Smart ways to clean the sofa

Our sofas endure quite a lot. Crumbs from Friday night treats, sticky little fingers, shedding pets, and spilled coffee. They can really deserve some love now and then. Here are some ways you can clean your sofa from various things.

How to clean your sofa from stains

Different materials are differently sensitive to stains. If you have a velvet sofa, for example, often just wiping it with a damp cloth is enough to remove the stain. If you have a sofa with removable upholstery, it can help to wash it in the washing machine.

But what do you do if you have a sofa whose upholstery cannot be removed, and you are faced with an ugly stain? The most versatile tip that usually works is to use a stain remover for furniture. IKEA, for instance, has an affordable stain remover that you spray on, let act, and then wipe off. It removes most stains. It also neutralises bad odours. Perfect if you have pets or children who occasionally make a mess. Another option is to use gall soap which you rub on the stain, but it can be a bit trickier to remove the soap from the fabric afterwards.

Remove pet hair from the sofa

There are many ways to remove pet hair from the sofa, and which works best depends on the fabric of your sofa. Here are our favourites:

• Wipe the sofa with a damp cloth. It collects the hairs effectively.
• "Pat" the sofa with a rubber glove.
• Use a lint roller with adhesive.
• Scrape the sofa with a clean window scraper.

If your sofa is static, it attracts more hair. Then you can try spraying it with an anti-static fabric spray. These also smell nice, so they can counteract bad odour.

How to prevent your sofa from getting dirty

All sofas need cleaning now and then, but it is always good to prevent dirt. Don't let small children eat on the sofa if you want to take care of it. It's so easy for little sticky fingers to end up on the fabric or for a straw drink to turn into a fountain. It might also be a good idea to teach pets not to be on the sofa if you don't want to have to remove hair all the time. If that's not sustainable for you and your family, which we can understand, then it might be an option to cover parts of the sofa with a throw that can easily be washed in the washing machine when accidents occur.

Clean the sofa and remove bad odour

There are many things that can make a sofa smell bad, but a cure that works against most is to spray the furniture with a mixture of vinegar and water.

It's hard to say exactly how much vinegar to use in relation to water. It depends a little on how strong the sofa smells. Start with a little and use more if you notice it's needed.

The vinegar leaves no stains and is not felt on the fabric. However, it smells quite strong. But this fades after a while and eventually, the material has a neutral scent. It's best to clean the sofa outdoors and let it dry in the sun. Sunlight also has the ability to kill bacteria and therefore bad odours. Additionally, you avoid having a living room that smells of vinegar.

Another option is to use a steam cleaner. It is moved over the sofa like a vacuum and uses steam to kill bacteria, remove stains, and neutralise bad odours.

Do you have a sofa that needs a thorough cleaning? We can clean the sofa and everything else in your home. Book a deep cleaning in Stockholm today!