It can get pretty annoying when you come home one day and notice that misplaced speck on your sofa. You approach the living area and inspect the anomaly closely and realize – it’s not dust nor is it dirt.
Will the dog be sleeping outside this time? Or are the kids going to be interrogated and banned from ice-cream for the night?
Thankfully, we don’t have to go through such extremes because; aside from being your friendly neighbourhood custom sofa slipcover maker, the Comfort Works team also knows a thing or two about solving household issues such as soiled fabrics.
Since we’ve had customers asking us about fabric care, we figured why not compile it and share it with anyone on the web who’s interested?
Hopefully your sofa would stay young for many years to come with this post :)
1. Remove Stains
When it comes to stain removal, it’s best to test it out on an inconspicuous part of your sofa firstly to see if you’re happy with the results. This also applies to water – as some materials are sensitive to the compounds that may be in your tap water.
Having said that, you’ll find that a few of these common household items can get rid of stains quite easily:
- Baking Soda and Lemon Juice (This can ward off cats from clawing your sofa too)
- Dishwashing Liquid and Damp Cloth
- Baby Wipes (for Microfiber sofas)
- Vinegar and Water (for pee stains)
- Ice (for chewing gum)
- Rubbing (Isopropyl) Alcohol (for Suede fabrics)
It’s best to keep a stain protector ready and use it when there’s a spill. Also remember: blot, don’t rub!
When it comes to stains, baking soda is hands down the best option. And the best way to use it is to put a little on the affected area (make sure it’s dry!), leave it on for 20-30 minutes and then vacuum it off.
The fact is that stains seem small, but they should be cleaned as soon as it happens – any longer and it’ll be almost impossible to remove, and dry cleaning isn’t fun. Have a leather sofa? Be sure to treat the leather to further protect it from stains and damage.
2. Remove Pills/Balling fabric
Typically with fabrics that are cross-woven, it is quite common to see pilling/balling. This is essentially caused by the excess fibres being pushed to the surface as they’re being sat on or brushed upon and can be a sight for sore eyes.
Believe it or not, some of the things we wear or have on us (eg. rings, keychains, jeans buttons) often get snagged into the sofa fabric. Once snagged, constant rubbing may cause pilling to occur and accelerate! And if your sofa material is something soft and delicate, like linen, even wearing rough clothes like denim alone can promote pilling.
However, pilling can be very easily removed with the use of a shaver (yes, a razor shaver) – preferably the ones they use at barber shops, followed by some light vacuuming. Just be gentle.
Once excess fibers have lifted up, the pilling will stop and the fabric would look good as new.
3. Remove Creases and Wrinkles
This applies mostly towards those with slipcovers as these are more prone to creasing and wrinkling as compared to upholstered sofas.
There are 2 main methods:
- Ironing: Set between warm to medium setting and simply run on the surface but iron it over a piece of fabric or maybe handkerchief instead of directly over the fabrics. While natural fabrics will be able stand direct heat, make sure you DO NOT IRON DIRECTLY on Synthetic and Leather Slipcovers. In fact, never iron leather slipcovers.
- Hand-held Steamer: You can also use a Hair-Dryer and Water Mist Sprayer in lieu of a hand held steamer; simply run them through the wrinkled area adequately and voila, you’ll have a wrinkled free slipcover. If using modern irons with a steam function, use them against the back of the slipcovers or over a cloth.
4. Rotate Your Cushions
Admit it – you’re lazy and so are we, and sometimes we just love that particular seating spot so much that we’re willing to inscribe a butt mold into it (just me?)
Rotating these cushions evens out the wear and though it seems like common sense, few of us actually do it because we get so caught up with life in general that we don’t notice it.
If you’re reading the post now and realize you haven’t done this in a while, do it now – it’ll only take a minute or two.
If your seat cushions are “1-sided” and can’t be rotated, even simply batting or fluffing it once in a while is good. The main idea is that you don’t want the filling inside to get compressed because once that happens, you might have to consider getting new cushion inserts.
5. Prevent Sunlight Damage
If your sofa isn’t made with outdoor fabric, then it’s probably best not to leave the couch in the sunroom.
Fabrics are like human beings, we’re all made of atoms and when we get too much sunlight a day – we eventually can get skin cancer. For fabrics, you’ll notice discolouration where the light touches, especially in the long term.
This is because UV rays break down pigments present in most fabric dyes, resulting in the color fading rather quickly over time. For this reason, it’s always best to keep your sofas out of sight from sunlight.
6. Remove Pet Fur
This can prove to be quite tricky as the vacuum cleaner doesn’t quite do the trick. While you should definitely vacuum your sofa regularly (or at least once a week), you may need some extra help getting pet fur off your couch.
One recommendation would be to use a lint-roller as it’ll pick up most of the cat/dog fur and roll it right off your couch. If you don’t have a lint-roller, cellophane tape will work just fine – it’s smaller and will take a while so be prepared to use quite a bit of tape.
Another method (that’s more practical) to remove pet fur is to use a rubber glove and rub all the hair to a single location, and you can easily just pick up the hair and bin it.
If your couch has covers, be sure to remove all the fur you possibly can before throwing it into the wash. Trust us; once the fabric gets wet, the fur is going to be a lot tougher to remove.
7. Use A Throw Blanket
It is good practice to use a blanket over your sofa as a “shield” to keep your sofa clean.
A throw blanket will take the hit of most spills, dust, dirt and even stains. Later on, you may simply toss it in the wash.
Not only does it get the job done, but it’s also comfy and chic at the same time.
8. Get Custom Slipcovers
Hey, if all else fails – and you need an excuse to get a new set of custom sofa slipcovers (or if you don’t already have one), you know where to find us!
When tossing your slipcovers in the wash, be sure to use cold/room temperature to avoid damaging the fabric. When drying the covers, hang them under a shade – but never tumble-dry in the machine (as tempting as that may be) as this will no doubt cause shrinking and damage to them.
Pro tip: to speed up the drying process, use a fan to blow cool air at the covers. The key is to avoid hot temperatures at all cost as this is like Kryptonite to sofa and upholstery fabrics!
Slipcovers are not only practical, but they also look amazing. Having more than 1 set of slipcovers is actually a great way to refresh your living room every time a wash is due. ;)
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