Best Carpet and Upholstery Cleaners for 2022

Each house has at least one set of upholstered furniture. In rare cases, it serves well for many years and does not need cleaning. The presence of children, pets, as well as the habit of household members to eat while sitting in an easy chair inevitably adds stains to the upholstery. Simple daily cleaning activities cannot get rid of such contaminants. A deeper cleaning using special products is required.

Some people use removable covers for upholstered furniture, washing them periodically in an automatic machine. But this does not help with all stains. Dust, abundant liquid pollution, and animal traces can only be thoroughly treated with chemicals. The best option for cleaning surfaces at home is cleaning with special liquids. When choosing, they are guided by the quality of the material, the intensity of contamination, and safety. Before you start cleaning, you should conduct a test on a small area to make sure that the method is suitable for the item. The most effective of them are presented below in our rating of upholstery cleaning products.

Recommendations for using cleaning products

It is important to always read the instructions included with the product and follow them carefully. If you are using a furniture cleaner for the first time, then it is recommended to test it on some inconspicuous area, for example, on the back wall of a sofa or chair.

Once a satisfactory result is obtained, you can begin to completely clean the item. Do not use hard brushes to care for delicate upholstery. Soft sponges are more suitable.

You should always work with gloves to avoid injury to your hands. The product may contain chlorine or another component that corrodes the skin and provokes an inflammatory or allergic reaction.

Do not use a more concentrated solution than the manufacturer recommends to remove difficult stains. This may cause the product to corrode the upholstery or dull its color.

Types of cleaning upholstered furniture

Regular care of pieces of furniture will extend their service life while maintaining an attractive appearance and save the family budget on purchasing new products. It is up to the consumer to decide whether to get rid of stains themselves or order professional dry cleaning. Dry and wet cleaning will help restore furniture to its original appearance.

Dry cleaning

The effectiveness of dry cleaning, suitable for most surfaces, is great, but is inferior in effectiveness to wet cleaning, which contains active, and in other cases aggressive, components that penetrate deeply into the texture of the material. The dry method uses sorbent substances that penetrate into the fabric and absorb all contaminants without the use of water.

There are several types of dry cleaning:

• using foam - carried out with a liquid solution that is applied to the contaminated area. After some time, the cleaning foam “sucks up” the dirt and all that remains is to remove it with a clean sponge. Does not require the use of a vacuum cleaner, all manipulations are done manually;
• using a powder containing “micro sponges” – it is applied evenly and absorbs dirt, changing color. Removed from the surface using a vacuum cleaner. Suitable for dirt that has not yet become embedded in furniture.

Velor and velvet material with pile is easy to clean with a soft brush in tandem with cleaning foam designed for dry cleaning.

Wet cleaning

A popular and classic way to keep furniture clean is water cleaning using a combination of cleaning products and water as a solvent. It is most often carried out at home, because it costs only a washing vacuum cleaner and liquid solutions purchased at specialized retail outlets. Eliminates 99% of various types of contaminants, therefore it is the most productive method for removing stains. The main thing is to choose the right cleaning product. For example, an elegant white sofa cannot be treated with aggressive reagents containing chemicals. Household preparations must be selected taking into account the specific type of contamination and coating.

Procedure:

• Moisten particularly contaminated areas with a slightly damp cloth;
• treat the areas to be cleaned with the necessary product;
• rub with a brush towards the central part (if the type of textile allows) and leave for 25 minutes for better effect;
• remove the cleaning compound.

The speed of drying after the procedure depends on the degree of wetting, the composition of the filler and the temperature conditions. If the fabric gets too wet, you need to arm yourself with dry diapers or towels, spreading them around the sofa so that the moisture is absorbed faster, otherwise streaks will appear. A hairdryer will help speed up the drying process.

How to get rid of dirt

Industrial stain removers are universal, but when we clean stains from furniture using them, we don’t always get results. Experience shows that medications do not help with all types of stains. When the nature of the origin of the contamination is known, it is better to use special means:

1. If coffee is spilled on furniture, you can remove it with laundry soap. It is necessary to carefully soap the surface or use foam. It is advisable to remove it immediately so that the fabric does not get wet. You need to dry it with napkins, then with a rag.
2. Wine stains are the most difficult to remove, so it is recommended to deal with them immediately. First, dry the surface with paper towels, moving from the edges to the middle. Then sprinkle table salt on the contaminated area; it will absorb most of the wine. You need to do this as many times as possible until the surface is clean. If traces still remain, they are washed with soapy water.
3. Grease stains must be removed immediately; when dry, they become embedded in the fibers. As soon as contamination has formed, you need to sprinkle fine salt, talc or chalk on it. They will absorb the fat. Then you need to brush off the product with a soft brush and remove any remaining grease with soap foam.
4. Sometimes it happens that candle wax drips onto the sofa. Even if you remove a frozen stain, it leaves a trace that has penetrated into the fibers of the fabric. It is useless to wash off; no safe chemicals will dissolve the wax. Therefore, it must be removed with an iron. Place a napkin on the stain and iron it. It is important to ensure that the iron temperature is acceptable for the upholstery.
5. It is very difficult to remove chewing gum without damaging the fabric. It sticks to the fibers and dirt sticks to it. For safe removal, chewing gum must be frozen. Apply several pieces of ice to it and wait 2-3 minutes. After this, the chewing gum will easily come off completely. If there are still traces left, they can be wiped off with alcohol.
6. Juices leave permanent stains if they are not removed immediately. First you need to try to wash off the stains with a soap solution, being careful not to smear them. If the marks have not disappeared, you should dilute the vinegar in half with an ammonia solution and distribute the mixture over the stain. Then it is recommended to wipe with a cloth soaked in water.
7. Traces of nail polish, lipstick, pens and felt-tip pens are best removed with alcohol. You need to wipe off the dirt well with a cotton swab dipped in this liquid. The main thing is not to rub the stain. It is better to dip it with cotton wool, changing it when it gets dirty. And nail polish stains can be removed with nail polish remover. You just need to choose a chemical without acetone.
8. If there are children in the house, urine stains often appear on the furniture. Their smell becomes strong if the liquid is not removed immediately. The surface should be blotted with paper napkins, then sprinkled with baking soda, it will absorb the remaining moisture. You can completely remove urine by other means. If the upholstery material is dark, a weak solution of potassium permanganate or 9% vinegar will do. For a light coating, you need to use peroxide or lemon acid with water - 1:10. Then you need to wash the stain with a solution of soap and water.
9. Often, upholstery fabric looks dull and dirty due to dust. You can clean furniture elements with soap foam. Or it is recommended to make a solution with vinegar essence - 1 tbsp. for 1 liter of water. It is better to apply it using a spray bottle. Do not rub the product into the fabric.

Indications for reupholstering furniture, stages of work, tips for implementation

Coffee stains can be removed with laundry soap

Wine stains are first sprinkled with table salt and then scrubbed with soapy water.

Grease stains should be removed immediately before the grease becomes embedded in the fibers.

If wax has dripped onto the upholstery, you can remove it with an iron.

Chewing gum will easily come off from the upholstery if you put a few pieces of ice on the stained area.

Juice stains are washed with soapy water or vinegar diluted in half with ammonia solution

The easiest way to remove marker marks is with alcohol.

Urine stains are removed by blotting the stained area with napkins and sprinkling it with baking soda.

Upholstery that has become dull from dust and dirt can be cleaned with soap foam or a solution of water and vinegar essence.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

How to properly clean a sofa with a spray product using a washing vacuum cleaner:

To remove difficult stains from upholstered furniture, it is not necessary to resort to dry cleaning services. You can restore a presentable appearance to a sofa or armchair yourself. Various products are sold for this purpose. When choosing them, you need to take into account the upholstery material and method of application.

If the family has small children, pets, or people with allergies, then you need to carefully read the ingredients. The cleaner must be not only effective, but also safe. Regardless of the product chosen, it is best to carry out cleaning with gloves. When using a sprayer, you must wear safety glasses.

What do you think about the effectiveness of the upholstered furniture cleaning products discussed in the article? Do you have experience using them? How do you clean the upholstery of sofas and armchairs? Share your opinion and experience, ask questions. The comment form is located below.

How to eliminate bad odor

Some stains leave no visible traces, just an odor. It appears if the sofa is old and has not been cleaned for a long time. The easiest way to get rid of it is to use special stain removers. They usually have a fresh, pleasant aroma. But well-known folk methods are also suitable for removing odor:

1. Dilute 2 tablespoons of vinegar in 1 liter of water. The solution gets rid of beer and juice odors. Soak a rag in it and blot the stain.
2. Helps remove soda odor. It needs to be scattered over the contaminated surface and collected with a vacuum cleaner after half an hour.
3. The most difficult thing to remove is the smell of urine. Solutions of vinegar, potassium permanganate, and citric acid can help. If the upholstery is dark, you need to dilute 20 drops of iodine in a liter of water. If all else fails, an integrated approach is recommended: moisten the stain with vinegar, then sprinkle with baking soda, and spray a 1:1 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water on top. Foam forms. You need to wait until it dries and clean it with a (soft) brush.

To prevent an unpleasant odor from forming on upholstered furniture, it is important to remove any stains immediately.

Baking soda will help get rid of unpleasant odors

You can remove the smell of urine using a solution of vinegar, potassium permanganate or citric acid.