How to clean upholstered furniture at home?

During the cleaning a lot of questions the housewives cause cleaning upholstered furniture. Most contaminants can be easily removed at home, and in the most hopeless situations, dry cleaning will come to the rescue. The exposure option depends not only on the type of upholstery, but also on the type of pollution, its prescription.

There are universal tools, for example, a steam cleaner, it will not be replaced by any vacuum cleaner. A good result when processing the bulk of the materials gives Vanish - a safe tool through which intensive dry cleaning is carried out.

When planning the processing of upholstered furniture with your own hands, you must strictly adhere to the following rules:

1. Using a vacuum cleaner at the preparatory or final stage, you need to set the minimum power. Do not allow upholstery to be drawn into the pipe.
2. Furniture, consisting of individual elements, must be disassembled and vacuumed or wiped in all accessible places before processing.
3. Dry cleaning will give the maximum positive result if you use a steam cleaner as a final step. In order to avoid the appearance of stains after wet processing, do not combine industrial preparations and self-made products.
4. Stains from soft upholstery must be removed as they appear, and not stored until the planned general cleaning.
5. Particular attention will have to be paid to furniture covered in velvet and velor. A vacuum cleaner can ruin the condition of the pile, so it is better to refuse it, and intensive cleaning of these products will have to be carried out more often than usual.

The selected product or tool must first be checked in an inconspicuous area of ​​the upholstery. If the test is unsuccessful, then the only solution in this case will be dry cleaning.

Universal care products for upholstered furniture

In addition to compounds of narrow specialization, acting only on a specific fabric, there are products that can get rid of an impressive list of contaminants, regardless of the type of material. They can be made independently at home:

• Acetic and saline solution is the most effective and safe means for cleaning upholstered furniture. It must be used to process the entire product at once. To eliminate local stains, it is better to choose something more aggressive, a similar preparation is more likely to return the product to freshness and relieve dust no worse than a vacuum cleaner. We take two tablespoons of salt and vinegar per liter of water. In the resulting solution, moisten the sheet and squeeze it carefully. We cover the sofa or chair with a cloth and carefully knock it out with a cane or a special device.
• Sweet spots can be easily removed with warm water with any detergent. The main thing is that the dye does not have time to fit into the fabric texture. There is no need to impregnate the material - blot it with a damp cloth and immediately remove moisture with a dry cloth. So we repeat until the pollution is completely neutralized.
• Traces of beer can also be removed with your own hands. For this, again, we use a soap composition in the same way. Only after the product dries, it is recommended to additionally treat it with a weak vinegar solution.
• Chewing gum from any upholstery will help eliminate the cold. We apply ice placed in a plastic bag to the problem area and after a few minutes wipe the dirt with a blunt knife.A grease stain is removed with the product that is suitable for a particular fabric. If possible, use a steam cleaner.

Some housewives attribute affordable and effective Vanish to universal remedies, forgetting that this product is strictly forbidden to use for processing natural fibers. It copes with spots perfectly, but often leads to deformation of matter.

Features of dry cleaning of upholstered furniture

Contrary to popular belief, dry processing of upholstered furniture is not only a vacuum cleaner and mechanical impact on the fabric. This also includes powders and foaming agents. A steam cleaner, under certain conditions, can also be used to restore the cleanliness and freshness of very capricious products without wetting them.

• Foam. The most popular drug of the direction is Vanish. Its foam is so dense that it hardly moisturizes the tissue. You need to act strictly according to the instructions, which boils down to preparing the product, applying it to the contaminated area and removing it with dry wipes or a vacuum cleaner.

Tip: If Vanish is over, then you can prepare a detergent from improvised components. It is best to mix shampoo and bath foam in equal proportions, then beat this composition with a mixer. The resulting mass should be very dense with a minimum amount of moisture.

• Powders. They are most often used by professionals, therefore, if desired, dry cleaning can be arranged at home. Both ready-made products and salt, chalk, and soda familiar to everyone are used. But they act only on initially wet spots, otherwise you have to pre-moisten the fabric.
• Steam cleaner and vacuum cleaner. The first tool guarantees high-quality cleaning of the product, restoration of its freshness, disinfection of tissue and filler. The second only removes dust from the surface of the piece of furniture. Using a steam cleaner, you need to make sure that there are no contraindications to this, otherwise there is a risk of permanent damage to the product.

Dry cleaning is usually recommended when processing velor, suede, silk, viscose. But even in these cases, the local application of the wet method to eliminate particularly persistent stains is allowed.

Types of upholstery in which you can carry out wet cleaning of upholstered furniture

Nevertheless, the highest efficiency, which the dry cleaning envies, is guaranteed by wet processing using detergents. These components are created at home or purchased ready-made.

The main thing is to choose the right drug for a particular tissue:

• Flock, chenille and velor used as upholstery for upholstered furniture most often. This is due to the fact that these fabrics are practical and can be easily cleaned with your own hands. Fatty formations are eliminated with a soapy solution and a microfiber cloth. Makeup and ink will remove alcohol solution. The stain from coffee, tea or wine needs to be moistened and rubbed well with powder.
• Silk. A rather capricious matter, for the treatment of which such means as Vanish are often contraindicated, and a steam cleaner can leave stubborn stains on the surface. There is only one home cleaning option - we take a soft brush for clothes, wrap it with a white cotton napkin and clean the stain with a weak solution of peroxide or ammonia. If such approaches did not help, then dry cleaning might do.
• Suede leather. If dry cleaning is not enough, a foam from a soap solution can help. Immediately after cleaning, the pile should be combed with a rubber brush to restore its volume.
• Leather. Artificial or natural material is recommended to be wiped with a dry soft cloth. In extreme cases, the use of a weak solution of alcohol or vodka is allowed.

When starting to clean upholstered furniture, you need to look at all the labels on the product and make sure that the selected processing option is not contraindicated by the manufacturer.