How to quickly and efficiently clean a sofa at home, tips
After a party, children's pranks, and just as a result of daily use, various kinds of pollution appear on the surface of upholstered furniture. To use dry cleaning services on a regular basis is quite expensive, so many housewives decide to cope with the problem on their own. Here the question arises of the appropriateness and safety of the use of certain advertised chemical and improvised means, as well as popular life hacks. How to clean a sofa at home quickly and efficiently will be discussed in the article. Information will be useful to any housewife, because trying to empirically figure out what tools and methods are most effective, you can hopelessly damage furniture. Therefore, it is better to postpone the experiments, and follow the tested rules and expert advice.
Content
Basic rules for self-cleaning
Before cleaning, all cleaning companies evaluate the upholstery material. Leather, textiles, or leatherette are treated in many ways. Another important aspect is the limitation period of pollution. But if professional cleaning is simple, then self-cleaning can turn into a real test for the hostess. There are a number of general recommendations that will help rid the sofa of stains without stains at home. These rules have been developed for decades, so the effectiveness and relevance of each of them is beyond doubt:
- To clean the sofa was easier, do not allow the appearance of stagnant spots. Occasionally, preventive treatment is needed, and complex contaminants should be removed immediately, not allowing them to deeply eat into the coating.
- Dry cleaning at home is suitable for leather furniture. It is forbidden to use hot water, just wipe the upholstery with a damp cloth.
- If you want to wipe a separate stain, but not the entire area, in no case should you use the cleaning agent used on the coating - only on a napkin or sponge. After processing, you need to carefully remove the remaining foam from the surface by wetting it with a dry towel.
- In order for the stain to be effectively removed with a sponge, it is better to move in a circle - from edge to middle.
- It is important to try to less wet the coating.
- Do not use aggressive substances. If the situation is not without them, it is worth trying the product on a sample of material or an inconspicuous piece of furniture.
It is best to use soft brushes or sponges for cleaning. The movements should be smooth, directed according to the location of the pile of fabric.
These general recommendations on work will significantly save labor and time costs.There are also many other cleaning features that will help you cope with the stain quickly, without negative consequences. We will try to understand the nuances further.
Technology depending on the type of pollution
Cleaning the sofa is not as difficult as it seems, although this is a more time-consuming process than regular general cleaning. The fight against dust, contamination, the elimination of dirt from drinks, work with food or non-food stains require a different procedure.
Dust
Careful attitude to furniture does not save it from pollution. Periodic wet cleaning of the room is powerless - textile upholstery is still subject to dust settling. To remove it, you need a systematic cleaning. If it is not produced, the amount of dirt increases, the fabric loses its former freshness and softness. To eliminate such a defect, you can use several methods:
- knocking out;
- vacuuming or damp sheets.
Simply knocking out dust will not bring an effective result. The emitted particles will simply linger in the room, settle on furniture again. That is why such work should be combined with another method.
It is recommended to use an ordinary carpet beater, having previously covered the surface of the fabric sofa with a damp sheet. Moisture will hold off the dust that will fly away and will not allow it to settle on the upholstery in the future.
A conventional vacuum cleaner is no less effective. Better when the unit has high power. Various nozzles will come in handy, which will help out when processing hard-to-reach spots. You can even remove them altogether to clean only with a hose, directly.
Grease
The sofa is greasy during heavy use without the use of wraps and covers. When such unpleasant pollution appears, the procedure will be as follows:
- Clean the furniture with a vacuum cleaner or a damp sheet. To enhance the effect, the fabric can be moistened with a mild vinegar solution. Then you need to cover the product and knock it out.
- Upholstery should be sprinkled with salt, especially in the most greasy places. Leave her for an hour so she can absorb fat. Then remove with a vacuum cleaner.
A good tool in the fight against fat is glycerin. A cotton pad soaked in a solution will help to clean the sofa perfectly. This method is applicable only to dark fabrics; for a light white sofa, milk and chalk diluted with water should be used. Greasy armrests, folds should be handled first. After them, you need to proceed to the general cleaning of the upholstery.
You can also take laundry soap. This is one of the best tools. It will help bring the upholstery in its original form, saving sofas from stains without stains. The procedure is as follows:
- grate a bar of soap on a grater;
- add water to the chips, turn everything into a homogeneous mixture, mixing thoroughly;
- moisten the sponge in the solution and rinse the contaminated surface with it;
- wash off the foam, allow the product to dry.
Dry sofa cleaning at home is not very popular. Many housewives use a solution of ammonia, soda and vinegar. In equal amounts, the substance is mixed with water. Then the composition is applied to the surface. After a few minutes, it is removed with a washing vacuum cleaner or a damp sponge.
In order not to wonder how to remove traces after foam products, you need to use as little water as possible, and carefully collect the remaining foam with a towel. After this treatment, remove the stains from cleaning with a damp sponge, and then dry.
If the sofa is too wet, you can resort to additional drying. A hairdryer or fan is suitable for this purpose, but you should not use heaters and similar devices.
Stains and stains
Given the nature of the pollution, the hostess should choose what to clean the sofa from stains and stains. Golden rule - it is important to remove them while they are still fresh. Aspirin, ammonia and borax are used to treat all sunken stains. The final cleaning result will depend on the degree of dust and the characteristics of the contamination.You should pay attention to which food product a stain came from:
- Coffee or tea. Soak up contaminated upholstery with soapy water. Then you can use a sponge dipped in clean water and dry the excess moisture with a towel. Many housewives also use vinegar or ammonia, previously diluted with water.
- Blood, wine and juices. Such spots on the couch are considered difficult to deduce. In order to cope with them, it is not enough to use folk remedies. Blood and red wine are excreted only with cold water and special substances. Non-aggressive chemistry should be used, but first you need to test its effect on the inconspicuous part of the upholstery. Many housewives use soap root. Half a teaspoon of the substance is boiled in 1 liter of water for 30-60 minutes. You should strain the broth and use it as a detergent. A weak vinegar composition will also cope with similar problems.
- Fat and chocolate. It is better to leave chocolate stains before cleaning before drying, scraping off excess from the surface. Powder chalk perfectly copes with such pollution. All that remains to be done is to brush away the remaining product with a stiff brush. You can clean the sofa with talcum powder, leave it on the spot for several hours. After that, the greasy trace is removed with water.
To remove large and already dried spots, it is recommended to use a pharmacy solution of hydrogen peroxide.
The choice of folk remedies depending on the upholstery
Cleaning with fabric upholstery requires caution. It is known that textile sofas can change color during processing, so you should carefully try the detergent in an inconspicuous area. The structure of the flock and velor sofa does not tolerate aggressive chemistry and oil-based products. Such furniture is perfectly processed alcohol-free napkins. In no case is it recommended to use hard brushes, aggressive substances for cleaning silk. Plush and velvet fabrics also require accuracy in work. It is better to work on them with soapy foam. Microfiber and tapestry are easily processed using alcohol compounds. You can also use weak solutions of vinegar, ammonia. Leather upholstery can be cleaned with petroleum jelly or baby oil.
The most popular and universal cleaning agent is soap solution. It is suitable for all upholstery, does not leave stains after proper processing, they can clean white, black or any other sofa.
No less popular soda solution. It is also actively used by housewives, but with more caution. For textile surfaces, soda with salt, compounds with hydrogen peroxide, and ammonia are used.
Professional Tools
The question of how to wash the sofa from stains at home is always relevant. The most popular cleaning products for upholstered furniture to date are:
- "Vanish." Carpet shampoo is applied directly to the surface of the sofa upholstery, removed after a few minutes with a washing vacuum cleaner.
- Chrisal - easy to use, just use a small amount of the product applied to the sponge.
- Soap “Antipyatin” - effectively relieve upholstery from greasy and other food stains. Does not deprive the color surface being treated, does not spoil the fabric texture.
- Stain remover Dr. Beckmann - contains gall soap, which allows you to wash the sofa from stains effectively and without a trace. It is applied to the upholstery without leaving stains.
- Udalix Ultra - works even on light fabrics. The liquid is applied to the stain, after a few minutes it is removed with a damp sponge.
Despite the wide range of pollution control products, do not forget about the importance of regular care for upholstered furniture. In this case, all spots, grease and dust residues will be removed quickly, without unnecessary labor.
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