Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Homemade Upholstery Cleaner


So I have this couch I don't need anymore. And what do you do with stuff like that if you have any frugality whatsoever? You try turn it into cash of course. I decided I would list it on Craigslist and wanted to get the best price I could. But lo and behold, some scabby boy of mine decided to crawl all over it's tan cushions and bleed. I thought it was doomed to be freecycled but what have I got to lose right? I'd give it one shot to see if I could get it cleaned off but a quick glance in my cupboard told me that there was NO upholstery cleaner anywhere. Here's what I came up with and it worked like a charm.

Homemade Upholstery Spot Cleaner (no more expensive aerosol cans)

2 1/4 cups hot tap water
1/4 cup liquid dish soap (preferably with a de-greaser in it)

Mix the soap and the water in a bowl and whip until you see suds. Using a clean cloth dip into the soap mixture, squeeze out the excess and rub onto the stain. Lightly scrub with a small toothbrush. Wipe away any suds with a clean damp cloth. Rinse cloth and repeat until suds are gone. Repeat the soap process if necessary until stain is gone. Dab moisture from upholstery with a clean dry cloth. Then set a fan to blow on the spot until it's dry.

1 comment:

Tammy said...

Just an fyi...peroxide gets blood out of most fabrics...be sure to spot test in a place that doesn't matter for color fastness. But I have not found anything to be effected if I use the peroxide in small amounts. Just dab the blood spot with the peroxide full strength with a clean cloth. Works great on carpets too.