How and how to clean the sofa and upholstered furniture at home from dirt, without spoiling the covers?

Before cleaning the sofa or any other piece of furniture with the help of a product recommended by a friend, you should carefully read the instructions to the staff. Contrary to popular belief, "universal" products do not exist. If in one case a soft chair managed to get rid of dirt and restore the original look to the upholstery, then in another - the surface of the piece of furniture will be covered with a lot of divorces, from which only the dry-cleaner will save. However, correctly selected means for cleaning upholstered furniture - this is only half the success. Qualitative cleaning of the sofa also implies compliance with a number of technical recommendations.

How to properly remove dust from the upholstery?

To properly and thoroughly clean the sofa at home without the risk of divorce and new stains, first remove the dust from the upholstery surface. Sensitive to surrounding stimuli people are able to determine exactly when to clean the upholstered furniture from dust - they begin to sneeze, approaching the subject of everyday life. Even if such manifestations are not observed, complete dry processing of the product should be carried out at least 1-2 times per year.

This can be done in one of the following ways:

1. Using knockout. We take the old sheet, which is not a pity, a punch and a basin with cool water( you can add a tablespoon of vinegar to it).The material is wetted in a liquid, maximally squeezed and spread over the surface of the upholstery. Then we work with a punch, trying to reach all corners of the subject. If necessary, the cloth is wetted again or even changed if it is covered with a layer of dirt.
2. Using a vacuum cleaner. In this case, just go through the surface of the furniture with a special nozzle, not forgetting about the crevices, folds and other hard-to-reach places. If the sofa is light, it is strictly forbidden to wind a damp cloth on the nozzle, as some housewives do. Dust will collect on the fabric and go over the upholstery, forming stubborn spots.

After preliminary treatment, it is necessary to proceed to the process of removing local contaminants. If there is no possibility to turn to a dry cleaner, you can do it yourself.

The most common types of stains and how to solve them

Virtually any contamination on the upholstery surface of upholstered furniture can be attempted to clean with Vanish. Just beat it into a strong foam according to the instructions and apply a stain. Several active brush movements, suitable for a particular material, and cleaning the sofa are completed. Unfortunately, today it is increasingly possible to encounter a fake original product, and not always this composition may be available, and you need to act quickly.

If you can not use Wanish, you can try to cope with folk remedies. If you know the best way to work on a certain type of spots, the work will go quickly, and the result will not disappoint:

• Beer, tea, coffee. In this case, it is best to clean the upholstery of the sofa with the most common laundry soap. Using a sponge, lightly soak the dirt, rub it with soap, then brush it, making circular motions. After 10 minutes, we begin to soak with a clean sponge, regularly rinsing it until the foam is completely removed.

Tip: Removing the vast majority of fresh spots will not cause any trouble, even if there was no effective detergent at hand. Therefore, do not delay with the treatment of the problem area, especially if you need to clean the light and very whimsical material.

• Blood. If the formation is completely fresh, then we use only cold water and a sponge. When working with a light cloth, add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water, and after preliminary treatment, we plug in a soap solution. We apply the same means for cleaning the skin of any shade. If there are yellowish divorces on the place of formation, then either aggressive reagent( peroxide, ammonia) or dry cleaning will help.
• Wine. The first thing you need to do is to get a paper towel so that it does not spread further up the upholstery. Immediately after this, pour the stain with a fine salt. After a quarter of an hour, we clean the salt with a soft brush, and wipe off the dirt with a napkin moistened with alcohol or vodka. To clean the sofa, covered with old specks of wine, we follow the same pattern, after moistening the material with cool water.
• Urine. Here it is necessary to eliminate not only the spot, but its consequences in the form of an unpleasant smell. If dry cleaning is excluded from possible approaches, then we act according to the proven scheme. First, we dry the contamination with towels or a hair dryer. Then carefully clean the problem area with shampoo, diluted in warm water. If the piece of furniture is not made of light material, then make a pink solution of potassium permanganate and treat the wet area. To wash it is necessary nothing! Light furniture is best cleaned by Vanish.

• Fat. A characteristic fresh formation is covered with baking soda, shallow salt or potato starch. After a few minutes, the area is treated with a sponge soaked in a dishwashing liquid. A few minutes later, everything is thoroughly washed off.
• Chewing gum. It is very difficult to clean up soft furniture at home from this type of pollution. First, the product needs to be removed and the easiest way to do this is when it is frozen. We apply ice cubes wrapped in a napkin to the contamination. Then scrape the mass with a knife. Detected underneath the stain, moisten with water, sprinkle with soda, after 10 minutes, wipe off with a damp napkin.
• Inks. The hardest way to remove traces from the ballpoint pen from the leather surface. If the material is light, and the substance has already dried, then the sofa at home will not work, it's better not to experiment and turn to professionals. If ink gets on the fabric, then you can use acetone, liquid for removing varnish or alcohol.

If the origin or quality of the stain is not clear, you can take a little shampoo, drip a few drops of ammonia into it and apply it to the formation. After 5 minutes, try to clean the surface with warm water. If necessary, sprinkle a soda spot and repeat the manipulation several times.

Ways to update the color of covers and eliminate odor

Even if the soft furniture items are not stained and regularly cleaned of dust, they still fade and lose their original attractiveness after a while. To prevent this, hostesses should take the following techniques:

1. Application of steamer. Allows you not only to update the appearance of the sofa in just a few seconds, but also disinfects the fabric, reduces the risk of allergies. The main thing is to allow the product to dry completely before further use.
2. Use of a filler for cat litter. So that you do not have to wipe your sofa off unnecessary polish yourself and corrode unpleasant smells from it, you can sprinkle filler balls on its surface every 2-3 weeks and clean them in half an hour.

In addition to all of the above, it is necessary to regularly vacuum upholstered furniture and ventilate it, taking out on the street in the warm season or providing good access to fresh air.