Logan Voss
Purchasing a new living room furniture set is one of the most significant investments a family can make for their personal comfort. When selecting the furniture, an essential feature to consider is the piece’s appearance and its interaction with the rest of your living room. Even with a carefully selected sectional or couch, though, you must be wary of stains that’ll ruin the space’s appearance. There are many different ways you can fight back against these eyesores. Here are four of the worst stains to remove from furniture and tips for making them more manageable.
Red Wine
For many people, a visiting friend or family member is the perfect excuse to pop open a bottle of wine. Unfortunately, red wines almost always leave a stain if you spill them. There are various methods for getting these spots out. However, the most effective technique is to treat the area with white vinegar. A significant furniture upholstery cleaning mistake that people make is scrubbing a stain instead of dabbing it up. Scouring it will only make it set into the fabric more, but dabbing it will help prevent this.
Grease
Another type of stain that will quickly ruin a sofa is one that comes from food grease. These blemishes may originate from food packaging, spills, and using the upholstery in place of a napkin. The best way to remove a grease stain is to sprinkle on baking soda, let it sit for about 15 minutes, and vacuum to remove any residual moisture. For upholstery with the “S” cleaning tag, you can use solvents available at grocery stores that work for tougher stains.
Blood
Losing blood is hardly ever a pleasant experience, especially when that blood may end up leaving a splotch on your furniture upholstery. For lighter fabrics, hydrogen peroxide can quickly eliminate the spot. If your upholstery can handle water, you can also try mixing a tablespoon of dish soap with two cups of cold water to attempt to lift the stain.
Permanent Marker
As anybody with children will tell you, the only thing you can truly expect is the unexpected. Children who express themselves through drawing and coloring with markers may miss the paper and end up staining the furniture. If your kids use permanent markers, these are among the worst stains to remove from furniture. Rubbing alcohol is one common method for marker removal, as is hand sanitizer. Like with other stains, you want to dab the spot instead of scrubbing to prevent the stain from spreading further.
