4 Most Common Types of Sofa Stains and How to Remove Them

A sofa must be the piece of furniture most of us use on a daily basis. It’s comfy. You can sit on it, rest, take a nap, and allow your guests to use it. Kids love it too. It’s multifunctional. Because of this, it survived all of these years of furniture advancement. It’s hard to imagine any home without a sofa. It is an indispensable part of every living room. Because of everything we said above, it is also the furniture piece that gets the most wear and tear compared to tables, chairs, or beds.

If you have a sofa, and we know you do, it’s probably very stained. This is quite common. Usually, sofas suffer due to spills of various foods and beverages. Kids love to eat pizza and pancakes on the sofa in front of the TV. You probably ate some chips and gravy during an NFL game, or some wine simply spilled after a family dinner. Anything can happen, and it mostly does. This is why we are going to talk about the situations that can happen and how to go around them.

While you’re probably familiar with the origin of stains, you might be surprised at how you can handle them.

In most cases, it would be ideal to hire professional cleaners you can find here, but sometimes you won’t have the time or means to do it. That’s why you need to keep reading this article, as we’re going to dig a little bit deeper into this issue most of us face at least once in our lifetimes. So, let’s see how you can remove even the most persistent stains. The sofa has to endure many things but here is your solution.

1. Classic Food Stains

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Food will find a way to reach a sofa. It’s inevitable, just like Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Luckily, there’s no need for the Avengers to face this issue. In the majority of cases, soap and water are the main act.

You’ll also need to take a sponge. A clean cloth can also do the trick. Warm water is the next thing you’ll be needing. The only exception is if you spilled some milk or any other dairy product. In those situations, it’s better to use cold water. If the food stain is a mystery it’s better to proceed with cold water. If the food stain is persistent you need to use a stronger detergent that is rich in various enzymes used to break down these types of stains. Soak the location of the stain with water, and mix in the soap or detergent. Leave it for twenty minutes before you start rubbing it with a sponge or a cloth.

2. Red Wine

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Here, things get a little bit complicated. We already mentioned glasses of wine after dinner or a few glasses during a party. Either way, your sofa is in danger. It often happens that this liquid ends up on the sofa or a carpet. The results are the same; hours of cleaning. The important thing here is to keep your calm. Wine can be removed just like any other stain, despite its darker color. All you need to do is to be quick and collected.

Wine stains are best tackled with a clean cloth. First, you’ll use it to absorb all the wine that was spilled. Do this without scrubbing. The next step is to pour water over it – make it carbonated. Continue the treatment with a clean cloth till the water is absorbed. The next step includes the creation of a paste. Mix the water with baking soda. Apply this paste to the place where the stain is located and leave it be for a few hours. When it’s dried you need to collect the remaining paste with a vacuum cleaner. Once this is done, the stain should be no more.

3. Grease Stains

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Well, we all love pieces of greasy food, just not on our furniture. But, misfortunes happen, and here we are talking about the solutions when they do. You’ll be glad to hear that there’s not too much philosophy to it. All you need to do is to make the same paste as above. But, here you’ll want to react quickly to remove any oil and grease quickly. Leave the past work for fifteen or so minutes, and start cleaning the place. Once dry, vacuum the stain as we explained above. But, the work is not done here. The next step includes mixing some alcohol, preferably vodka to the place where you vacuumed the remaining paste. After pouring vodka and cleaning the spot with a clean cloth you must cover the area with another series of cleaning with soap and water, to remove any remaining smell of the alcohol.

4. Ink

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While ink seems less dangerous than grease, wine, or food stains, it is equally painful to look at. The dark blue color it leaves is hard not to notice. Most of us use our products that contain ink to write or paint, so it’s not out of the ordinary to get some spilled on the sofa. This usually happens if you have children. They’ll often get it on their hands and faces, so the sofa is the least of your problems, but you need to sort it out. The best place to start is your kitchen. Go there and create a mixture of vinegar and rubbing alcohol. After that, visit your bathroom and take one of your clean white towels. With ink, it is vital not to rub the stain as you’ll only make it bigger. Instead, blot the place where the ink was spilled. Once you’re done leave everything to dry, and in a few hours, you should have an ink-free sofa.