How to Clean Your Couch: Let 5Star Furniture Teaches You

How to Clean Your Couch

The furniture in your house serves a purpose beyond merely providing storage and seating space. The furniture largely determines the overall aesthetic quality of your house. For this reason, many homeowners are willing to invest time and money in furnishing their homes.

As an online furniture store, the selling of home furnishings is our bread and butter. For this reason, we feel that it would be worthwhile to share our knowledge of proper furniture care with you. Learning how to keep your furniture clean and pristine is an easy way to maintain a beautiful household.

 

Choosing the right furniture is only half the battle; you still have to take care of it to keep it undamaged and functional for as long as possible. It is important to understand how to maintain and clean your furniture properly. Doing so will likely ensure that you can enjoy them for both the functional and aesthetic qualities for years to come.

We figured we’d start with couches. Couches are among the most common pieces of furniture found in homes worldwide. Furthermore, they are typically found in communal spaces such as the living room, where they are used regularly by both homeowners and guests. This high degree of activity leaves most couches dirtier than most other types of furniture found at home.

In this article, we will teach you how to clean your couch properly. We’ll share some of the most reliable cleaning methods and products we use to make your couch look like new. We will also discuss how to treat your couch based on the specific fabric it is made of.

 

Getting Started with Cleaning Your Couch

Most couches, like the ones sold on our online furniture store’s website, should have a cleaning tag attached somewhere (usually on the store’s website). That tag will provide you with important information that you need to understand before you begin cleaning your couch. Here are the symbols that most commonly appear on the cleaning tags of couches:

S

This means that the material of your couch cannot be cleaned using water. You should instead use water-free cleaning solutions, such as solvent-based cleaners.

W

This means it will be safe to clean your couch’s upholstery with water.

WS

This is basically a combination of the last two. It means your couch can be cleaned with either water- or solvent-based cleaners. If necessary, you can even use both to clean your couch.

X

This means that your couch’s upholstery cannot be cleaned using water or solvent-based cleaners. If you’d like to clean your couch, you are encouraged to use a vacuum instead. If there is a stain on your couch, check the tag and then follow these guidelines. Make sure that the proper solution is used to clean the couch and give it a good scrub. This should work for simple stains, but larger messes, such as those caused by pets, wine, and children, may require a more detailed approach to cleaning.

We at the 5Star online furniture store are going to share our knowledge of how to effectively clean the specific upholstery of some of the most common types of couches.

 

Microfiber Couches should be cleaned differently

Given their considerable popularity, our online furniture store retails many microfiber couch options. Microfiber couches earn their gleaming reputation for their ability to withstand regular use and messes. The plastic materials used to construct microfiber upholstery give couches a durable surface that repels a wide range of dirt. They can repel dust and shake off most types of spillage stains, making them a common choice among homeowners with children or pets. We recommend browsing our online furniture store’s catalogue for deals on microfiber couches if you are looking for furniture designed for a busy home.

Microfiber couches, as mentioned above, are made of synthetic materials. These may include any combination of nylon, polyester, and polyamide. As such, the symbol on a microfiber couch’s tag should read “S” for solvent-based cleaners. This means the best way to remove stains on these surfaces is to use rubbing alcohol. Using a cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol, you can test the solution’s effectiveness by first applying it to a small portion of the couch. Here’s a 5Star online furniture store pro tip: test your cleaning on a hard-to-see spot on the couch before committing to the rest.

If it looks like the alcohol is working, you can spray it onto the stained areas of your couch and scrub with a colour-free sponge. The sponge must be colourless; otherwise, you risk the alcohol causing the colour to seep onto the couch. Experts suggest that your brush strokes should be circular in motion.

Once you have finished scrubbing, give the couch about half an hour to dry. In most weather conditions, the couch should dry quickly because the alcohol will evaporate from its surface. The next thing you are going to do is grab your scrubbing brush and stroke the couch in circles. This will leave the fabric with nice tufting afterwards.

 

Leather Couches

Leather couches exemplify the gold standard for durability in lounge furniture. The material, typically made from cured and treated cowhides, is extremely resistant to tearing, puncturing, and burning. It is not immune to stains, however. If you have a couch made of protected leather, we have just the solution for cleaning up any stains it may accumulate. Keep in mind, however, your couch needs to be made of protected leather. For the most part, the cleaning process for leather couches varies widely across different types of leather.

We are discussing protected leather couches because they seem to be the most common. If you have a different type of leather couch, you should consult the cleaning tag instead. It’s likely that whoever made your couch also has cleaning instructions in their manual or on their website.

 

How to clean protected leather upholstery:

First things first, you want to remove any debris caught in your couch. We’re talking about sand, lint, dog hair, and so forth. You can do this either with a brush or a vacuum, although the latter stands to do a better job. Make sure to cover every corner and every fold of your couch before moving on to the next step.

For the next step, you will need a clean microfiber cloth. These are typically made using a mixture of nylon, polyester, and polyamide. They offer more surface-area contact when cleaning, making them super useful for tough stains. Make sure your clothes are dry before wiping down every inch of your couch.

The next step involves a bit of physics. You are going to create a 1:1 mix of white vinegar and clean water (make sure to mix enough to cover your whole couch). Vinegar is not only acetic acid, which kills common germs such as E. coli and Salmonella, but it can also be a very effective grease-buster.

Dampen your microfibre cloth with the mix, then get to work on the couch. Wipe down your whole couch, but give special attention to the trouble spots where stains are the worst. You should also try to rinse your clothes frequently. Here’s a 5Star online furniture store tip: once the couch has dried, be sure to apply a coat of leather conditioner (the price is well worth it).

 

Fabric Couches

You will first need a firm-bristled brush to dislodge stains that have dried on your couch’s surface. After this, you want to pour baking soda over the whole couch. Leave the baking soda there for 30 minutes to an hour, then vacuum it up. Ideally, you should use a vacuum with a brush nozzle, as it makes this part of the process much easier.

Next, you are going to make a homemade couch cleaner with vinegar, warm water, and dishwashing liquid. The formula is as follows:

• ¼ cups vinegar
• ¾ cups warm water
• 1 tbsp. of dishwashing liquid (this can be substituted with Castile soap)

You can take the mixture and place it in an empty, clean spray bottle. If you are tackling heavy stains, you can add a tablespoon of baking soda to the mix for a little extra oomph.

You then begin spraying and wiping down the couch in sections. The wiping should be done with a soft, colourless towel. Once you have gotten the stains off with the towel, take a second towel and dampen it with water before using it to wash off the soap left behind by the mixture. Lastly, use a clean towel to soak up the water.

As with the other couches, it is time to let your couch sit and dry before use. Fabric couches typically require several hours to dry properly. One last online furniture store pro tip: drying the couch after cleaning can be expedited by cleaning it on a sunny day.

 

Daily Tips for Keeping Your Couch Clean

We at the 5Star online furniture store would like to conclude this article on couch cleaning tips with some additional advice for daily maintenance:

1. Firstly, do not be shy about using the vacuum cleaner. It removes dust and mites and prevents either from accumulating if done regularly. It will also prevent debris such as sand from gathering in all your couch’s nooks and crannies.

2. Fluffing and tufting the seats and cushions of your couch’san help them retain their shape and rigidity. If you do not do this regularly, the materials inside these cushions will begin to accumulate in one spot, warping the couch’s shape.

3. If you have cats or dogs, you should already own a lint roller. Icouch’sbuy one ASAP and start rolling pet hair off your couch once a day to prevent buildup. This is especially important for people with allergies.

 

Buy Quality Couches on the Website of Our Accredited Online Furniture Store

We at 5Star have a reputation for selling reliable and comfortable furniture at cost-effective prices. If you are interested in putting your home’s interior space together at an affordable price, look no further than our home furniture store. You can browse our catalogue on our website and make purchases directly here.