How to clean a sofa from various contaminants at home? How to clean a sofa and other upholstered furniture at home.

The sofa is probably the most favorite place in the house. They rest on it, covered with a blanket. Children play on it, often using it as a springboard, climbing on it and jumping to the floor. Our smaller friends, dogs, love to eat on the sofa. Moreover, no matter how much they are driven out of there, they stubbornly jump onto the sofa again. And even with a bone in his teeth.

And often, after some time, the sofa takes on a worn, dirty appearance, becoming covered with unsightly greasy or simply dirty stains.

How can you make sure that the sofa serves you faithfully for many years without losing its original appearance?

Of course, ideally, you should initially buy a sofa that suits your lifestyle.

If a sofa is a social place for you, then you need to buy it with upholstery that is easy to clean and less shiny. And of course, exclude the purchase of a leather sofa. Especially if there is a cat or dog in the house, since it is impossible to hide leather upholstery from their claws and teeth.
Immediately cover the sofa with a sofa deck, a blanket, or sew a cover for both the sofa itself and its armrests.
Eliminate the habit of having a snack or even lunch while sitting on the couch in front of the TV.
Periodically carry out preventive cleaning of the sofa. This is very easy to do without resorting to any special means.

To do this, cover the sofa with a damp sheet and pat it with your palms. All the dust collected in the sofa will easily fly out of it and settle on the damp fabric. If the sofa is very dusty, rinse the sheet in clean water, carefully squeeze and repeat the knocking out procedure again.

If you add a little vinegar to the water, it will help restore bright colors sofa upholstery.

Then leave the sofa uncovered until completely dry. Of course, you can’t sit on it at this time.

While the sofa upholstery is drying, clean the armrests, if they are wooden. Furniture polish or non-aggressive stain removers are suitable for this.

How to clean wooden armrests at home

If someone left chewing gum on the armrests of the sofa, use Vaseline. Apply a little Vaseline to the gum and start rubbing. After some time, the chewing gum will crumble and can be easily removed.
If on wooden surface If there are white stains on the sofa from glasses or glasses, then lubricate them with Vaseline and leave for several hours. The spots should disappear.

If the sofa is leather

If the sofa is leather, then at the same time wipe the upholstery with Vaseline. Then remove excess shine and the sofa will be as good as new.

You can use baby oil instead of Vaseline. The main thing is that after it the sofa does not look like a fatty pie. Remove excess oil with a napkin.

Sometimes it is enough to wipe the sofa with a slightly damp cloth soaked in a soap solution or a weak solution of vinegar.

If the upholstery is fabric

If the upholstery is made of fabric, then you need to know how it will behave when it comes into contact with detergent. After all, it can fade, become discolored, and lose its original appearance. For example, if it is made of plush, velor or velvet.

So before you start cleaning your sofa, test your chosen product on a small piece of upholstery, such as the back of the sofa.

But in any case, the sofa should not be too wet. After all, this is not a carpet or a blanket - you can’t hang it on a crossbar. And excess moisture, getting into the inside of the sofa, can ruin its filling, causing a musty smell, or even mold. And microbes in such an ideal place for them will easily multiply.

Cleaning a sofa with vinegar, baking soda and detergent

This method is probably the most popular at the moment.

To do this, pour about a liter of water into a basin, add a tablespoon of baking soda and a teaspoon of any dishwashing detergent. Lather the solution well, arm yourself with a soft brush and begin to carefully clean the sofa, trying to brush in one direction. Do not overdo it with soap, as you will not be able to wash it later. It is better not to use this product on upholstery made of velor or anything similar to it.

Cleaning a sofa with Vanish

Instead of washing powder, you can take Vanish and dilute it in a ratio of 1:9.

Delicate sofa cleaning

To delicately clean your sofa, you will need a regular washing powder for delicate items and warm water.

Mix about half a glass of powder with a glass of water until fluffy.

Spread the foam on the contaminated surface and wait until it disappears. Repeat once or twice. Then gently brush the foamed areas with a soft brush.

After cleaning, remove dirty foam with a washing vacuum cleaner.

There is an opinion that a vacuum cleaner spoils both the upholstery of the sofa and its insides. Of course, if you are so powerful vacuum cleaner If it easily sucks up the upholstery along with debris, which you have to forcefully take away from it, then it is better not to use a vacuum cleaner for cleaning. Or you just need to reduce the suction force, that is, the power of the vacuum cleaner.

Stains on the sofa

Now about the stains. Any stain requires a special approach. One stain can be cleaned with ordinary warm (cold, hot) water, another with chalk, starch or talc, and the third can only be cleaned with aggressive solvents.

The result after stain removal also depends on how long ago the sofa was purchased. How, you ask.

When you begin to remove the stain, the upholstery will also be cleaned of the dust that has become embedded in it. And when that place dries, a dirty border will appear around it, right on the border of dirty and clean fabric.

Therefore, it is much easier to remove a stain on a new sofa, and the result will please you more than what you end up with after experimenting with an old sofa.

Therefore, before removing stains or local cleaning, you need to vacuum the entire sofa or knock out dust with a sheet. And only after that start removing the stain.

Remember that any fresh stains are much easier to remove than old ones or those that have been treated with incorrect cleaning methods.

Grease stains

If it appears on the upholstery grease stain, cover it with chalk as soon as possible. Wait until it absorbs the fat. Sweep it off with a brush. Add chalk again and wait again. Most often the stain disappears.
Talcum powder is also suitable for removing greasy stains from a sofa. Apply talcum powder to the stain and leave for several hours. Then vacuum the sofa. Instead of talc, you can use starch or soda.
Sprinkle salt on the greasy stain and wait until it absorbs the grease. Then sweep away the used salt with a brush.

Beer stains

Prepare a decoction of soap root. To do this, pour a liter of water into a saucepan, add half a teaspoon of soap root and put on fire. Boil for about an hour. Then strain the broth and use it to clean the stain.
You can wipe the stain with a regular soap solution, and then treat the area with a weak solution of vinegar.

Blood stains

Blood stains can only be washed off with cold soapy water.
If the blood stains are fresh, prepare a thick paste of talcum powder and water and apply it to the stained area. Let the paste dry and brush thoroughly. Talc can be replaced with starch or corn flour.

Urine stains

If your child has just stained the sofa, immediately remove as much moisture as possible using napkins. Then rub the area with alcohol or diluted citric acid.
If there is no alcohol, then after getting rid of excess moisture Wash the stain with soapy water or Vanish stain remover.

Ballpoint pen stains

Stains from ink and ballpoint pen can be easily wiped off with alcohol. But you cannot rub a swab with alcohol over the fabric, making large circles. This causes the ink to spread, forming a large purple spot. You need to stock up on a few pieces of cotton wool and change them as they become dirty.

Juice stains

Juice and fruit stains can be removed by rubbing the stained area with diluted ammonia or mixing alcohol with ammonia in a 1:1 ratio. Let the liquid dry and then rinse off warm water and dry.

Coffee stains

To remove coffee stains, add a little vinegar to the soap solution and wash the stain with this solution and dry it.

Stains on velvet or plush upholstery

This upholstery cannot be cleaned with water or soap solutions. Therefore everything problem areas Clean with alcohol or gasoline. Both cheap and cheerful.
If you use a soap solution, clean not with water, but with plenty of foam. And always in the direction of the pile. It is also not recommended to clean such a sofa with brushes. For cleaning it is better to use a soft sponge or microfiber cloth.
It is still better to entrust complex stains on delicate fabric to specialists.

But still, I would like to remind you that it is easier to prevent the appearance of stains and dirt on the sofa than to selflessly clean it all!

Got some stubborn stains on your sofa? Do you want to quickly tidy up an old but favorite thing? So that you can do this without resorting to services special services If you're cleaning furniture, let's look at how to clean a sofa at home.

Ridding a velor sofa from dirt is not so difficult. You will need to perform the following steps step by step:

Important: in order not to make a mistake with what product can be used to clean your sofa, it is recommended that before starting such work, you carefully study the manufacturer’s recommendations for cleaning the product. They will help you decide which one household chemicals can be used to remove stains from similar product, and what means will only spoil its surface.

How to tidy up your leather item

A leather sofa should be cleaned with soap, warm water, and microfiber cloths. You need to work with such furniture like this:

After this, you can move on to the question of how to clean a sofa from difficult stains at home. This issue needs to be considered in more detail.

How to get rid of stains using household chemicals

The easiest way to remove dirt from the sofa is with vanish or another similar product. Most often these are produced in the form of powders. It is recommended to work with them like this:

First, you should whisk the product with water to form a dense foam.
The resulting foam should be applied to the stain and the area should be wiped well with a special brush.
Next, you should wait 15 minutes for the mixture to take effect, after which it will need to be washed off with cool water.

Important: this cleaning method is usually quite expensive. In addition, it is not suitable for housewives suffering from allergies, and even more so - bronchial asthma. In such cases, it is recommended to fight stains with folk remedies.

How to remove dust

You can get rid of dust different ways. So, if you have a vacuum cleaner at hand, you can carry out such cleaning with this device using a special attachment. IN hard to reach places you can walk with a hose. It is advisable to carry out this manipulation once a week to avoid dust accumulation on upholstered furniture.

If you don't have a vacuum cleaner at hand, you can do it differently. You will need to take an ordinary damp sheet, cover the sofa with this sheet, and then knock it out with a regular beater. During this beating, the dust will settle on the sheet, and you will just have to wash it.

How to remove old stains

How can you remove complex stains? Most stains, including dog paw marks and food marks, can be removed using regular shampoo and ammonia. To do this, proceed as follows:

Tip: if you were unable to clean your dirty sofa the first time, you can repeat this procedure. After 2-3 wrinkles, you will probably be able to remove even old stains.

How to remove coffee, tea, wine and juice

How to clean a fabric sofa on which you accidentally spilled beer or juice? This can be done using an ordinary soap solution. To do this, you should wet the stain with a damp sponge, then rub it well with laundry soap and foam this soap with a special brush for cleaning fabrics. The foam must be left on the surface for 10 minutes, after which its excess must be carefully removed with cool water.

If your sofa was stained with wine, you will need to first soak the stain, then sprinkle the stain with salt and leave it on the surface for 15 minutes - during this time it should completely absorb the remaining moisture. After this, you need to remove the salt with a brush, moisten a rag with alcohol and wipe the area where the wine was spilled with it.

Important: to get rid of stains after such cleaning, you need to prepare a soap solution and use it to clean the sofa. The remains of this solution should be removed with a damp cloth.

How to remove blood stains

Figuring out how to clean blood from upholstery is also not difficult. It is recommended to remove such a stain immediately after it appears. Use any additional detergents strictly prohibited - you should work with such contamination using only a regular sponge and cold water. The stain must be wiped until completely removed.

Important: if you want to clean a light-colored sofa, you will have to wash it longer. To make this task easier, you should add a tablespoon of vinegar to the surface water and wipe the fabric with this solution. After this, all you have to do is wash away the remaining stains and after 10 minutes, remove the remaining soap solution with cool water.

Removing traces of urine

If you have small children or bedridden patients in the house, you will also need to get rid of traces of urine from time to time. This is not difficult to do, in such a case you need to act like this:

Important: there is no need to wash off this solution; you can leave it on the fabric. If you have white sofa, you need to limit yourself to soapy water only.

Fighting gum

How to effectively remove chewing gum from fabric? This can be done with ice. To do this, you will need to take a few ice cubes, rub them on the hardened gum, and then carefully remove it with a dull knife or nail file.

Important: to prevent gum stains from remaining on your product, be sure to wipe the surface with a damp cloth after cleaning. If the stain still remains, you can clean it later with ordinary soapy water.

How to remove marks from a ballpoint pen

You can clean the sofa from stains left by a ballpoint pen using acetone-based products. These, in particular, are nail polish removers. You will just need to put this product on a cotton swab, and then use this cotton swab to wipe away any remaining dirt. If the spot is completely fresh, you can remove it with regular office eraser.

Important: if you have leather sofa, do not attempt to remove such stains yourself. With acetone you will simply ruin such a thing. It is better to immediately take such a product to the cleaners, whose employees will not have any difficulty in cleaning the sofa from stains efficiently.

Video: how to remove a pen from your skin?

How to deal with unpleasant odor

Once you've dealt with difficult stains, you can move on to ridding your furniture of the smell. This can be done in various ways:

What else can be done to fix it? bad smell? Ordinary soda also copes well with this task. You will need to sprinkle the entire fabric with this soda, leave it for an hour so that the product absorbs the smell, and then remove the remaining residue with a vacuum cleaner. After such manipulations, your product will be no worse than new.

I don’t like sudden visits from my mother-in-law, especially when I’m cleaning. Well, just out of the blue.

My mother-in-law is an ex medical worker. Her home is sterilely clean. As soon as she notices even one speck of dust, the whole apartment begins to rage.

And now she looked at how I was cleaning the sofa with a vacuum cleaner, and shook her head with some kind of bad smile. In her opinion, this is clearly not enough, and there is still a lot of dust left in the sofa.

Why deep cleaning?

It turns out that upholstered furniture is an excellent dust collector. Going over the upholstery with a vacuum cleaner will clearly not be enough. Dust particles can penetrate very deeply and create an excellent habitat for all kinds of harmful microorganisms.

Hence a whole range of not very pleasant diseases. Therefore, make it a rule to clean your sofas and armchairs at least once a month.

Getting rid of dust

The course of lectures on removing stains bypassed me - thank God, the upholstery was clean. But I had to learn how to clean a sofa from dust at home.

To begin, take a sheet, soak it in water (with conditioner, if possible) and wring it out very well. The fabric should not be wet - just slightly damp.

Cover the sofa with a cloth and start beating with your hands. All raised dust will remain on the sheet. After this procedure, vacuum the surface of the furniture to collect any remaining dust.

Down with the smell!

Dilute two tablespoons of vinegar in one liter of water. Soak a cloth in this solution and treat the furniture with it. Then leave to dry.

Instead of vinegar, you can use potassium permanganate and citric acid, as well as hydrogen peroxide. This method will save you from on your furniture.

You can sprinkle salt on the surface of the sofa (both regular salt, table salt, and aromatic salt will do). Leave everything for ten hours, then collect the salt and don’t remember any more smells.

For the same purposes, you can sprinkle freshly ground coffee on upholstered furniture and leave black or green tea bags for 2 days.

If the sofa is leather, prepare a warm soapy solution, add one tablespoon to it ammonia, wipe the surface with a sponge. After this, rinse off the soap and remove any remaining moisture with a towel. Let the sofa dry.

A pet odor absorber will also be a good helper. It is sold at any pet store. Sprinkle the product over the surface of the sofa and leave for a while. Then remove and enjoy the freshness.

Lidia Ivanovna is a modern mother-in-law. Therefore, to show me how to clean a sofa at home, she even found a video on the Internet.

And she read a couple more tips directly from the site loud and clear. Here interesting advice to get rid of urine odor:

sprinkle the “fragrant” area with baking soda;
fill a spray bottle with 100 ml of water, 100 ml of hydrogen peroxide and a little detergent;
Sprinkle the mixture over the baking soda. It should start to foam. Leave in this state for several hours;
wipe with a wet cloth and dry with a towel.

Unpleasant odors in the apartment are very annoying for many people. It is especially unpleasant to smell such odors from the sofa, on which it is so comfortable to lie, relax and watch TV. For those who plan how to remove smell from sofa, you can turn to real professionals or try to solve this problem yourself.

In order to perform this procedure at home, you can use acetic acid, potassium permanganate, several tea bags, lemon juice, starch, regular liquid soap, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, pet odor absorber, freshly ground coffee, scented pads, regular or aromatic salt , as well as a professional upholstery cleaner.

Acetic acid
When thinking about how to remove the smell from the sofa, you can use acetic acid. To do this, you need to dilute about two tablespoons of this ingredient in one liter of water. Gently moisten a microfiber cloth in the resulting mixture. It is advisable to carefully treat the surface of your favorite sofa with this napkin and leave it until completely dry. Instead of acetic acid, some recommend using lemon juice, a solution of potassium permanganate, or standard hydrogen peroxide. It will become the best way, how to remove the smell from the sofa or get rid of the cloying smell of cat urine.

Salt
Anyone who dreams of how to remove the smell from the sofa should know that table salt helps to cope with this. You can also use the aromatic version. It must be poured onto the upholstery of the sofa in an even layer and left for approximately 10 hours. After this, you need to remove the salt with a regular brush or using a car vacuum cleaner. It is believed that similar to table salt Baking soda combined with potato starch gives the effect. Due to their simple structure, these substances perfectly absorb unpleasant odors.

Soap
To eliminate unpleasant odors, you can use a soap solution. To do this you need to mix a few drops liquid soap And warm water. It is recommended to add 1 tbsp to the mixture. l. ammonia. In such a mixture you need to carefully moisten a cloth or a regular foam sponge. Use a damp cloth to wipe the upholstery of a leather sofa. You need to wash the solution off the sofa with a damp microfiber cloth. Then wipe the upholstery with a regular cotton towel.

Odor absorber
For those who are wondering how to remove the smell from the sofa, you can use an odor absorber for your beloved pets. You can easily buy it in a regular supermarket. It is recommended to spray it over the sofa in an even layer and leave it like that for a couple of hours. Then gently wipe with a regular brush. You can put a few bags of green tea or freshly ground coffee on the sofa. It needs to be removed after a few days.

Professional product
To clean the sofa you can purchase special remedy, a wide range of which is presented in modern stores.

Urine stains are rightfully considered difficult to remove. In addition, an unpleasant odor remains on the sofa or carpet, which spreads throughout the room. Many young parents and people caring for sick elderly people are faced with a serious problem. You can eliminate stains and remove odors using folk and commercial compounds. You can easily prepare them at home without spending a lot of money. Let's consider effective methods, developed experienced housewives by trial and error.

The cleaning methods are quite versatile; you can use them to remove stains from carpets, upholstery and other similar surfaces. The most effective means compositions of lemon juice, table vinegar, laundry soap, as well as professional chlorine-based and non-chlorine bleaches are considered.

Method number 1. Laundry soap and vinegar solution

The technique is designed for fresh spots that appeared relatively recently (about half an hour to an hour). With this method you will remove not only the smell, but also the unsightly mark that will remain if you do not take appropriate measures.
First you need to prevent urine from penetrating into the lower layers of upholstered furniture. To do this, use a thick towel, toilet paper, napkins, clean newspapers. Blot the stained area with them until the urine is completely absorbed into the materials at hand.
Next, prepare a foam sponge, wet it and rub it generously with laundry soap. Wash out the stain by treating the upholstery. If necessary, repeat the procedure 3-5 times until you are sure of the effective result.
After completing the activities, wash the sponge, remove the foam from the upholstery, and blot with dry wipes or paper towels. Turn on the vacuum cleaner, put moistened gauze on the brush, and treat the upholstered furniture. This move will draw out the liquid, as a result of which you will be able to avoid the development of mold.
To prevent the appearance of an unpleasant odor, wet processing is completed by cleaning with a vinegar solution. A composition with a concentration of about 7-9% is suitable. To prepare the mixture, dilute 125 ml. vinegar in 3 liters of filtered water. Stir, add 10 g. citric acid.
When the granules dissolve, soak a cotton or linen cloth in the solution and wipe the surface of the bed with it. Rub the vinegar mixture thoroughly into the sheathing to help it penetrate deeper. After completing the final stage, blot the sofa with a dry cloth.
Now take dry gauze, fold it in 2 layers, and place it on the stain. Heat the iron and walk over the gauze cloth. The hot air flow will get rid of the smell of urine and remove liquid from the lower layers of the sofa. Do not hold the household appliance in one place for more than 1-2 seconds to avoid burning the upholstery.

Method number 2. Potassium permangantsovka

To effectively eliminate urine odor and stains, ordinary potassium permanganate is used. Prepare the solution so that the liquid has a soft pinkish tint. As a rule, about 2-3 crystals are required.
Put on gloves, prepare a piece of terry cloth, soak it in the solution, and squeeze it out a little. Apply to the contaminated area and cover with cling film.
Remove the rag after half an hour, rinse with water and dip it again in the manganese solution. Do the same steps 1-2 more times until you achieve the desired effect.
After all manipulations, dry the sofa in a natural way or use household appliances(hair dryer, heating radiators, etc.).
When choosing a hair dryer, keep the device at a distance of 20-30 cm, and turn off the device every 7 minutes, otherwise it may burn out.

Method No. 3. Hydrogen peroxide

The technique is designed for cleaning sofas whose upholstery is beige or White color. Purchase a solution of chlorhexidine or peroxide at a concentration of about 3-6% at the pharmacy.
Dilute 100 ml. means in 2.7 l. purified water, stir. If the urine stain is fresh, blot it with dry towels or napkins.
Soak in solution soft cloth or a foam sponge, treat the dirty area. Cover with cling film and leave for 5 minutes.
After this period, rinse off the peroxide with water and vacuum the upholstery. Open all the windows in the room to help the sofa dry out faster. You can use a hair dryer or install a heater near the furniture.
If necessary, cleansing with peroxide is repeated several times. An alternative is a solution consisting of vinegar essence (65%) and water mixed in a ratio of 1:10. After the procedure, dry the furniture thoroughly to prevent the formation of mold.

Method number 4. Dishwashing liquid and soda

The technique is designed to remove odor and urine stains that appear before your eyes. Blot the stained area with paper towels, then prepare a mixture of baking soda and drinking water.
Spread the paste over the stain, cover with cling film, and leave for 20 minutes. When the specified time has elapsed, remove excess with a towel or cloth and vacuum the sofa.
Soak a kitchen sponge in water and apply a large number of dishwashing gel, lather. Rub the contaminated area and wait a few hours. After this, wet the upholstery with running water and blot with a clean cloth.
Vacuum the surface. If the furniture is colored, wipe it with a cloth soaked in a vinegar solution (6%). IN mandatory dry the sofa upholstery with a hairdryer or place a heater next to the furniture.
If after these manipulations it was not possible to remove the persistent smell of urine, use the finishing touch. Mix 50 gr. soda with 25 ml. 3% peroxide, apply the porridge to the stain and wait 10 minutes. Remove excess with a vacuum cleaner and dry the furniture.

Method No. 5. Store products

Experts have developed effective purchased funds, which can easily remove dirt and remove persistent odors.

If traces of urine have been bothering you for quite a long time (old pollution), use a product called Dufta Fresh. Main feature The product is considered to be completely safe. The product is suitable for coatings of any kind, be it carpet or upholstery of upholstered furniture. In addition, the composition has a pleasant smell that lasts for a long time.
To use the drug correctly, carry out a preliminary test on an area inconspicuous to the eye. Wait a quarter of an hour, rinse with water and evaluate the result. If the fabric has not lost color, feel free to use the spray on the contaminated area. Follow the manufacturer's instructions, read the "Important" section. on the back of the bottle.
To enhance the effect of the manipulations, cover the bed with a piece of polyethylene. As a rule, the product needs to be left on the fabric for about two hours. Only after the allotted time has passed, it is necessary to wash off the composition and evaluate the result. Always dry your sofa after cleaning.
An alternative to “Dufta Fresh” are the drugs “Odor Gon”, “LoC” from Amway, “Eared Nanny”. Make sure that the composition does not contain chlorine or other aggressive substances.

Method number 6. Lemon juice

It is known that lemon has excellent disinfecting, brightening and refreshing properties. With the help of citrus you can get rid of odors and stains of any kind, so the method is considered effective.
Squeeze the juice from two lemons, filter it and pour it into a spray bottle. Distribute the product over the surface and leave for half an hour. To enhance effectiveness, cover the treated area with cling film.
When the specified period comes to an end, blot the sofa with dry wipes. Repeat the steps 3 more times, then spray the mattress with vinegar. Vacuum and wait until dry.
In order for the smell to completely disappear, it is recommended to take the treated piece of furniture to the Fresh air. The main thing is to avoid direct ultraviolet rays.

As mentioned earlier, the smell of urine is persistent and difficult to remove. Stains are difficult to remove due to their specific composition. However, if you follow practical recommendations, it is still possible to cope with the problem. Use vinegar, peroxide, lemon juice, by professional means.