Today I’m sharing my favorite and most effective upholstery cleanings tips. After growing up in a family who owned a professional carpet and upholstery cleaning company, I learned some tricks that help remove stains, remove a dirt-attracting residue left by some products, and prevent stains from returning.
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I’m pretty picky on products I will use on carpet and upholstery because of my upbringing and literally cleaning in hundreds of people’s homes. For years I would go with my dad or older brother and my job was to clean furniture, steps, and to pre-treat stains in carpet. We often were called to clean up after messes or problems resulting from people renting machines (which soaked the carpet and use detergents) or trying home remedies that caused more damage than it was worth. Many times people would use a popular product that looked like it removed the stain or dirt, only to find the stain returned or it got dirty fast again.
The reason why we had to clean up after many popular carpet and upholstery products, is they only clean the surface and they leave a residue that, once dry, attracts dirt.
With those things in mind, I came up with some simple methods and tips and combination of basic, household products that will not cause damage and nor leave a residue.
**Be sure to consult your furniture manufacturer’s recommendations for how to clean the upholstery. This is not a dry-cleaning method and is not recommended for dry-clean only furniture.**
I still believe calling a professional carpet and upholstery cleaner is going to give you the deepest clean, but these tips will have your upholstery looking great and you won’t have to call in the professional as often.
Let’s start with this cute little ottoman, shall we? It gets the dirtiest out of all our furniture because we put our feet on it and sometimes my husband will use it as a table to put a plate of food on.
Here is a video tutorial I did of the cleaning process:
6 Tips for Cleaning Upholstery Fabric
1- Spray Entire Fabric Surface with Hot Water
When dirt and stains are deep into fabric fibers, the best thing to do when you are cleaning them is to spray it with hot water. The heat relaxes the fibers and loosens the dirt so it can be extracted easier. Spraying the entire surface also prevents any ‘water marks’ from potentially forming. Boiling water isn’t necessary, just the hottest your tap can go.
2- Use Watered-Down Laundry Stain Remover To Treat Stains
I’ve tried lots of different carpet and upholstery spotters and honestly my favorite and most effective product to treat stains is the Free & Clear Clorox2 Stain Remover mixed with water (4 parts water, 1 part stain remover). For extra tough stains I might apply a very small amount of the stain remover- undiluted. I’m sure you could use other clear laundry stain removers like OxyClean, but this one doesn’t suds up very much, is super concentrated and it has hydrogen peroxide in it, so it gets out blood and so many other things. If using with a dark fabric, don’t let this product dry– it will lighten it since hydrogen peroxide is a gentle type of bleach.
3- Scrub with 100% Cotton White Rags
It is very important to have 100% cotton rags to absorb the dirt. I like using white because I never risk color transfer, and I can see how much dirt I’m getting out while I scrub. You also want to make sure you are switching to clean areas of the rag as you scrub– you don’t want to be rubbing the dirt back into the upholstery fabric. A box of 50 cotton painters rags cost about $12, and I use about 15 rags for an ottoman or chair (depending on how dirty it is, it could be more).
When scrubbing, don’t press or scrub super hard. Some pressure is good, and working back and forth going both directions or circular motions is the most effective. The idea here is to loosen the dirt particles and agitate the fibers so that they can be absorbed by the rag.
4- Use Sparkling Water + Vinegar for Soiled Areas and to Remove Soap Residue
If you are using any form of soap, detergent, or laundry stain remover that suds up in the slightest, you are likely going to have a residue if left to dry. For that reason you want to use a mixture of 1 cup sparkling water and 1/2 cup white vinegar and spray the surface of the fabric. The vinegar breaks down the soapy particles and the carbonation in the sparkling water will bring it to the surface, as well as any deeper dirt. Gently scrub the fabric again until your rags stop pulling dirt from the surface. Don’t be surprised if you get quite a bit more dirt on your rags on this step– the sparkling water works wonders!
I showed this on Instagram before, but if you drop some dirt or even raisins in a glass of sparkling water, they will rise to the surface. This same concept works in fabric and carpet! Sparkling water will bring ground-in dirt and some stains to the surface (especially any colored soda), so you can extract (absorb) them into a cotton rag.
5- Trim Lint & Pilling with Fabric Shaver
Once the fabric is completely dry, use a fabric shaver to trim the pilling and lint from the upholstery fabric. Most people use these for sweaters or sweatshirts, but upholstery is my favorite way to use a fabric shaver! It makes it look new again!
Get my fabric shaver here. Another great fabric shaver found here.
6- Protect Clean Fabric with ScotchGard
Finally, you want to protect the upholstery that you worked so hard to clean, so you want to protect the fabric. Put down a drop cloth so you don’t have over-spray and apply 2 light coats of ScotchGard, letting it dry completely in between coats.
Here is what the ottoman looked like before and after cleaning and protecting:
Here is the chair before and after cleaning using the same method:
Here is the step-by-step as I cleaned the chair:
The chairs look literally brand new again! This fabric hides dirt well, but you can tell as you look closer, the fabric definitely looks cleaner and brighter.
Thanks for reading and let me know if you felt this post was helpful!
Thank you for the wonderful tips!
Thank you! Super helpful tips! I will be sharing your blog with friends
This is sooo helpful! We have a lot of darker fabrics, some with pulls from cat nails. I’d never thought to sue my fabric shaver, but I will give it a try! We have an older kitty with some urination issues, so my current battle is getting the cat urine smell out of my closet rug… please point me in the right direction if you have any posts on pet stains and rug cleaning and thanks for posting!!
Cat urine is tricky bc it’s likely not just in the carpet but in the pad. And cats like to pee in the same place more than once. This is what we used to do when treating cat urine for my family’s business: pull up the carpet, cut out the section of damaged pad and replace it. Paint with Kilz the subfloor if it was damaged with urine, lay back down the pad and carpet, treat the carpet with an enzyme cleaner. Recently (in past year or so) have used Nature’s Miracle on pet stains with our dog and have had great success in getting out the smell and stain.
Thank you! I’ve been using nature’s miracle (though realized I accidentally got the dog version). I think this room is destined to be hard wood in the next year or so, so probably won’t go to the effort of replacing the carpet. But definitely good to know we’re on the right track with Nature’s Miracle! I used our hoover steam cleaner (upholstery attachment) to clean the floor and I actually made the staining worse (our ivory carpet now has streaks of brown in it), but at least the smell is better!
This is SO helpful! Thank you so much for sharing! I can’t wait to try this method.
Great post! Thank you so much for sharing. Love your family room ❤️
I am doing this soon! Great instruction! Thank you!
Goodness this is helpful. Thank you for sharing! I’ve always wondered if sparkling water would help.
Would you use this same method on a microfiber couch?
Yes just make sure to spray the whole thing with water like I described or your will have water spots.
Thanks so much for the very thorough instructions! I am doing a grocery store today and will be loading up on your suggested items!
Any thoughts on polyester that is not supposed to be cleaned with water?? I bought a can of something (can’t remember the name), and it worked pretty well, but wondering if you have any other tricks.
Debbie 🙂
Absolutely fantastic post. Step by step instructions and great tips and tricks. Thanks.
This information is so helpful, thanks Rachel! I wouldn’t have thought to water down laundry stain remover and use that to remove stains. That’s such a simple and easy trick! About once a year, I get my larger upholstery pieces cleaned by a professional upholstery cleaner in my area, and they always do a great job. But, I’m going to use your tips to help keep my upholstery cleaned on a more regular basis! Can’t wait to read more of your fantastic cleaning tips 🙂
I love Chem Dry. That was the company that my family owned when I was talking about growing up cleaning carpets and upholstery. Whenever we need a deep clean I always call my local franchise.
Hey Rachel- I have a brand new IKEA couch for my brand new Mom/Ladies Lounge I am creating out of our guest room for ME! I have 3 boys – husband and 2 sons…and a boy dog too. Well, Bentley (the dog) puked on my couch and although I cleaned it immediately, I think I may have ruined it by my method of cleaning. I don’t think it is hopeless, so that is why I am desperately writing to you! I rubbed carpet cleaner/stain remover on it and then used baking soda to “try” to absorb the liquid. The result is a water stain around the smaller stain and the small stain looks slightly discolored and white-ish. Do you have any advice on what I can do to make it come back to life??
it is wonderful tips to fresh furniture fabric and also the furniture. Thank you very much for sharing.
Thank you for these instructions and sharing your experience cleaning upholstery. I clicked on the link from the YouTube tutorial, as written instructions come in very handy to my distracted brain. I was gifted a light color sofa that will benefit from a bit of TLC. After much searching, your tutorial has given me the confidence to proceed without panicking about ruining said sofa. 😊🌻 Thanks again!!
I tried on two different pieces and cannot see a difference. There was some dirt on the cloths but the chairs look basically the same.
I did this with my ottoman and the couch tonight! Oh my gosh! I wish I took some before pictures. Thank you so much for your tutorial and sharing your knowledge!
Thanks for helping me realize that hiring professionals for upholstery cleaning is the only way to achieve the cleanest look that I want for our furniture. My in-laws are staying over the weekend and I don’t want my husband’s mother to criticize me just by having a dirty sofa. I’d try to look for companies that offer home cleaning services and see if they can come tomorrow.
Does this work for polyester?
Test an inconspicuous area first, make sure it looks good when completely dry. If so, proceed!
Thanks so much for such an easy tutorial!
I just purchased a nursing chair second-hand on the weekend, and gave this a try. The amount of dirt that came out was amazing!
One question though – how do I get rid of the vinegar smell now that it’s dry? Or will this slowly dissipate over time?
Could I sprinkle some bicarb on their and vacuum it up – or could that leave residue in the fabric (that I just spent all that time removing)?
Thanks again – so glad I found your video!
What do you recommend for pieces marked with cleaning code”S”? Solvent based cleaners only?
Thanks
I would test spot an inconspicuous area first. S typically means dry solvent cleaners which means the fabric isn’t always color-fast and could possibly shrink if soaked with too much water. IF your test-spot looks okay once completely dry, use minimal water, work in sections, and scrub gently.
Thank you for these amazing instructions and sharing your experience. It was reallt worked on my bed room sofa After much searching, your tutorial has given me the confidence to proceed without panicking about ruining said sofa.thnku
Soap residue is one of the most annoying parts of cleaning my own furniture and carpet! We have professional upholstery cleaners give our furniture a nice deep clean once a year but I clean them every so often in between professional cleanings and there is always soap residue left behind. I can’t wait to try your sparkling water and vinegar mixture!
Wow! Thank you for your awesome cleaning tips. I am new to this carpet cleaning industry and I am still struggling to learn about upholstery and furniture cleaning. I need all the help I can get. Thank you for sharing. It is an honor to learn from an expert like you and your company.
I’ve never thought of using sparkling water on furniture stains! The professional upholstery cleaners we love use carbonated water to remove dirt and stains from our furniture so using sparkling water makes so much sense! I can’t wait to try your cleaning solution in between our professional cleanings!
Upholstery cleaning is different than normal carpet cleaning and laundry. It is important to make sure that you don’t damage the sofa, sofa chairs etc. stuff while dealing with upholstery cleaning. Thank you very much. It was really nice to know about this!
Upholstery Cleaning Ashford
Great video and the process works great!
I only have one question—Scotchguard has discontinued the Fabric Protector with Fabric Water Shield. I’m not sure that this will provide the same protection as the Fabric protector would have. Any recommendations on what to use instead?
I would still opt for Scotch Gard Fabric Protector vs other brands.
So now I have to clean a velvet chair. Will this method work?
These tips are fantastic! I also use Chem-Dry as my carpet cleaning or furniture cleaning professionals. They know what they’re doing especially when it comes to furniture cleaning. I have used the white vinegar and sparkling water solution before when doing my furniture cleaning and I have always seen great results! Thanks for sharing!
I just got some upholstered chairs on Offer Up. Great deal but they need a good cleaning. How would you change this process for dark fabric – somewhere between denim and navy.
Help please…. Not a pleasant problem but one that needs addressing. I have a cat that sneezes a lot and her “snot” is the toughest product I have ever encountered when it comes to cleaning. The magic eraser type products works great to remove it from solid surfaces. But what do I do to clean it from upholstery?