How to Clean Upholstered Furniture

Keeping upholstered furniture clean will increase the life of the fabrics. Here's how to wash upholstery, whether it's a couch, sofa, loveseat or favorite chair.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Cleaning Cloths
• Detergents
• Electric Fans
• Handheld Dusting Brushes
• Power Brush Vacuum Attachments
• Plastic Bucket
• Plastic Scrapers

1. Remove all loose cushions.

2. 

   Loosen dirt with a handheld dusting brush while using a vacuum brush attachment to remove the dust.

3. Vacuum all surfaces of the furniture: back, sides, arms, skirt and the platform beneath the cushions.

4. Vacuum both sides of the loose cushions.

5. Replace cushions.

6. 

   Add 1/4 c. laundry detergent or liquid dish detergent to 1 c. warm water. Blend with an electric mixer; whip the mixture until the suds look like whipped cream (it will be dry and form peaks).

7. Test for fading by dipping a cloth in the suds and rubbing a small place on the back of furniture. Let dry. If fading, shrinkage or discoloration occurs, have the job done professionally; if not, proceed to the next step.

8. 

   Pick an area on the furniture, dip cloth and rub suds on.

9. 

   Dirt will begin to appear in suds as they work. Use a scraper to scrape suds away.

10. Rinse area with a damp cloth.

11. Repeat steps 8 through 10 on other areas of furniture, allowing for overlap of areas during cleaning.

12. Allow to dry overnight, preferably with an electric fan blowing on furniture.

Tips & Warnings

• The best way to keep upholstered furniture clean is to use the preventative method: vacuum weekly to remove dust and prevent heavy soiling of the fabric.

• To keep fabric from snagging when vacuuming, put a piece of nonmetallic window screen between the vacuum nozzle and the fabric.

• Change suds, rinsing water and cleaning cloths as needed.