Check our 3-step upholstery green cleaning guide.

Check our 3-step upholstery green cleaning guide and make your home a healthier place.

Couches and armchairs are among the most used furnishings in every household. Our sofa inevitably gets dirty faster than any other piece of furniture at home. Dirt, dust, and stains (not to mention creatures such as bed bugs and dust mites) are just some of the problems you need to deal with to keep your couch in perfect condition. Regular upholstery cleaning is a must, but using commercial detergents and upholstery cleaning products can be dangerous. Most of the ingredients in these products can be a health threat you breathe or touch them. That is why we have written a short step-by-step guide to safe and green sofa cleaning routine.

Read also: How to Clean Different Upholstery Fabrics? 

Remove Dust from the Upholstery

Although it doesn’t seem like such a big deal, dust poses a serious threat to your health. It settles deep into the furniture, and its small particles can trigger different respiratory conditions, such as irritation of the airways, breathing difficulties, and even – asthma. Upholstery is amongst the biggest dust magnets in your home. That is why thorough vacuuming should always be step one of your furniture cleaning routine. Remove all the cushions and blankets covering your couch and shake them outside. Use the upholstery attachment of your vacuum to extract the dust settled in the fabric.

Cleaning the Upholstery

Once in a while, you will need to ‘wash’ the fabric to refresh the furniture’s appearance. We do not recommend DIY washing of the upholstery due to a risk of damaging and shrinking of the fabric. However, there are two ways you can substitute the actual washing.

Read also: 5 Upholstery Cleaning Secrets of the Professional Sofa Cleaners

Steam Cleaning

Prepare a solution of water and white distilled vinegar and pour it into your steam cleaner. Run the appliance directly onto the upholstery. This will freshen up the fabric and kill the bacteria and dust mites insides the furniture’s filling.

“Sponge Bath”

Another easy DIY home recipe is to mix warm water and a few drops of non-toxic fabric detergent. (You can also replace it with laundry soap.) Dip a clean sponge in the solution. Squeeze it very well, and it should be slightly damp, not soaking wet. Carefully wipe the upholstery to refresh and deodorise it. If you have any doubt you are dealing with moisture sensitive fabric, better turn to professionals. Dealing with stubborn stains is another task you might want to leave to professional upholstery cleaners.

Proper Drying

The last step of DIY upholstery cleaning is to make sure that the furnishing is completely dry before using it. This step is crucial if you want to prevent quick re-soiling of the fabric. Proper drying of soft furniture is a must if you want to avoid mould growth and deterioration. During the warm seasons, you can leave the windows of the house wide open for a few hours and let the upholstery to air dry. Depending on the fabric type this can take 2-4 hours if the weather is dry. If the weather is cold or humid, you can turn up a fan or an air conditioner in the room to speed up the drying process. However, be careful not to let heater directed towards the wet upholstery otherwise, the fabric can shrink and deform.

Check also: How to Make Your Home a Healthier Place?