Tidy Comfort: How to Clean Your Sofa

Does your favourite cosy sofa have an unsightly stain? No need to panic: Here’s how to remove oil stains, marker stains and even cat urine.

The sofa is home to many of life’s comforts. It may serve as a place to enjoy a glass of wine while watching a television programme or your child’s favourite spot to get creative. It’s also likely your pet’s most beloved place to relax (especially if the owners aren’t around).

But all of these activities can certainly leave their mark on upholstered furniture and no one enjoys having drink spills, cat urine or marker stains on the couch.

Juice Stains on the Sofa - What to do?

Regardless whether your sofa is made of leather or a fabric such as microfibre, you can remove stains quickly and easily with the proper products. If you’re dealing with surface-level stains, try using dry cleaning products in order to give your sofa a more gentle clean. SOFT GUM is great for erasing light stains from smooth leather surfaces. CLEANER is a more intensive dry cleaning product that even works on set stains on suede or full-grain leather.

Juice or grease stains left behind from your latest telly snack can be easily removed with LEATHER & TEXTILE CLEANER. As the name suggests, it can be used on both leather and fabric sofas and is great for tackling water-soluble or light grease stains.

Apply the cleaner directly to your smooth leather couch. If you have a suede or fabric sofa, use a CLEANING BRUSH after application to brush away the dirt. Finally, wipe the area clean with a damp POLISHING CLOTH to remove any remaining cleaning product.

What about more serious oil stains?

If you have a more serious grease or oil stain, you’ll need a stronger cleaner such as Collonil’s REINIGER spray. It is suitable for use on all types of leather and is easy to apply.

To clean a smooth leather sofa, spray the REINIGER on a cloth and use it to gently rub the stain away. If you have a suede or fabric couch, apply the REINIGER directly to the stain and brush the damp material with a CLEANING BRUSH. Remember: Less is more in this case. You only need to apply a thin layer.

Even if you handle your sofa with extreme caution, it may become discoloured over time. Oils from your skin and body lotion leave traces on both leather and fabric sofas. SOFT GUM is great for erasing any small flecks.For rough leather, use the VELOURS-BOY, for fabrics, the CLEANING BRUSH. The REINIGER spray is perfect for more sizeable marks.

Special Circumstances: Markers and Cat Urine on the Sofa

If your biro or marker just slipped from your hand, you can remove the fresh stain with CLEANIG CREAM. If the mark has already had time to dry, your best bet may be denatured alcohol. Of course, you run the risk of removing the finish from your leather sofa so do proceed with caution.

Removing cat urine is a particular challenge for pet lovers. Cats can smell lingering scents longer than humans can and may take the opportunity to mark the same spot twice.

To remove the stain for good, clean it with LEATHER & TEXTILE CLEANER. Afterwards, apply BREEZE odour neutraliser to slightly damp suede or fabric surfaces. This removes odour-causing bacteria and gets rid of other unpleasant odours such as cigarette smoke. However, the finish on smooth leather surfaces may be affected by BREEZE and thus it’s not recommended for use with this type of leather.

How to Care for Your Sofa

Once you’ve finished cleaning, your sofa will likely require some extra care. Similar to leather shoes, leather sofas can get dry and brittle if they aren’t taken care of. LEATHER LOTION offers optimal nourishment for smooth leather and also helps to refresh the tone of the leather. Regularly brushing suede sofas with a VELOURS-BOY will help maintain the texture.

Once it’s all fresh and clean, your sofa will once again be the inviting heart of your home and ready for anything: movie nights, children’s playtime and the pet’s nap time.