How to clean upholstery – to keep your furniture looking like new

When cleaning upholstery it is important to get to it as soon as possible. The longer you take to clean it the harder it is to get stains out and to make your upholstery looking nice. Following are some simple steps on how to clean upholstery.

Get rid of the solid pieces

When you clean upholstery begin cleaning by getting rid of any large chunks and crumbs. You can vacuum the crumbs away easily. Hopefully you are cleaning the upholstery soon after the mess was made which makes it easier getting sticky things off. If there are any large chunks stuck on the upholstery use the side of a spoon and carefully scrape off what you can. Be very cautious about pushing the gunk deeper into the fabric. You may need to go over the fabric again with the vacuum. The vacuum will pick up all the tiny and small pieces that was scraped off earlier. When vacuuming use the attachable dusting brush onto the hose, the brush is gentler on the fabric. If you don’t have an attachable dusting brush you can use a dusting brush. If you are cleaning a stain that is still wet don’t go over the area with the vacuum but go onto the next step.

How to clean upholstery with a cleaner

You can get upholstery cleaner at your local store or you can make your own cleaner at home. Mix a quarter cup of natural dish detergent with one cup of luke-warm water. Use an egg beater to mix the soap and water together to make a thick foam. Dish detergent is great for cleaning upholstery, try to use natural or biodegradable which is gentler on the fabric.

If possible take the cushion off to make cleaning and drying easier. Using a soft bristled brush apply the foamy mixture onto the stain, use a small amount like the size of a quarter to start with and slowly add more if the stain is larger or needs more cleaning power. Then gently massage the cleaning solution into the stain using the brush. Brush at the stain for a full minute to let the soap penetrate the fabric and loosen dirt and grime from the fabric. If the stain is tuff you may need to let the cleaning mixture rest on the stain for 5 minutes. Then gently wipe the grimy foam away.

Rinse the grime away

Use a clean white cloth or rag to clean away the grimy foam. Damp the rag with clean water and gently rinse the spot and wipe away any suds that were left over. Repeat this process as many times as needed with rinsing the white cloth in between. You don’t want to put any grime back into the fabric so you will need to rinse the white cloth every 30 seconds in clean water to wash away any dirt that is being transferred into the cloth. Don’t use a colored cloth or rag so that the color doesn’t get into the upholstery. You can also use a special appliance that’s made to throughly rinse the upholstery.

Dry the upholstery

Before you use your furniture again it is important that you dry it out thoroughly. If it is not completely dried when using it dirt can get trapped in the damp spot causing another dirt spot that will need to be cleaned out again. Also if it isn’t dried properly mildew can build up and a bad odor may result. Once it is completely dry replace the cushion.