How To Clean Your Sofa In 7 Easy Steps

Sofas are always bound to get dirty no matter who uses them. Kids play on them, drinks spill on them, crumbs of food, mud dragged onto sofas by pets, among other ways, all get sofas dirty. However, keeping them clean makes them attractive always and ensure that their material lasts as long as possible. Cleaning your sofa can be far less daunting if you have the right cleaning supplies.

The following 7 steps can help you to clean your sofa easily and fast:

1. Pre-Cleaning the Sofa
This is a preparatory stage, which requires you to brush and vacuum the sofa. The cushions and pillows must not be left out during this stage. All other parts of the sofa must also be vacuumed to remove any debris or loose dirt.

2. Use a Cloth to Dust all Wood Areas
Sofas have areas made of wood like the legs and arms. Dust and other dirt have tendencies to accumulate on these parts over time. You can use a wet cloth to clean up these parts, this being a great way to get rid of dust. Wooden parts do not normally need special attention, so the wet cloth should be good enough to handle these parts. Wood polish can however be used in the end to give the wooden parts polished appearances.

3. Go Through The Manufacturer’s Manual
The purpose of going through the papers which came along with the sofa is to find out if the warranty is still on. Many manufacturers or sellers of sofas offer to clean them up for you for as long as the warranty runs. If this offer is till valid then you could stop right there and get in touch with the manufacturers or sellers to carry on with the rest of the cleaning process. Another reason for going through the papers is to find out if the manufacturer specified products to be used in the cleaning process. Many a times manufacturers specify products to be used in cleaning of your sofas. This has to be paid attention to because these are the most appropriate products that can ensure that the value of the sofas is maintained and that they last long.

4. Determine the Fabric of the Sofa
Determination of the fabric used to manufacture the sofa is an important step since it enables you to easily brainstorm on the methods that you would use during cleaning. In the event that you find it difficult to decide on what method to use, refer to the care guide of the sofa. This should be among the papers that the sofa came along with. Vital information to guide you through this determination stage can also be on tags under the cushions or pillows.

5. Separate the Sofa Into Parts
Dismantling the sofa (if possible) into parts makes the cleaning process easy. If there are pieces that can be washed or cleaned separately and quickly such as cushion covers or the likes, clean them up separately to make the whole process simplified.

6. Buy the Cleaning Products and Get Started With Cleaning
Now you have figured out the right products to use for the type of fabric the sofa was manufactured with. Buy them from stores around you and then get a shampooer, preferably one with a suction pump. Take note that your carpet shampooer can double up as a shampooer for your sofa. The cleaning process requires that you are very keen so that you do not derail the fabric of the sofa. Use the best quality of specified products so that the fabric of the sofa is well cared for.

Testing the products can help ensure that the value of the sofa is maintained and its attractiveness is not undermined in any way. Apply a little bit of the products on a very small area on the back of the sofa using the shampooer and then clean it up. This is meant to ensure that the products do not remove the colour of the fabric nor mess up the fibre of the fabric. If the products are great, then get to cleaning the rest of the sofa using the hand-held attachment on the shampooer. The suction pump on the shampooer should remove all the dirt and excess water.

7. Drying the Sofa
When the cleaning process is done, ensure proper aeration for the sofa and the cushions so that they dry out. Once they have all dried out completely, put all the pieces back together and then place the sofa back to the original positions.

Conclusion

An easy option would be to hire the services of a professional sofa cleaning company. This should work out well for you, just that you have to pay for the services. It is not a good option however because the money you pay professional cleaners can be used on other important investments or saved for future use.