Dry cleaning the sofa with your own hands at home

With long-term use of furniture, the appearance of contamination is inevitable. Before contacting a cleaning company, you should try to remove stains or unpleasant odors with your own hands. You can find powders and gels for dry cleaning your sofa at home in your regular store.

You may need a variety of tools to clean your furniture. Get rid of the dust first, so prepare a vacuum cleaner with suitable brushes and attachments. You can also use a beater for this purpose, but if the upholstery of your sofa is made of velvet or velor, it is better to avoid rough influences so as not to damage the fabric.

Getting rid of stains is a more difficult task, and a vacuum cleaner will not cope with it. Gels, powders, shampoos and other products for dry cleaning of a sofa at home come to the rescue. Simply select the correct formulation from the store and follow the instructions on the package to remove stubborn dirt. You can also try simpler and more affordable means: soda, chalk, alcohol.

There is another solution - cleaning with a steam generator. This unit is suitable for most sofas (except for models with silk or linen upholstery). Here are some of the benefits of a steam generator.

• Due to the influence of steam, deep cleansing occurs. You can remove stains and odors without resorting to harsh chemicals, and this will be a plus for allergy sufferers.
• The device allows you to get to hard-to-reach places.The steam penetrates into the fabric and under the upholstery, so it can be used to get rid of the dust mite.
• There are compact models of steamers that do not take up much space, are easy to operate and affordable. Steam generators are produced by companies such as Karcher, Kitfort, Ariete and others that specialize in home cleaning equipment.

Often, even after removing stains from the surface of the furniture, unpleasant odors remain. Smells can come from drinks and food, pets, indoor smoking, high humidity. You can use a special furniture deodorant or car air fresheners, but they only mask the scents, so it's best to do a thorough cleaning.

Dampness and lack of proper air circulation often cause furniture to smell musty. You can fix this problem yourself.

• It is better to take the sofa out of the house so that it air-dry and ventilate, and then vacuum it.
• If it is not possible to move the furniture, then you can use a fan heater, and put a container with soda and salt in the linen compartment: they absorb odors.
• After drying, you need to prepare a solution of 6% vinegar with water, wet the gauze, squeeze and put on the upholstery. Repeat in an hour. Cleaning is carried out during the day. You can also use citric acid solution instead of vinegar.

In some cases, the smell does not go away. This indicates that mold spores have formed inside the sofa. They represent a serious problem that is not always solved even by changing the filler. Your old furniture may need to be thrown away if the harmful fungus has grown significantly.

Odors left by pets are removed with a thick gruel from laundry soap, which must be applied to the stain and left for half an hour. After that, everything should be washed off and dried. To combat the smell of vomit, you need to use soda gruel.

If the tools at hand did not help, you can turn to the arsenal of household chemicals.

• Foam "Drop Vox". Used for cleaning, disinfecting, leaves a pleasant aroma.
• Leather Cleaner. Designed for leather surfaces. Not only cleans, but also removes unpleasant odors.
• Extra Profi powder. With its help, you can remove stains from urine, blood. The corresponding odors will also disappear.

Even if you handle furniture carefully and carefully, microscopic debris will still accumulate on the surface. Getting rid of dust yourself is easy: you need a vacuum cleaner for this. With regular cleaning, you can easily keep your sofa clean. It is better to use several brushes: a model with a lint to pick up hair or wool from the surface, as well as a thin attachment for hard-to-reach places.

Dry cleaning is suitable for capricious upholstery: silk, velvet, tapestry fabrics. If there is a lot of dust and dirt, then powders are additionally used: they are applied to the surface, and then removed with a vacuum cleaner. A leather sofa can also be tidied up in a similar way.

Here are some popular dry cleaning powders.

• Sun Lux. Suitable for dyed fabrics, does not contain aggressive components that fade upholstery. Can be used on velor and various pile materials.
• Mitex. The composition of this product is safe and hypoallergenic. The powder not only removes dirt, but also helps to get rid of dust mites.
• Flash. Designed for tough stains.

You can try to get rid of the pollution without resorting to chemicals. You need to remove the stain from the edges, moving towards the center, so as not to rub it over the surface even more. The agent is selected depending on the origin of the contamination.

• Fatty. You can use ground chalk, talcum powder, salt and baking soda. These ingredients are absorbent and will help get rid of fresh stains.
• Blood. It is removed with cold water, brine, or hydrogen peroxide.
• Urine. In this case, you can clean the surface with vinegar and baking soda.
• Ink. Dampen a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol to gently wipe off any marks from the pen.
• Tea and coffee. These stains usually lend themselves to soapy water.
• Fruit juice. Traces of it can be removed with alcohol-based cotton wool.

When choosing them, it is also necessary to take into account the origin of the spots:

• preparations where the main active ingredient is acid, they fight well with traces of coffee, berries and fruits, wine, beer;
• alkaline compounds are suitable for removing sugar stains: traces of jam, sauces, juices;
• organic solvents quickly deal with grease stains, as well as traces of varnishes and paints;
• surfactant complexes are used to cleanse physiological fluids.

Usually, manufacturers indicate for what purposes their products are intended, but if in doubt, you can familiarize yourself with the composition to check whether the active ingredient will cope with your problem. Now let's take a look at some of the popular stain removers.

• Pro-Brite Lenot. Available as a spray. Suitable for removing dirt from textile upholstery. Can be used for manual cleaning: rub in with a sponge until foam forms, leave for 10 minutes, then remove with a napkin. This tool can also be used in combination with a steam generator. The product removes not only dirt, but also odors, including from tobacco smoke.
• Tuba. Cleaning foam. Suitable for natural and synthetic materials. With its help, you can carry out dry cleaning and not worry about the destruction of the upholstery or filler. The foam does not harm the dyed fabric.
• Ekokemika Textil Interior. A concentrated product, before using which you need to make a solution. It differs in economical consumption, but some find it easier to work with ready-made cleaners that do not require additional preparations. The composition removes stains from food, earth, paint. Does not require rinsing.
• Nordland. Active foam for cleaning natural materials. Copes with heavy and stubborn dirt, including grease, berry and juice stains, felt-tip marks. Suitable for dry cleaning, eliminates unpleasant odors.
• Pip. A series of products designed to remove stains from furniture and carpets. Available in spray format. The composition contains natural acids, organic salts, enzymes, plant extracts. All this ensures high efficiency. To remove dirt, spray on the work area, grind to form a foam, wait a little, and then remove the residue.
• "Bagi Shtihonit". The cleaner removes traces of the life of pets, removes not only stains, but also stubborn odors. Suitable for dealing with old tracks. Due to the active ingredients in the composition, it is recommended to wear gloves when working and not to inhale the vapors of the cleaner.