If you’re like many Americans, then your couch likely gets a lot of wear tear and usage every day. Couches in the living room, game rooms, and other areas are the favorite hang-out spots at home. We love to cozy up for a good binge-watching session–often equipped with delicious food and drinks–on your favorite spot on the couch. Unfortunately, snacking and hanging so often means spills and stains! Wine, orange juice, milk, coffee, crumbs, sauces, crackers–you name it, couches have taken it! Plus, pet owners know the struggle of keeping carpets and upholstery clean with all that pet hair, fur, mites, and scratchy paws. However, rest assured that there are many helpful tips you can do both on the preventative and cleaning up fronts to keep those cozy love seats clean and undamaged. Here, we have the top five tips on how to keep your couch clean.
1. Regular Vacuuming
The vacuum is a tremendous modern invention that not only keeps your couch looking great, but it will prevent the buildup of mites, bacteria, or even mold! When vacuuming your couch, be sure to use a quality vacuum cleaner. You want a vacuum with a microfilter system designed to remove the tiniest dirt, grime, and dust mites and keep them secured in the collection bog. Speaking of collection bag, don’t forget to dump out the vacuum collection bag before tackling a couch clean up! Did you know that even a partially filled vacuum bag will render the sucking power on most vacuums less effective? It’s true! So be sure to clear the bag first.
Best Vacuuming Methods A Part Of How To Keep Your Couch Clean
After clearing the bag and replacing the vacuum filter as recommended by the manufacturer, there are a few more practical tips for optimal vacuuming of your beloved upholstery. First, be thorough. Make sure you remove cushions and collect up the dirt, dust, and crumb spillage in and under all those nooks and crannies. After all, food particles will rot and attract pests like cockroaches or other insects. Go ahead and remove any items or big pieces of garbage by hand first. Of course, when you vacuum your couch you want to take advantage of those nifty vacuum upholstery attachments using them properly, as recommended. Make sure to vacuum all the parts of the couch and go over the material at least three to four times to dislodge stubborn particles.
2. Use a Lent Roller as Needed
The lint roller is a fantastic tool to keep your couch looking great and free from hair, dust, and other clingy particles. You can purchase a lint roller at your local grocery store, dollar store, or online for cheap. These are especially helpful for leather, pleather, and linen couches. That being said, a lint roller is effective with any upholstery materials, especially for pet hair buildup. The couch materials that easily attract lint are great candidates for lint rolling. Plus, a quick lint rolling is easier than a thorough vacuum job. For that reason, lint rolling is best done as a surface clean job when you need a quick spruce-up. If you get caught without a lint roller and need a quick clean up moment, duct tape can work as a substitute too!
3. Know About Your Couch
Couches are labeled with specific cleaning codes and detailed instructions to help you know how to keep them clean. Check for the fabric tag and reference the cleaning code list below for the optimal cleaning methods:
Cleaning Codes
W — Use a water-based detergent. That means you can use the attachment on a steam cleaning machine to wash and remove dirt and grime. This “W” code is good news since the couch can be cleaned without too much fuss.
S — Your couch should be dry cleaned or cleaned with a water-free detergent. As such, do not use a water-based steam cleaning machine for a couch with the “S” code! Be sure to check the label for further details as the manufacturer will include those instructions on a tag on the couch itself.
WS — Your couch should be cleaned with a water-based cleaner or dry cleaned. As is the case with other codes, a couch with this code is best left to a professional cleaning company. A professional team will ensure that a couch with this code gets cleaned properly without causing damage.
O — Your couch is made from organic or natural fibers and should be washed in cold water. You can use a washcloth with cold water to scrub a couch with this code. A professional upholstery cleaning would do a more thorough job. SO be sure to get a regular cleaning once in a while to keep a couch with this code clean and well maintained.
X — You can only have it cleaned by a professional upholstery cleaner. Be very careful with stains or clean-ups on a couch with this code. You should soak up stains, but the code means vacuum only, so be wary of even applying water. This is a rare code these days, but it means you should do more preventative measures to avoid spills in the first place if you have one.
4. Masterful Spot Cleaning
When spills happen–as they always do–you need to be quick and purposeful with your spot cleaning skills. Never leave a spill unattended if you can help it. When it comes to spills, time is of the essence. For leather couches, leather soap and conditioner is something you want to have on hand to keep proper maintenance. For spills, first, blot with a dry towel to soak up the liquid. Then, follow the proper steps according to the upholstery code for your piece of furniture. Another important thing to remember is that some stubborn stains might actually take two or three passes before they completely come out. So even if you’re not seeing immediate results, keep going. Let your spot dry completely, then try again.
5. Regular Professional Upholstery Cleaning
In many cases, you really will benefit from getting a trusted professional upholstery cleaner to clean your upholstery, including those beloved couches. Plus, good upholstery cleaners double as carpet cleaners. You can knock out two birds with one stone to clean your couches and your carpets. The experts from Allklean know all about different types of fiber, which is important because different fibers require different cleaning methods. We can clean fine fabrics like cotton, rayon, and silk, and a range of synthetic microfibers. All a part of how to keep your couch clean. Upholstered furniture should ideally be cleaned every 1-2 years, but heavily used furniture may have to be cleaned more often. Allklean has locations across Washington and Idaho to meet your upholstery cleaning needs. Book online today!
