How To Clean Upholstery At Home

Table of contents:

How To Clean Upholstery At Home
How To Clean Upholstery At Home

Video: How To Clean Upholstery At Home

Video: How To Clean Upholstery At Home
Video: How to Clean Upholstery 2024, March
Anonim
  • Features of professional dry cleaning
  • Zinner cycle
  • Furniture preparation
  • Dry cleaning
  • Choice of detergents
  • Foam cleaning
  • Extractor method at home
How to clean upholstery at home
How to clean upholstery at home

Features of professional dry cleaning

On the home page of any cleaning company, the main advantages are indicated: the experience of the staff, the use of professional detergents and equipment.

But the average housewife is equally adept at dealing with dirt, plus an interest in a good result and respect for personal property.

Dry powder cleaning of furniture
Dry powder cleaning of furniture

Household cleaning products differ from professional ones only in concentration and preparation for use. Otherwise, the active substances are the same, with a similar "specialization" and order of use. The main thing is to correctly determine the composition of the upholstery fabric and choose the right product for a specific type of pollution.

Professional equipment for dry cleaning of furniture at home is an extractor vacuum cleaner, which can be easily replaced by manual cleaning with the assistance of improvised household appliances. Moreover, the extractor method is just one of three types of dry cleaning of furniture at home. The second is wet cleaning with detergents, and the third is foam cleaning, and both methods are easy to reproduce yourself at home.

Zinner cycle

Before describing the cleaning of furniture, we will tell you about the Zinner cycle.

In the late 1950s, industrial chemist Dr. Zinner at Henkel formulated the principles of efficient cleaning. He tied together four factors that together provide effective surface cleaning: the chemical properties of the detergent, aging, temperature and mechanical stress. And the essence of his theory is that a decrease in the impact of one factor should be compensated by an increase in another. Therefore, schematically it looks like this:

Zinner's circle
Zinner's circle

Any housewife intuitively knows the practical application of this principle. In our case, for upholstery, this means - if the fabric cannot be exposed to high temperatures, then the intensity of the mechanical action must be increased. Or if the fabric is "delicate" and afraid of "friction", then increasing the concentration or exposure time of the detergent will help.

Furniture preparation

Before cleaning, the furniture must be moved away from the walls, dry and wet cleaning the floor (there will be dust and debris under the sofa), cover the perimeter with a plastic wrap so that drops of detergent do not fall on the floor covering.

How to clean upholstery at home
How to clean upholstery at home

Then you need to prepare the upholstery for cleaning - remove dust, hair, pet hair. A regular vacuum cleaner is suitable for this, but you can also enhance the effect - cover the upholstery with a damp cloth and walk over it with a regular carpet beater.

Dry cleaning

This type of cleaning is usually not practiced by cleaning companies, but at the household level, with slight contamination of carpets and upholstery, it is used.

For example, there are Dyson Zorb dry cleaning powders or Bork V1 Duo Powder.

Furniture cleaning powders
Furniture cleaning powders

The essence of the purification technology is as follows:

  • using a brush, the powder is spread over the surface;
  • withstand a certain time, during which the active substances of the powder "bind" the dirt and grease of the stains;
  • remove dirty powder with a regular (not washing!) vacuum cleaner.
Dry powder cleaning of furniture
Dry powder cleaning of furniture

You can also find recommendations for using Vanish Moist Carpet Powder to clean upholstery, but judging by the numerous negative reviews, this is far from the best option.

Choice of detergents

Quite a lot of detergents are available for routine cleaning of common dirt. Most of them are of a universal type and are suitable for most types of fabrics - the only difference is in the form of release and the method of application.

If the area and degree of contamination are small, then the most convenient to use are aerosol cans or compact containers (usually 0.5 liters) with a hand spray (spray bottle).

Furniture cleaner
Furniture cleaner

For larger volumes, more "economical" types of packaging are produced with the same properties of detergents - gels (concentrates) and powders. They require preliminary preparation for manual use - dilution in a certain amount of water. And for the "mechanized" method (for a washing vacuum cleaner), their own types of concentrates are produced, the method of filling which is determined by the manufacturer of this type of equipment.

Furniture cleaner
Furniture cleaner

Important! Before using any product for the first time, it must be tested in an inconspicuous place for the color fastness of the upholstery.

Foam cleaning

This type of cleaning to some extent refers to the "dry" method, so it is used when the upholstery is slightly dirty. And so it is considered due to the fact that the foam is applied to a dry surface.

It is for this method that aerosols and sprayers are produced, although there are concentrates that require dilution in water to form foam.

Dry foam for cleaning furniture
Dry foam for cleaning furniture

Mode of application:

  • spray the product or apply foam to the surface;
  • rub it into the upholstery with a brush or napkin (depending on the type of fabric);
  • withstand the time specified in the instructions;
  • treat the surface with an ordinary vacuum cleaner;
  • rinse the upholstery with water;
  • repeat the procedure if necessary;
  • leave to dry naturally.
Foam cleaning of furniture
Foam cleaning of furniture

Extractor method at home

If you have a washing vacuum cleaner, then cleaning the furniture upholstery is not difficult. Its principle of operation is the same as that of professional extractor vacuum cleaners for dry cleaning of upholstered furniture and carpets, and the difficulty is only in the selection of a detergent.

Cleaning furniture with a washing vacuum cleaner
Cleaning furniture with a washing vacuum cleaner

There is an equally effective way to clean furniture, but this requires a steam generator.

Advice! If you do not have a steam generator, we recommend purchasing one. A steamer for clothes with a container, a hose and a stainless steel nozzle costs from 3000 rubles. A steam generator for the house with a container and a hose attachment in the form of an iron starts at 4000 rubles. They perfectly iron products made of delicate fabrics and are indispensable for ironing outerwear with complex cuts.

The procedure for cleaning upholstered furniture with a steamer looks like this:

  • bring the steam generator into working condition;
  • treat the prepared surface with hot steam;
  • apply a detergent (foam, emulsion, liquid solution) and rub it in with a brush or napkin;
  • give time for the remedy to work;
  • remove the bulk of the detergent and dirt with a conventional vacuum cleaner;
  • wash off the remains of the detergent, using napkins and changing the water as it gets dirty;
  • dry the upholstery at room temperature;
  • if streaks appear, wash them again with warm water.
Cleaning of furniture with a steam generator
Cleaning of furniture with a steam generator

In conclusion - if in addition to general pollution there are local stains (oil, ink, juice, sauce, etc.), then stain removers are needed to remove them. And it is better not to use folk remedies, which may include alcohol (ethyl or ammonia), acetic or citric acid, turpentine, refined gasoline and even kerosene - since the appearance of these recipes, the composition of upholstery fabrics and the nature of dyes have changed. And such formulations themselves can leave a stain. There are many modern products of organic origin based on surfactants that take good care of new materials.

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