I recently got this couch used. I had heard many great things about microfiber furniture, and decided to try it out. We needed couches, and these were free. I expected they would be easy to clean. But that is not the case. The couches have huge huge stains on them. It's as if she never once took the time to make sure they were clean. She says her children would just play on them all the time and she was tired of the mess. She says it has to be steam cleaned. Well I found some tips and made a solution of 50/50 dish soap to water, spray it on, and wiped it off. I was scrubbing a little with the paper towels, I could see that the dirt was coming off. But there are SO MANY places on these couches to clean and I can't afford to have it professionally done. I need to know exactly what to do. Exactly what should work. It looks like juice stains, and piled on dirt from shoes.... a lot of the marks are big and black. So, what can I do? What at home products can clean these things? And if I get a steamer, the one I can rent is a carpet cleaner with an upholstery attachment. What cleaner do I put in it to make sure it doesnt destroy these things?
Have you thought about just putting slip covers over them if they are that stained and it won't come out? Be a lot easier for you to keep clean as well, since if the slip covers get dirty you can just toss them in the wash.
i HATE microfiber! lol. the stuff is seriously ridiculously hard to clean. my husband bought tan microfiber sofa and love seat and brought them home and i told them he was crazy! The only thing that has ever really worked to get it off of mine is this 3 in 1 cleaner. You have to buy it from an online, whole-sale club, but it cleans microfiber like there is no tomorrow. it has literally saved our furniture.
I also got a microfiber couch free for my daughter's first apartment. It was dark brown so that helped. It was very dirty. I used cloth diapers when my kids were little and had old ones left over. I got a bucket of warm water with dish soap and a scrub brush. I scrubbed the water in a small section real hard and then blotted it dry with the old diapers.I had to do some sections twice. The cushion seat covers came off and I hand washed them in the sink with dish soap and water and then scrubbed them with the brush and dried them outside. When it was all done, I used a vacuum cleaner brush to kind of fluff it up again and put the whole couch outside on a hot summer day to make sure it was thoroughly dry and didn't mildew. It didn't come out perfect but it was a lot better than some college couches I've seen and it was free. I did read on-line that some microfiber cannot be cleaned with water, so I'd try a small section first and see what happens.
We have a microfiber sofa and a 3 year old. Our sofa gets dirty too.
The best way I have found is use hot water (on the warranty that came with our sofa it says only to use hot water) and elbow grease. You must clean the entire cushion so that water stains do not appear. The hand held portable steamers are great too but again you must make sure you do the entire cushion. Good Luck.
Hi E. - I know it is the "cardinal sin" of furniture, but if your cushions have a zipper and they look well-sown, I'd wash them.
It's definitely not something you want to do all the time but in a situation like that, I think it's worth it. Especially you are not the first owner of the couches.
The main problem with washing is that there is a backing on the fabric that stabilizes it which can wear off if you do it too much. You also want to test for color-fastness. I tested by hand-washing one of the arm protectors first and it turned out okay. I have a front-loader with a hand-wash cycle so fabrics get tumbled but not pulled. If your washer has a perm press or gentle cycle you'll probably be okay. Use your discretion.
I have a 3yr old not-so-potty-trained little boy and my couch smelled horrible. Not to mention there was the jelly spill I found in the corner next to the stuck-on piece of LaffyTaffy and the drop of yogurt behind the pillow. I have a cotton velvet sectional that doesnt respond well to scrubbing. I cant afford to replace it and it was going to cost $300 to have cleaned - with no guarantee that the urine smell would be taken care of. I peeled off all the covers and put them on the gentle cycle in cold water with liquid detergent. I dried them on medium until they were more dry than damp and replaced them on the cushions and allowed them to dry a few hours. While the covers were in the wash, I sprayed the cushions with an enzyme spray that is safe for upholstery and some anti-bacterial Febreze.
They turned out great and look better than when I washed them. They could probably stand for a dose of ScotchGuard after being in the wash as well.
We have tan micro-suade couches. Ugh... I feel your pain. We get them steam-cleaned once or twice a year, depending on the level of stains, when we get our carpets done. I have always just had Stanley Steemer add them to our carpets and they don't charge very much. They get all the stains out too. Once they are clean, if you can wash it down right away if something spills, you can get it out pretty easily with plain water. Good luck!
I have a red micro fiber couch from AFW & it gets so disgusting!! I finally recently realized the covers come off, and, figuring it couldn't look any worse, washed them in the machine with detergent & Borax. They came out beautifully!! Looked brand new!!
Looking online, it says there should be a tag on the furniture. If it says "W" then you can use a water based detergent.
As for the shoe-dirt areas--could you try brushing with a clean scrub brush to loosed the dirt?
I'd keep going with the detergent solution and just do it a litte at a time. I'd try to use a clean terry rag (old towel) instead of the paper towels. Good luck!
