It happened, you spilled it, and that nice new couch got an ugly stain. Do not despair, because we have taken a closer look at the most common stains on sofas and have selected the right removal method for each. Here are four tricks for removing different dirty spots on your furniture.
- Greasy stains
– Leather sofa: Softly blot the fresh stains off your leather sofa and imbue with a cloth. Apply baby powder, flour or chalk on the stain to pull any residue out. After a short exposure time, you are able to get rid of the mixture with a vacuum cleaner. For older greasy stains, get magnesium carbonate and mineral spirits. Mix both substances and use the mixture. Allow to dry briefly and brush it off carefully with pure water.
-Fabric sofa: First soak up fresh grease stains with a paper towel and dab them off. Never rub further into the material! Mix cleaning water with fat-soluble washing liquid or use gall soap to remove the stain. Grease stains that have already dried on the fabric should be removed with benzine or gall soap. Allow the gall soap to act briefly. Dab off the residue and wipe with clear water. In the case of particularly stubborn stains, the process must be repeated.
- Drink stains
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Leather sofa: As soon as you spill soft drink on the sofa, you should act immediately and soak up the liquid with a paper towel. For smooth leather, we recommend using neutral soap in water. Dab the affected area with this mixture and absorb the liquid with a dry cloth. For suede, you can apply salt. Let it soak for a short time and then remove it with the vacuum cleaner. For older stains on a smooth leather sofa, mix salt and lemon juice together. Pour the mixture onto the old drink stain, leave to stand for about 10 minutes and then remove. Rinse with cold water and then dry. –
Fabric sofa: Get some salt and put it on the fabric. Let salt soak up the liquid for a moment. Wipe off salt and apply sparkling water directly to the stain. Sparkling water washes the residue from the fabric. Soak up liquid again with a kitchen towel. To avoid rim formation, you can wipe with distilled water.
- Chocolate stains
– Leather sofa: First remove the leftovers. With fresh chocolate, gently dab the sofa with a cloth. Old chocolate stains, which are particularly stubborn, can be gently scraped off with the back of a knife. Wipe with normal soapy water and apply cleansing milk if necessary.
-Fabric sofa: Fresh stains should be dabbed off quickly. Old residue can be removed with the back of a knife. Wipe off with water and detergent. Gall soap can then be applied, which you can remove after about 20 minutes with a damp cloth. Never rub chocolates further into the fabric.
- Blood stains
-Leather sofa: For smooth leather, use neutral soap dissolved in water and wipe off a blood stain. For suede, on the other hand, you can make a paste out of a little water and an aspirin tablet. Then use it on the stain. Apply the mixture to blood, let it steep briefly and remove. Wipe off with clear water and dry. For dried blood, mix together a solution of 1/3 tartaric acid and 2/3 lemon juice for your smooth leather sofa. After 10 minutes exposure time, the paste can be removed and wiped off with clear water. For suede, proceed as described above.
– Fabric sofa: Fresh blood stains can be removed using clear water in a spray bottle. Spray the affected area and blot liquid with a paper towel. For more stubborn stains, you can add washing-up liquid to water. Or you stir up a paste of water and potato starch, put it on the stain and then dab it off.
