If you're using a store-bought cleaner, be sure to always read and follow the direction on the label. Or mix your own upholstery cleaner. For fabric upholstery, use ¼ cup of vinegar + ¾ cup of warm water. For synthetic upholstery, use ¾ cup of warm water + 1 tablespoon of gentle dish soap, like Dawn.
If your couch has wooden, metal, plastic, or other parts that are not covered in fabric, you can easily clean them with a bit of soapy water. Mix a few drops of dish soap in with 1 cup (240 mL) of warm water and dip a clean cloth into it. Wring out the cloth and use it to wipe the non-fabric parts of your couch.
Cleaning with water, vinegar and dish soap – Spot-cleaning
Work gently because you don't want to rub the stain in the fabric. Wipe away with a clean cloth and inspect if the stain is gone.
Mix together the dawn dish soap and hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle. Spray on upholstery and let sit for a minute or two. Next, scrub lightly until the stain is gone with a microfiber cloth or old rag. Then, allow to dry for about 24 hours before using.
For fabric upholstery: Mix 1/4 cup vinegar, 3/4 warm water and 1 tablespoon of dish soap or Castile soap. Put in a spray bottle. Mist the soiled area. Scrub with a soft cloth until the stain lifts.
To get rid of smell in couch, sprinkle baking soda generously on cushions, in crevices, and especially on areas with a stain. Give the baking soda some time to work –about an hour or so — then vacuum up the remains.
Dawn Powerwash is a great stain remover on clothing, too. I have removed chocolate, grease stains, and even sprayed it on my son's baseball pants. I've also used it for quick clean-ups on our upholstered couch, and rugs as well.
Dawn Powerwash is almost the same as regular Dawn, but it also has rubbing alcohol. This helps it remove more stains. It also spray in a foam, so it's easy to dispense and small amount.
It's basically an improved version of a basic soap dish bottle, with a trigger designed to provide a continuous spray of concentrated soap, instead of pumping out a few drops to make suds on a sponge or in the sink. The combination of trusted Dawn dish soap and the powerful spray is a lethal cleaning combination.
W – This code calls for a “water-based cleaner,” such as laundry detergent or dish soap combined with water. You can also use a commercial non-solvent upholstery shampoo.
Baking soda is an extremely effective natural odor remover, and you can use it to get lingering bad dog smell out of your sofa. Simply sprinkle baking soda over the fabric and let it sit overnight. In the morning, vacuum your couch thoroughly. The odors should be significantly lessened, if not gone completely.
For this, you'd need to make a cleaning solution first. What you'd want to do is mix ¾ cup of warm water, ¼ cup of vinegar and a tablespoon of dish soap of any scent. This mixture works well with fabric upholstery. If you have synthetic upholstery, mix one cup warm water, ½ cup vinegar, and ½ tablespoon of dish soap.
Take some baking soda and spread a thin layer on the sofa surface. Use a bristle brush and scrub all the surface, and until the stain disappears, keep doing it. Leave it for one hour. Once the time is up, take the help of a vacuum cleaner and remove all the baking soda residue.
Mix together two parts hydrogen peroxide to one part dish soap and apply to the stain. Allow it to sit for five minutes, then gently blot with a cool, damp cloth. Launder as per the cushion cover's care instructions.
Vinegar works like baking soda, though it also can deodorize and neutralize the smell. You can prepare vinegar spray by mixing 1 cup water, 1/2 cup white vinegar, and 1/2 tablespoon of mild dish soap in a spray bottle.
Many odors can be removed using vinegar or baking soda as part of your wash cycle, and if those don't work, commercial sanitizers and sports detergents target odor-causing bacteria, too. Air drying outside is also a great option for freshening fabrics.
Although the sprays hid some of our odors, they didn't work as well as implied by the ads, and any effect was temporary. After we'd sprayed Febreze Air Effects, most blindfolded panelists still identified odors characteristic of fish or cat litter or both, and most also noticed a fragrance or chemical/detergent scent.
Mix Soap and Water
Mix a few drops of mild soap, like a gentle dish soap, with water to make a water-based cleaning solution good for removing most stains. Add a few drops of white vinegar or a pinch of baking soda to remove odor while cleaning.
But unless you're willing to take a hose to your mirrors to rinse away the soap, it's nearly impossible to wipe away the streaky, hazy mess it leaves behind. “Dish soap does have a way of leaving streaks if it isn't rinsed,” says Jessica Ek of the American Cleaning Institute.
Dawn dish soap is toxic. Some synthetic ingredients in it are harmful. A good example is methylisothiazolinone which causes aquatic toxicity. It's also linked to nerve and liver damage.
What's the difference between Dawn Powerwash and regular Dawn Dish Soap. Regular Dawn is a gel that needs water added to work, whether it is from a filled-up sink or your wet sponge. The Dawn Powerwash spray works without water so you can spray it on dry dishes and wash.
Take your empty 16 ounce Powerwash bottle and pour about an inch of Dawn dish soap in the bottle. It's about 1/4 cup, if you want to actually measure it. But seriously, there is no need to. I then added about a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol.