Cleaning your sofa with baking soda and vinegar is the most common and safest way to freshen up furniture without the use of household chemicals. It requires minimal costs, and the effect can be no worse than from the use of chemical compounds. Vinegar is an excellent substitute for stain remover, and baking soda absorbs odours. How to clean the sofa with baking soda and vinegar at home effectively and without harm to the upholstery, learn from our article.
Homemade sofa cleaning with baking soda and vinegar
There are several ways to clean a sofa with baking soda and vinegar. By using these ingredients in different ways, you can dry clean or wet clean.
Method 1: Wet cleaning with baking soda and vinegar
A combined solution of soda and vinegar is a powerful tool for removing dried stains of various origins, namely:
- Urine stains
- Traces of blood
- Oily stains from food
- Fruit and juice stains
- Traces of tea and coffee
Also, this method is great for general cleaning of the sofa from greasy.
To prepare the solution, you will need soda, ordinary table vinegar, water and a spray bottle. It is better to prepare the solution over the sink – it foams very strongly.
Pour 1/3 cup of vinegar and 0.5 litres of water into the spray bottle. Add 1 tablespoon of soda. Close the spray bottle and spray the solution onto the sofa in a neat, even layer. Leave the composition on the surface for 10-15 minutes, then rub with a brush or sponge of medium hardness. After cleaning the dirt, wipe the treatment area with a clean, damp cloth. Let the sofa dry thoroughly and vacuum it.
Pay attention to the article about cleaning the sofa from blood stains on our website. In it, you will find various ways to remove stains from the upholstery of upholstered furniture!
Method 2. Wet cleaning with vinegar without soda
A vinegar solution is prepared as follows: 1 teaspoon of vinegar per 1 litre of water. The best way to apply this remedy is to soak a sheet in the vinegar solution, cover the sofa with it and beat it well with your hand or a special wicker beater. The sheet will linger with all the dirt rising from the upholstery. After the first run, rinse the sheet and repeat the procedure. Kick the sofa until the wet sheet is no longer dirty.
A less concentrated solution – ½ teaspoon of vinegar to 1 litre of water – is suitable for delicate cleaning of sofas with velour upholstery. It is impossible to spray the solution on such a sofa! To raise the pile of upholstery that has flattened out from the operation of the sofa and make it brighter, you just need to wipe the surface of the sofa with a cloth soaked in the solution and well wrung out.
Vinegar itself is also an excellent cleaning agent. True, alone it acts more delicately, therefore it is used for preventive cleaning of the upholstery. In addition to the ability to destroy grease, vinegar can return the brightness of colours to the textile upholstery of the sofa.
Method 3. Dry cleaning the sofa with soda
To clean the sofa with baking soda, sprinkle it over the stain. After 30-40 minutes, brush off the soda with a stiff brush. If the stain has not gone away, then you can additionally treat it with a weak solution of vinegar.
However, the sequence of cleaning with the soda can be reversed: first, wet cleaning using one of the methods described above, and then additional treatment with soda powder. After wet cleaning, the soda will absorb the remaining moisture from the surface, and the sofa will dry out faster.
Baking soda is good at absorbing moisture. Therefore, dry cleaning is great for removing newly formed stains. Unlike a vinegar solution, pure baking soda is safer and can be used to clean upholstery from materials that do not like moisture.
How to Remove Sofa Smell with Baking Soda and Vinegar
Cleaning with baking soda and vinegar is also an effective way to remove bad odours, including urine. Unlike special fragrances, they do not interrupt the smell but destroy its source by splitting the urine.
To remove an unpleasant odour, dilute 2 tablespoons of vinegar in a glass of water. Saturate the sheet with this mixture and wring it out well. Cover the dirty spot with this sheet and press down lightly to allow the vinegar to penetrate the upholstery deeper. Change the sheet to a dry one, lay it on the sofa and press it too – to absorb moisture. Then apply the “vinegar” sheet again. After processing, it will take 1-2 days for the smell of vinegar to disappear from the room. To speed up the process, open the windows in the room.
As you know, the most persistent and difficult to remove odour is caustic cat urine. It is difficult to defeat this smell, but you can try to neutralize it for a while by adding lemon juice or a couple of drops of fabric softener to the vinegar solution. Note! You can find even more ways in the article about cleaning the sofa from cat urine on our website!
These simple recipes for cleanliness can be used to care for the sofa. Once again, we want to remind you that each of these methods must first be tested on an inconspicuous area of the upholstery. If you are afraid of the result of such cleaning or an experiment on an inconspicuous area showed that you should not use it, it is better to turn to professionals for cleaning the sofa. Major Carpet Cleaners know exactly how to get rid of stains and odours on a sofa with any type of upholstery and will professionally deal with dirt without harm to your furniture.
