The furniture, walls, floor and glass are stained. This is an essential fact in the daily use of all areas of the house. General cleaning helps keep items in good condition, but there are stains that require special treatment. Especially when it comes to fabrics. Making your own homemade upholstery cleaner is possible with materials that are often found in your cleaning supplies drawer or medicine cabinet.
While there are commercial options, processing chemical formulas may contain undesirable elements for different fabrics or dangerous to human contact. Furthermore, it is important to know what the fiber of each coating is: not all of them are designed for the same sanitization methods.
Know the fabrics to make an adapted homemade upholstery cleaner
The best way to clean upholstery is know which products are suitable to apply on your surface and which ones should be avoided. This information is explicit on the fabric itself. There is usually a letter mark on the underside of the cushions or upholstered piece.
In cases where it is not found, you have to search on the internet based on the model of coating. On the other hand, you can do a test in an inconspicuous area to see how it reacts to water or other solvents.
Choose a cushion hem and spray with product. Let it dry and if there are no marks, continue with the process.
The indications on the coating are marked with one or two letters:
- w. This letter means it can be sanitized with water-based cleaners. These are the easiest fibers to work with, on which all formulas are suitable.
- St. Cleaning must be done with dry solvents. That is, they are not formulated with a water base. The fibers do not react well to this liquid.
- WS or SO. In these cases it is possible to apply both water-based products and dry cleaning solvents.
- x. A rare but decisive sign. It suggests that the product is not washable, so no formula should be applied and it is best to leave the cleaning to a professional.
How to make homemade upholstery cleaner?
Homemade cleaners allow you to create solutions suitable for each type of fiber or the difficulty of the stain. Furthermore, they avoid the use of industrial products, where the determination of their components and the manufacturing method can be complex.
Second a study by the Spanish Association of Toxicology, can be dangerous if confused with drinkable liquids. Therefore, it is always advisable to label each container to avoid poisoning.
Materials needed to make homemade upholstery cleaner
There are many ways to make upholstery cleaners at home. The treatment of leather is not the same as that of microfiber.
Similarly, pet stains don’t clean up the same way as ink or food stains. For all cases, it is convenient to have the following materials:
- Brush.
- Vacuum.
- Dry towels.
- Olive oil.
- Castile soap.
- Sparkling water.
- Flake soap.
- Isopropyl alcohol.
- Warm or hot water.
- Sodium bicarbonate.
- Dishwashing liquid.
- Sprayer or sprayer.
- Distilled white vinegar.
- Lemon essential oil.
- Microfiber cloth to moisten.
Make a general household upholstery cleaner
An effective formula for any fabric and any stain is soap foam. If you don’t have time to evaluate a specific solution, mix five tablespoons of soap flakes with a pint of warm water. Leave to cool and then beat until a lot of foam is generated.
Take a brush and apply foam to the liner. It is important that the bubbles and foam are taken out, without the liquid. Rub into the stain and then remove the excess with a damp cloth.
microfiber lining
For microfiber or synthetic leather samples a foaming solution that uses less fluid is also recommended. The first step is to sanitize the area, vacuuming to remove as much dust and dirt as possible. This extends to any padded surface.
Put half a liter of warm water in a container and this time mix it with five large spoons of dish soap. Whipping will cause the same foaming effect, so repeat the action of bubbling with a brush and scrubbing into the coating.
Clean the brush with clean water and refill it with foam as often as needed. Finally, remove the excess with a damp microfiber cloth and leave to dry.
Formula for leather upholstery
In this case it is necessary to use different products, since it is a specific material. In general, leather upholstery reacts well with distilled white vinegar.
Therefore, six large spoons should be mixed with half a glass of olive oil. It is recommended to prepare the formula in a spray container.
In this way, after mixing well, the formula is sprayed on the skin in specific areas. Apply the product and then clean with a dry microfiber cloth. Repeat the action on the entire upholstery.
Make a homemade upholstery cleaner for cars
You spend a lot of time in the car. Some people even carry pets or eat in them.
This can cause similar stains to household upholstery. However, there is a specific blend to treat dirt on carpets and roof linings, seats and throughout the vehicle.
It should be noted that it is not valid for leather upholstery. For them, the solution elaborated in the previous point is recommended. In this case, you need to mix five tablespoons of vinegar, two of dish soap and half a cup of carbonated water.
Optionally, add drops of essential oil with your favorite fragrance to improve the car’s interior smell. Mix and spray all over the upholstery with spray.
Leave for five minutes and then spray with water. Finish with a vacuum session that absorbs the remains of dirt and moisture.
Upholstery cleaner for fabric and synthetic leather
Many pieces of furniture feature fabrics made from faux leather, linen, cotton, vinyl, or a blend of fibers. For these cases, it is convenient to apply half a glass of distilled white vinegar, liquid castile soap and warm water.
Clean beforehand with a vacuum cleaner and, after mixing the mixture in the spray bottle, spray the coating from top to bottom. Finish with a slightly damp microfiber cloth and leave to dry.
solution with propanol
Upholstery with the letter “S” in the cleanliness code has special treatment. For them, use two cups of isopropyl alcohol or propanol poured into a spray bottle.
Spray a little on each area of ​​the upholstery and scrub gently with a soft bristle brush. Clean it with water, but remove as much as possible so as not to wet the surface so much. Leave to dry for a few minutes and then vacuum.
Making Homemade Upholstery Cleaner for Stubborn Stains
There are some stains that are very damaging to upholstery. For example, pet urine.
If an event of these characteristics has occurred, it is important to remove it as soon as possible, to prevent it from penetrating the tissue. The first thing is to dry as much as possible, either with dry cloths or with a vacuum cleaner, without pressing or expanding the stain.
Next, dilute two tablespoons of vinegar in half a glass of water and moisten the area. After a few seconds, dry it again.
You can also put baking soda, as it neutralizes the acid. For ink stains it is recommended to spray a mixture of propanol and white vinegar, then rub with a sponge.
The post How to make homemade upholstery cleaner? first appeared on research-school