Top tips for cleaning your family sofa | Mum In The Madhouse

Top tips for cleaning your family sofa

Our family sofas have to put up with a lot. Ours are used for playing video games, making forts, reading, snuggling and watching moves, sport and TV. Most people think that their sofa is the most important piece of furniture in their home. I do know that ours is in use daily and they take a lot of stick.

When my boys were younger we opted for leather sofas and they were brilliant and also easy to clean, however, when they came to the end of their natural lives we replaced them with fabric sofas and thought that as the boys were older that they wouldn’t get treated quite so hard, oh how we were wrong!

Importance Of Regular Maintenance And Cleaning Of The Sofa

For avoiding the dangers of a dirty sofa, it’s essential to clean it regularly. Regular cleaning of the couch provides a healthy office or home environment. Your car is likely to run better when it’s clean, right? In the same way, clean furniture seems more welcoming. Frequent maintenance of the sofa keeps you and your family safe from germs, bacteria, and allergens. 

DIY Tips to help you clean your sofa:

As well as cleaning the front of the sofa, you need to pull it out and wipe the back too. This is even more important with corner sofas (I know this from experience) as dirt gravitates to the rear!

  • Baking soda and vinegar:

These ingredients are usually in your store cupboard at home and are also inexpensive. To remove the stains from your sofa, you can use a mixture of vinegar and baking soda. That will give life to your dull-looking couch. 

  • Sodium Bicarbonate:

Bicarb is brilliant as a deodorising. You can add your favorite essential oil to it (just a couple of drops) and sprinkle all our the sofa before vacuum cleaning.

  • Vacuum cleaning:

This DIY is the easiest to clean your sofa. Attach a vacuum with brushes to wipe off all the dirt on the surface of your couch. You can also suck out the dust from the cushions on your sofa. 

Processes used by professionals to clean a sofa:

Sometimes DIY cleaning isn’t enough to remove stubborn stains. Or perhaps doing it yourself isn’t your thing. Perhaps you are in a hurry and want your sofa cleaned effectively, so you hire a professional.

  1. Chemical cleaning:

Professionals use chemicals that are safe for use on many fabrics. They use a unique method called dry shampoo encapsulation. This method uses embedded particles of sand; it removes dirt effectively. It also doesn’t take long to dry. 

  • Foam cleaning:

Professionals apply a foam solution to their hands and rub it on the stains. They leave the foam solution to rest on the stained area for some time. After that, through vacuum cleaning, they properly clean the area. The professionals know how much foam to use. Thus, there are fewer chances of moisture damage. This method provides you with a fresh-smelling and clean sofa. 

Have you ever used a professional service to clean your sofa?

Why it is important to clean your sofa

Most people easily overlook cleaning a sofa until it becomes visibly dirty with a stain.

  1. Dust mites and allergens:

For allergens and dust mites, soft furnishings and upholstery fibers are the ideal nesting grounds. From sofas, you can inhale dead mites, their feces, and their shredded skin. That irritates airways and can trigger asthma and allergies. 

  • Bacteria and viruses:

People spread more germs on the sofa because they are most likely to spend a lot of time there. The risk of germs is higher if you have pets or kids at home. The soft fibers of the couch quickly transport germs. 

  • Mold:

If you live in a humid and warm climate, be more concerned about mold. Soft fibers of sofas act like a sponge and are likely to soak up extra moisture. That creates an ideal breeding ground in which mold can grow. Mold is unsanitary, and inhaling it can trigger respiratory issues like asthma.