Guest Blogger: Easy Sofa Stain Removal Tips to Save your Investment

Guest Blog #213, Entry #707, October 17, 2011

This is essentially the nightmare scenario of the sofa world, you have just bought a new sofa and settled it into your home and somehow you have managed to get a stain on it. Fear not there a few ways in which you can rectify the issue and flop back into your sofas in the height of relaxation.

Sofa stain tips to protect your investment

Common Sofa Stain Culprits:

To be honest a stain on your new sofa is only a matter of time, so rather than worry about your sofa getting stained just make sure you are careful with the following usual suspects:

Hot drinks like coffee and tea

Ballpoint pen or biro

Food stains like troublesome Bolognese sauce

Fruit juice drinks, usually spilt by the kids in the household

Red wine

Use these tips to save your favorite sofa from stains

Image via: Be Interior Decorator

There are a few actions you should take when a stain does appear on your living room sofa:

Treat the stain immediately

Don’t leave wet stains to dry and tackle them immediately with a cleaning agent or a damp cloth this will ensure that the offending stain doesn’t get time to soak into the material of your sofa and will be broken down by the cleaning agent as soon as possible.

Never scrub the stain

Scrubbing the stain will damage the fabric of your sofa so should be avoided at all costs. It is better to wipe down the stained area and remove an excess and then work in your cleaning agent.

Check supplier recommendations

Usually sofa manufacturers will supply you with detailed cleaning instructions so be sure to check them first to see if it is possible wash your sofa covers in the washing machine. If possible this will remove most stains and can be a lot easier than working out a stain by hand.

Use vinegar solutions

Vinegar solutions of three parts water to one part vinegar can be used for removing juice stains and watering the stain down will help to disperse the offending juice. When juice is involved it is important to tackle the stain as soon as possible to avoid the juice soaking into the material.

Common stains maybe easier to remove than you thought

Image via: Home Design Decorating

Don’t use bleach

Never use bleach on sofa covers as most materials will discolour badly and only make the stains worse

Removing blood stains

Blood stains need to be tackled with a salt and water solution. You should dissolve small amounts of salt into large amount of water and use this to tackle the stain.

Removing an ink stain from a sofa

Ink stains can be removed with hairspray and a good amount of washing. This is due to the alcohol content in the hairspray which works to break up the stain. This process of stain removing will require a number of applications and will gradually work its magic against the stain over time rather than removing the biro in one go.

Most sofas will come with washing guideline tags which will let you know what course of action to take for tackling a stain.

W – spot clean the stain with a water solution or mild detergent

S – spot clean with solvent only in a well ventilated room

S W – spot clean with either water based or solvent cleaning agent

X – vacuum only

If you have a large of particularly stubborn stain then it can be a good idea to buy new covers to get rid of the stain or use a dry cleaning service to tackle the stain. This may seem a little drastic but sometimes it is worth spending a bit more money rather than constantly being annoyed at having a stain on your sofa.

Jonathan is a freelance writer who enjoys finding new methods for avoiding home nightmares like a stained sofa.

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