Upholstery Cleaning Hacks
When a disaster happens, some of the things that almost always get thrown out are upholstery like sofas, drapes, more. After your home floods or you experience a house fire, you may feel tempted to toss your couch. However, your upholstery can still be salvaged and the damage may not be as bad as you think!
Use these easy cleaning hacks to restore your upholstery and keep your favorite items a little longer!
1. Assess the Damage
Before you do anything else, inspect your furniture to see how extensive the damage is! Doing this will let you know how to go about repairing and cleaning your damaged upholstery. Check for areas that are more warn than others, and look for spots, rips, tears, burn marks, and stains.
Separate furniture and upholstery like drapes and rugs that have irreparable damage from items that can be restored. This will potentially help your salvageable items remain somewhat intact long enough for you to clean them.
2. Steam and Vacuum
To start, our restoration team at Cut N Dry Restoration suggests you begin by steaming items like your couch and rugs to kill any bacteria on the surface. However, if you don’t own a steamer, then you can begin by vacuuming the surface to remove any debris.
For sofas, be sure to go over the entire sofa, and don’t skip places like the arms, legs, or skirt of the couch. These areas are sometimes forgotten and can hold bacteria and dirt.
Once you’re done, try scrubbing down your couch with a mixture of liquid soap and cold water or a tablespoon of white vinegar and ⅔ cups of rubbing alcohol. For drapes, washing them in the washing machine with cold water will remove debris.
3. Spot Clean and Sanitize
For especially stubborn materials, we suggest spot cleaning if there are still remaining stains after scrubbing down your upholstery. Find the most stubborn spots and use cleaners that are safe for the type of fabric, stain, and damage you have. When you’re done, simply sanitize the surface again using a safe fabric sanitizing spray.