The sofa is our daily ally, for TV evenings, aperitifs with friends, children’s snacks… It is also the favorite resting place for our pets. He sees all the colors and neither escapes the dustnor to crumbsnor to tasks of all kinds. Better to know how clean your fabric sofa so that we still want to sit there. Many basic products that we keep in our cupboards can do us countless services in this area, as is the case with white vinegar and baking soda, among others, but they are not the only ones… Let’s see more close.
The essential dusting of the sofa
Removing stains is necessary for the fabric sofa to retain its original beauty. But whether it is stained or not, it should be dust regularly to remove crumbs and dust, pet hair and hair. It is equally fundamental for remove mites.
When removing unsightly stains, always start with a pre-cleaning. The perfect panoply consists of a powerful vacuum cleaner with two distinct accessories: a special nozzle for carefully vacuuming the gaps between the fixed cushions and a brush for the seat, backrest and armrests. We complete the cleaning of the fabric sofa with an adhesive hand brush this time, which eliminates the stubborn fluff left by the plaids and certain sweaters.
Finally, do not hesitate to also vacuum the underside of the sofa by getting help to tilt it so that all parts are accessible.
Machine wash the sofa cover
The removable sofa offers a good compromise, especially if its envelope can be completely washed with soap and water. If it can go in the washing machine, great. But it is necessary to check the care label to make sure. If so, be sure to set the program to wash at 30°C at most, even Cold to reduce the risk of shrinkage.
To clean the sofa cover that does not go through the washing machine, we have no choice but to To hand-wash. In this case, it is better to choose a day when the weather is fine to dry the cover outside. This avoids having to twist it to remove excess water because you risk creasing it unnecessarily. In addition, outdoor drying is faster if the weather is nice and this limits the formation of bad odors.
Beware, however, of some particularly delicate natural fabrics, which cannot always be washed off with plenty of water. In this case, it is necessary to use the appropriate products to clean, refresh, or even detach the cover from the sofa.
Dry clean your fabric sofa with natural solutions
Rather than investing in expensive, polluting and not always effective products, you can clean your sofa with sodium bicarbonate or Sommières clay.
Le bicarbonate de sodium
This powder is recommended for fabrics that do not tolerate cleaning with water. We therefore obtain a dry cleaning extremely economical. Just sprinkle it on the sofa, pause for a while to let the baking soda act, then vacuum carefully. Generally, the colors of the cover are revived and the stains are eliminated.
The land of Sommières
She allows to untie your couch and leaves no halo. It is very useful for delicate fabrics such as Alcantara or Nubuck. This natural stain-removing earth is a highly absorbent clay which eliminates greasy stains but also bad odors impregnated in fabrics. It must simply be sprinkled as is on the areas to be treated. It must be left to act for 2 to 3 hours, or even overnight if the stains are old. We then pass a small soft brush and then we remove the soil from Sommières with the vacuum cleaner.
Note that if you do not have this clay on hand, you can, in the event of a stain to be removed urgently, use flour, talc or even use cornstarch. These are very absorbent, natural products that respect very fragile fabrics.
Clean your fabric sofa with water
To clean certain areas of the sofa with a little water, you can also use non-aggressive, natural and effective products.
Soap: black or Marseille
These two soaps are precious products to always have on hand. We start with dilute either in hot water. All that remains is to deposit a little of this soapy water stains, rub gently with a very soft brush or cloth, rinse lightly with clear water with a moistened washcloth and let air dry or use the hair dryer set on “warm air”.
white vinegar
Super economical since it costs around €1.50 per litre, white vinegar is almost miraculous because it provides many services throughout the house. It is necessary to mix 250 ml of white vinegar with 100 ml of warm water and add a few drops of dishwashing liquid to it. This preparation can only be used on colorfast fabrics et little fragile. First, soak a cloth in the liquid and dab the stains. Rinsing is done with another cloth soaked in clear water. Then all you have to do is let it dry.
A mixture of ammonia and washing-up liquid
It’s a solution that you don’t always think of, but ammonia is a useful product for cleaning your fabric sofa. It disinfects, cleans, detaches and revives colors. Be careful, handling it involves the wearing rubber gloves. Just mix 12 cl of ammonia with 100 cl of lukewarm water and add 10 drops of dishwashing liquid. We then soak a cloth in it, which we pass over the entire sofa in fabric and armchairs assorted. We take advantage of this deep cleaning session to also refresh the carpet or the carpet in the same way. It remains only to rinse everything with another cloth passed with clear water and to let dry by ventilating the room well.
Whatever product you use to clean a fabric sofa, even if it is 100% natural, it is recommended to always take a test on a part not visible of the couch. This ensures that the colors are resistant to the product and that it will not leave a halo. Finally, it is very important to respect the method of use (dry, cold water, hot water, etc.) and to respect the action time recommended on the packaging as well as the method of rinsing when necessary.