talc or salt will help to remove the fat (with an exposure of two hours), then the sorbent is removed with a vacuum cleaner or a napkin.
• The spots from the juices are removed with an aqueous solution of ammonia or its mixture with an equal amount of vinegar. If you do not have such substances in your home, they are easily replaced with nail polish removers, acetone, and any kind of alcohol. But do not forget about the safety of selected drugs.

• Ink is easily removed with bleach and soap. It is easy to do without divorces, only elementary care is required; do not pour a lot of water, do not try to create a powerful foam cap, clean the entire surface at once, and not one spot in itself. Instead of bleach, you can use edible salt, soda and citric acid. Pour some salt into the soapy water and wipe the affected part of the sofa with a solution, hold the stain under this layer for about five hours. Then the salt is removed, swept away, and the spot area is immediately wiped with a dry cloth.
• If you use citric acid, after it you will need to work more with soapy water. Baking soda is used in the amount of a teaspoon per 500 grams of water.
• The ballpoint pen and gel paste also cleanses the alcohol well, but rub it gently and without undue effort. Otherwise, instead of removing the stain, you simply smear it over a larger area. Try to change the soaked cotton swabs more often.

• Footprints on the couch can leave a marker. Such stains remove alcohol, acetone, nail polish removers, hair sprays, window sprays. A small portion of the liquid is applied on a cotton swab, they blot the spot so as not to affect the clean places. After 40 minutes, rub off the dirt with brushes (hard sponges), which are moistened in water or (better) suds. Very fresh traces that left the tools for the letter, including a marker, will help remove the office eraser. But be careful and do not wipe the hole in the upholstery!

• Clay cleaned in the same way as chewing gum - that can be cleaned with a hard object. The remaining traces are sprinkled with salt, which will absorb some of the contamination. Then you can wash the stain with soapy water or stain remover. It is not recommended to bring gouache with gasoline, kerosene or turpentine, as in the case of flooring. It is better to use household chemicals or soap suds.
• Contamination left by fried meat (fish) or mayonnaise should be sprinkled with soda for 1 hour, then sweep it, wipe it with a cloth soaked in alcohol. If there is no soda, it is replaced by starch or even simple salt.The soapy water rubbed by a sponge will help to reduce the dried fat traces; wash off the solution, if necessary, repeat the procedure.
• If an ointment gets on the upholstery, this problem is completely solved; most of the ointments are cleaned in the same way as normal grease stains. Beer and coffee immediately get wet with a napkin, then rub the contamination with a solution of soap and vinegar.
• Drug Dr. Beckmann is able to destroy the most stubborn stains from juices and green grass, cocoa and fatty foods.

Knowing these simple principles, you will be able to remove 95% of all the pollution that may appear on the surface of the sofa with your own hands. But it is also necessary to take into account the properties of the upholstery itself in order not to use obviously unfit and dangerous means through ignorance.

Cleaning methods:

• Leatherette can be cleaned only with very soft brushes, and ideally it is worth confining with a sponge. Velor couch can be cleaned only with substances that are as gentle as possible, using a damp cloth or a special napkin to apply them. It is necessary to move strictly along the pile, any excessive moisture should be immediately removed.

• Jacquard sofa requires the most accurate work, do not forget that it should be dried with a foam sponge. If the fabric is not so capricious, it is allowed to blot with paper towels. Unimax Ultra will reliably and safely clean iodine and coffee stains, green stuff and tea, traces of contact with cosmetics from any upholstery. Amway for upholstery and carpets can be used, regardless of the length of the pile. He is "friends" with synthetic materials, but is not suitable for processing velvet.
• Textile sofa Vacuum wet, using a soft brush and on medium power.
• Upholstery out velvet and plush Can not be cleaned with soapy water or even clean water. It is allowed to put on it one foam, should move along the pile. From improvised means you can still use alcohol or gasoline for lighters (in any case, not a car!).
• Wash upholstery out suede possible, but do it carefully, without wetting the fabric excessively. Tapestries do not tolerate wet cleaning at all, it is recommended to vacuum them dry. You can make a shampoo solution, but only the foam itself is carefully taken from it.

• Nubuck and suede they are best brushed with soft sponges, sometimes soft-brushed brushes can be used, but be careful. The eraser will help to wipe up fat stains, they are also removed by rock salt and an aqueous solution of alcohol. It is advisable to apply a hydrophobic impregnation, it will protect the suede upholstery from moisture and reduce the stability of many dirt.
• If your sofa is covered vinyl, a vacuum cleaner will also help, and you can use almost any cleaning compound. But do not mix them with each other. Leather sofa should be wiped with a damp cloth, any detergent is applied only in the form of a weak solution and immediately washed off after use. It is generally recommended to treat leather and leatherette with a solution of soap and soda with a sponge, it is completely safe.
• Never wet skin too much: if possible buy special wipes to care for her. If the upholstery is cracked and dimmed, whipped egg whites, which are applied with gauze or cotton cloth, will help fix the situation. Replaced protein is ordinary milk. Spots left by pens and felt-tip pens are cleaned with alcohol or scotch tape. Dust spots are removed from the skin with a soap solution (a teaspoon of the product per liter of water, a sponge is wetted in this solution). After cleaning and wiping dry, lubricate the damaged area with glycerin.Most types of dirt are removed with petroleum jelly or baby oil, then wipe the sofa with a damp cloth.
• Furniture from the mat It should be vacuumed once a week, it is unacceptable to use bleach, especially those containing chlorine. If dried food is found on such a sofa, it is not scraped, but soaked and carefully washed with sponges, necessarily across the fibers. Drying should occur by itself, it is forbidden to speed up the process with a hair dryer or hot objects. Particularly hard spots are cleaned with alcohol or ammonia.

• Textile sofa can be cleaned with soap and dishwashing detergents (but not abrasives!); It is also worth looking into the instructions and accompanying documents to find out what methods the manufacturer recommends. Light fabric must be washed whole, even if the stain is very small.
• Soap suds from fabric surfaces remove with clean wet sponges. The dried-up bloody stain will leave the rag sofa, if you pour some dishwashing liquid into the water, soak the dirty place with this solution, and after a while rub it with a toothbrush.
• Flock sofa, as well as any other, having a nap, clean with vacuum cleaners with special nozzles. A white textile sofa is cleaned with ordinary stain removers, but if there is a lot of dirt, then it is better to ask for dry cleaning.

• Sofas from polyester, as well as the flock (created on its basis) it is forbidden to clean with alcohol and everything that contains alcohol, except for very weak solutions. Any organic solvents and petroleum products, chlorine and mixtures containing it, scraping stains are also banned.

Remove the smell of socks or any other unpleasant "fragrance" is very easy. Dissolve the soap in the water, and after cleaning the stain, wipe the place where it was, with water with the addition of aromatic oils or dishwashing gels containing perfumery components.

Smells left by any drink, clean furniture shampoos. The drug is used strictly according to the instructions, then the sofa should dry. From improvised means well removes the smell of beer and fruit juice acetic acid solution (60 grams per liter of water). The dirty area is covered completely with a piece of cloth, thoroughly moistened and slightly wrung out, then it is pressed to the surface. Most often, such processing is done many times, and fear the smell of vinegar is not worth it, he will take two or three days.

The smell of urine can be muted by iodine: 20 grams of alcohol tincture is dissolved in a liter of water, and not only clean the upholstery, but also try to soak the filler as deep as possible. If the sofa is light, it is better to clean it in this case:

• acetic water;
• lemon juice (dilution 4-6 tablespoons per liter);
• potassium permanganate (its unsaturated solution).

If “hooliganism” has committed a pet, it will take a long time to clean. Upholstery moistened with a solution of nine per cent vinegar in three parts of water, then dried. After drying, sprinkle with soda and spray it with an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide (concentration 50%). The drug forms a rich foam, it is perfectly normal, after three hours the remaining dirt is removed with a damp cloth, the sofa is dried. Soda vacuum or brush.

Deeply ingrained odors will have to be cleaned twice, with the addition of a fabric softener. Some help in combating unpleasant odors will be provided by cat litter filler, it is especially effective in flocking upholstery.Scatter the reagent over the surface and leave it for about thirty minutes, then collect and discard it in the trash. The sofa itself will need to be slightly vacuumed.

Even very persistent odors can be removed by airing. No, it is not necessary for many hours to open windows and doors. Just wait for the good cloudless weather and put the sofa in the open air. By evening, he will be completely clean and fresh.

To return greasy furniture to normal is not so difficult. Prepare such a drug:

• A pair of glasses of water.
• 60 grams of salt.
• A teaspoon of washing powder.

After placing all this in one container, mix thoroughly, apply the solution and wait ¼ hour. Then what remains will wash, and dry the area of ​​the former spot. With dense coatings, shiny traces are removed by a sponge soaked in a solution of soap and soda or detergent. The lint-free upholstery should be cleaned in the same way, first smearing the spots for ten minutes with foam, then it is washed off with clean water and the surface is dried by touching the fabric.

If you immediately remove glossy stains failed, re-treat them, and to avoid the appearance of a halo, prepare a less saturated solution and clean the entire surface of the furniture with it. Filled places can be rubbed with a half of the onion, while its surface must be cut as it gets dirty and dries. After cleaning, the upholstery should be wiped with a dry soft cloth. And be sure to ventilate the room right away.

It is less “aromatic”, but ordinary toothpaste is just as effective. A small amount of brush is applied to the stain and pounded without pressing. Then use a damp cloth to remove any residue and do not use the sofa until it dries. It is best to take a child's toothpaste, and if you use an adult, then make sure that it does not contain foreign inclusions.

Armrests need to be cleaned necessarily, if they put mugs with hot drinks, it will help Vaseline. Rub white traces of them, and after a few hours the slightest signs of a stain will not be found. If someone brought up badly stuck chewing gum on the armrest, rub a little of the same vaseline into it, very soon the lump will shatter and crumble.

The sofa cover "takes over" the dirt and will not allow it to get on the upholstery. But this means that its surface gradually becomes unsightly in appearance. In normal use, washing covers is needed every three or four months, however, active children, pets in the house make this need much more frequent. From dust will relieve vacuum cleaner with furniture nozzles or fabric knock out like a carpet. Properly clean a very dirty cover will be able to dry clean, you should contact there with any serious contamination.

If you still decide to clean the covers at home, you have to spend a lot of time. Set the program shorter, otherwise the seams may loosen or the material will deteriorate. Please note that it is unlikely that you will be able to wash the cover at once, carefully examine it after washing, and if there are stains or stripes, repeat the treatment. It is useful to send all contaminants with a stain remover according to the instructions before sending the product to the washing machine.

Old cover can be washed only if the fabric is not very worn. Otherwise, you should still turn to professionals, they know exactly how to carry out gentle cleaning and remove all blockages.

Tips and tricks:

• If you need to restore the usual color of the sofa, take any means for cleaning the carpet and add a little acetic acid to it. The resulting remedy effectively fights with stains and bad smells.When you vacuum the sofa, be sure to use a narrow nozzle (to clean the corners) or a special nozzle for working with upholstered furniture.
• To deal less with dust and other contaminants, just buy a special case. And all the same, it will be necessary to clean the surface at least once a week, even if it is not a sofa, but a cover.
• Old coffee and tea stains can be easily removed with a soap solution of three drops of any detergent and a couple of tablespoons of acetic acid in a liter of warm water. If they are fresh, you can dissolve 1-2 spoons per cup or use ordinary laundry soap. Note that the first method should be carefully applied on dark fabrics, they may discolor.
• Before using any cleaning agent (store or self-made), take care of covering the floor and other furniture. Otherwise, it may happen that for each stain derived from the sofa there will be several planted in other places. It is recommended to clean the sofa, starting from the back, then moving to the armrests, the seat, and completing the process with the lower part of the product. It is better to consistently clean areas of about forty to forty centimeters.

• The cleaning composition is applied to each site for about half a minute, this is enough for penetration into the depth, and at the beginning of the reaction with the most stubborn pollution. If coffee or tea got on the colored upholstery, the concentration of drugs in comparison with the usual situation should be reduced. Better yet, take a 10% borax solution and use it, it is a completely safe remedy.
• Never try to clean the blood with hot water, the proteins that form it will coagulate, and the stain will become even harder to remove. The cleaning agent is applied not to the upholstery itself, but to the brush with which you will work.
• To get rid of dirt on white skin will help the most ordinary milk (best minimal fat): it is saturated with cotton wool and tinder surface. If you used ammonia, immediately after that, apply glycerin or castor oil to keep the leather surface dry.
• If wax gets on the surface of the sofa, it can be removed with an iron and blotting paper. First, scrape the outer part of the stain, then apply paper and iron it with a moderately heated iron.

• For blotting moisture from the surface of the sofa, you can use not only napkins, but also towels. Reducing the risk of clogging upholstered furniture is easy: refuse to eat and drink any drinks on the couch. Never place sofas, especially leather, next to radiators and other heating devices, directly under the air conditioners.
• Do not put colored pillows on the sofa and any items with unstable dyes: if they fall on the upholstery, do nothing with your own hands.

Strictly following these recommendations, you can avoid the vast majority of pollution. And if they appear, they will almost certainly manage, regardless of the type of sofa upholstery and the age of the stain.

For more tips on cleaning the sofa at home, see the video below.