Is Baking Soda the Best Way to Clean Your Couch?
At the heart of every living room, there�s a couch that has seen it all. Between the butts, pets, food spills and bare feet, your sofa can get really gross, really quickly. But it�s not like you can just pop the whole thing in the washing machine. Sure, you may be able to wash the slipcovers, but not all couches come with that option. Thankfully, baking soda, our favorite household workhorse, may be able to help deodorize your couch�with a few caveats (more on those later).
As we�ve pointed out many times before, baking soda is useful for cleaning and/or deodorizing everything from electric stove burners to sneakers, to mattresses, and it could also help your natural-fiber couch.
Is baking soda really the best option?
When it comes to your couch, baking soda will help deodorize it, which is not the same thing as cleaning it, Melissa Maker, a cleaning expert and founder of Clean My Space tells Lifehacker. If you�re looking to actually clean your couch, she says your best bet is to either hire professional cleaners to come once a year, or use a steam cleaner that heats up to a minimum of 212 degree F in order to kill the bacteria.
To get rid of odors caused by things like food spills, pet dander and dead skill cells, the easiest option is to regularly vacuum your couch, Maker says. Just make this part of your regular vacuuming routine: after you do the floors, move on to the upholstery. This way the odor-causing materials and bacteria will have less of a chance to build up and get to the point of smelling bad.
If you do want to use baking soda, Maker says that�s fine, and a good option for those who want to go the natural route and not use cleaning products with chemicals. She also notes that baking soda can cause a pretty big mess when you sprinkle it on your furniture, so regularly vacuuming the soft surfaces in your home like your couch (without baking soda) is probably easier in the long run.
If you do decide to go the baking soda route, here�s what to do:
Prep the couch
Gather a few supplies: baking soda, some clean cloths and a vacuum with brush and fabric attachment. Start by wiping down your couch with a dry, clean cloth or clean stiff brush to get any dust or dried-on gunk off.
Freshen that couch
Next, sprinkle a thin layer of baking soda on your couch and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes, chemist and cleaning expert and Alexis Rochester tells Lifehacker. Seriously, the key here is making sure it�s a thin layer of baking soda and that you�re not too heavy-handed with it. Then after you�ve let it sit, vacuum up the baking soda with the fabric attachment.
But will it hurt your vacuum? �Baking soda won�t clog your vacuum if it is dry and applied in a thin layer,� Rochester explains. �If the baking soda gets wet, you will encounter the possibility of a clog.� So just stick with the dry stuff here and don�t add water. Maker says that another way around this is to use a wet-dry vac to vacuum up the baking soda, as those tend to have more durable filters and won�t clog as easily.
Out, you damn spots
Though baking soda is an effective deodorizer, both Maker and Rochester point out that it won�t actually clean your couch. If you have stains, spot clean them with a clean cloth and cleaning solution that is suitable for your couch�s fabric (baking soda won�t cut it here).
Look for a tag on your couch, which should identify it as being in one of the following categories:
- W: OK to use water (or water-based products) for cleaning.
- S: Only use a water-free solvent-based cleaner on fabric.
- SW or WS: Either water or a solvent cleaner is safe to use.
- X: Clean only by vacuuming or light brushing.
According to Rochester, using a water-based solution allows you to use some warm water and a little dish soap to clean up any additional stains. �If the tag says S for solvent-based, you will need to purchase a dry cleaning type of item to remove stains. If it says X, hiring a professional is your safest bet,� she explains.
Regardless of the type of couch fabric, before you use a cleaning solution on the whole couch, spot-test the cleaners on a hidden portion of your couch to make sure they don�t damage the fabric. You�re always better safe than sorry when it comes to your couch.
Let it dry
Finally, give your couch a chance to dry after you�ve done your deep and spot cleaning. In the meantime, try out other seating options in your space.
If your couch isn�t made of natural fibers
While baking soda is great for deodorizing couches made of natural fibers, what should you do if you have a couch made of something else? That�s another article for another day, but in the meantime, here�s some guidance on how to clean couches made from polyester, microfiber and leather.
https://lifehacker.com/clean-your-couch-with-baking-soda-to-remove-grime-1777592239
How do you really feel when it comes to Fabric Couch Cleaning?
Fabric couch cleaning is reasonably simple when you know the standard guidelines. If you are extremely cautious, you can make use of the couch as well as get rid of nearly all the pet stains on it.
Keep your family pets away from the sofa where your pet's collars are and where your pet dog's hair is. A dirty couch or carpeting, even if the upholstery has not been changed, can be cleansed easily. Due to the fact that a leather couch is heavy and because the fibers are so firmly woven, there is no chance for a pet to just obtain under it. Pet hair can damage a couch however not scrape it.
A pet's stool and urine can be cleansed easily with some cleaning agent. You can make use of some paper towels taken in the detergent. After that position the towels on the flooring and also let them soak for some time. The towels can be utilized as a damp clean or simply wiped with a moist fabric.
If your pet dog pees on the couch, you require to clean it with soap and water. Do not utilize the common soap and leave the textile to soak in the soap for a long time. The soap will create staining of the material, especially if it is black.
Material sofa cleansing is done by Clicking Here spraying it down with disinfectant as well as removing every one of the family pet odors with a smells remover. Make sure that you extensively wash the carpet with the disinfectant spray, too.
Textile couch cleaning might not be so simple if you have many discolorations. There are a couple of methods to clean it. Make use of a soft cloth to clean up check it out the stains on the fabric and afterwards utilize the carpet hair shampoo to clean out the remainder of the odor.
Prior to utilizing the carpet shampoo, soak the couchin the rug hair shampoo in order to make it a lot more absorbing. When the sofa is soaked, you can then massage it lightly with a tidy rag. Repeat this process until the tarnish goes away.
If the stains are stubborn and don't just disappear in vinegar, for example, try utilizing olive oil mixed with lemon juice. In a tool sized dish, pour the oil as well as the lemon juice. Add the oil combination to the location that has been stained.
Leave the blend to sit for about ten minutes and afterwards dip a towel into the lemon juice and tidy the material with it. The material should appear smelling fresh and clean. If the tarnish is stubborn, attempt mixing 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice with a mug of water.
With carpeted sofa cleansing, attempt using fabric conditioner rather than bleach to eliminate animal odors. Tack textile conditioner to the area that is unclean. After a while, this will certainly saturate into the fibers and therefore aid you remove the family pet odor.
Dirt contamination in textile couch cleansing is one more issue. If the dirt is not removed totally, it can make the fabric look dingy and faded.
For moss and also lawn clippings, you can apply the lawn cutter. If the discolor is not more tips here very hard, it can be scraped away with a pumice stone.
We had been made aware of that report on Fabric Couch Cleaning through a good friend on a different domain. Kindly pause to promote this blog posting if you appreciated it. Thanks for taking the time to read it.