Save money by cleaning your fabric couch yourself with household items
Couches take a ton of wear and tear, especially if you have kids or pets, and yet many homeowners neglect cleaning them for fear of ruining the fabric or making stains worse. In actuality, it’s very easy to spot-clean a couch to remove a stain or get dirt off of the surface. In this DIY guide on how to clean a couch, we’ll explain the process for removing stains and dirt from your couch to get it looking good as new. Best of all, you’ll need minimal supplies, and the cleaning solution is homemade and safe around children and pets.
Before you get started, it’s important to understand that you can’t expose all fabrics and cushioning to moisture or liquid cleaning products. We recommend you check the tags on your couch to see what kind of fabric you’re working with and which cleaning methods are recommended. You should see one of these fabric cleaning codes on your tags:
W: Safe to use water or wet cleaners on your couch
S, PD, or DC: Only use dry cleaning solutions, like baking soda or commercial dry cleaning product
SW or WS: Use either wet or dry cleaning solutions on the fabric
F: Can stand up to some moisture, but better to use a foam cleaner, which contains less liquid
E or N: Couch is leather or synthetic leather and requires a product made for cleaning a leather couch
X or X/S: Neither wet nor dry cleaning solutions are safe, so vacuuming is your best option
Since the “W” cleaning code is the most common, our method below will be specific to those couches. If you have another code on your couch, consider calling a furniture cleaning company near you to get your couch cleaned safely.
Some over-the-counter or DIY stain removers can make stains worse. If you are unsure of the material and the stain is over a week old, a professional cleaner will know the correct solution to use.
Before you get into removing stains, you should vacuum any dirt, dust, pet hair, and other debris off of the surface so you don’t end up rubbing it further into the fibers once you start spot cleaning. Use an upholstery attachment on your vacuum cleaner to brush the fabric while you suck out any debris.
What is upholstery cleaning without a little deodorizing first? Next, liberally sprinkle some baking soda over the couch. This will serve two purposes. First, it’s a natural deodorizer, so it can make your couch smell fresh. This is particularly helpful if you have pets that frequent the couch. Second, remnants of the baking soda will interact with vinegar later on to provide a deeper clean.
Gently brush the baking soda into the fabric using your upholstery brush, and let it sit on the fabric for about an hour. Then, use your upholstery brush attachment to vacuum as much off as you can.
Now you’re ready to mix your liquid cleaning solution. In your 1-gallon bucket, mix the following:
2 cups of distilled water
1 tablespoon of white vinegar
A few drops of liquid dish soap
If your couch is heavily soiled, you can double the vinegar and add some extra drops of dish soap.
Dip your microfiber cloth into the solution and blot any stains on your couch. It’s a good idea to test the solution in an inconspicuous area, like behind a pillow or on the rear of the couch, to make sure it’s safe for the fabric. Once you’ve confirmed that it is, apply it to all of your other stains.
Continue blotting until the stain is gone. Resist the urge to rub the stain, as this can make it worse and could damage the fabric.
Next, you’ll want to remove any remaining dish soap from the stains. Apply some distilled water to a clean part of your microfiber cloth and blot the stained areas to remove the leftover dish soap.
Finally, let the cleaned areas dry. You can set up a fan to expedite the process or open a window in the room if the weather allows. Heavy staining may require that you repeat the process multiple times.
Cleaning a couch might seem intimidating, but any DIYer can handle it with a little prep work and know-how. We recommend you follow the steps above first to see if you can get the stains out yourself. This will save you money upfront and make keeping your couches clean easier going forward.
If you have pervasive stains that the above method doesn’t work for or you have a couch with a different upholstery code that demands dry cleaning, foam cleaning, or something else, hiring a professional couch cleaner is worth it. Professionals have high-end equipment like steam cleaners and non-destructive but heavy-duty cleaning products that often do a better job than a DIYer could with minimal tools and supplies.
Additionally, if you have pets and your couch smells of urine, we recommend hiring a pro to disinfect the couch and professionally remove the odor.
It might be possible to use a carpet cleaner on your couch, but it’s not recommended. Some carpet cleaners contain chemicals that are too harsh or abrasive for the soft fabric on your couch. Plus, couches have upholstery codes that dictate what you can and can’t use safely for cleaning purposes, and carpet cleaner generally isn’t included in those codes. If you do decide to use a carpet cleaner, test it on a section of fabric that isn’t visible in case you damage it.
You should let your couch dry for around 12 hours after shampooing or cleaning it, as sitting on a couch while it’s still wet can push the moisture down to the foam inside and damage it permanently. You can speed up the drying process by opening a window in the room or pointing a fan at the areas that you cleaned.
Yes, steam cleaning is a great way to clean a couch, as it’s quite effective at removing dirt and stains and is designed to be gentle on delicate fabrics. However, steam cleaners are expensive, even if you rent them, so most homeowners opt for simpler cleaning methods. If you have a steam cleaner, we recommend using it on the gentlest setting to clean your couch to prevent damaging the fabric and the foam padding underneath.
