Wednesday, August 6, 2014

How to: Clean Microfiber Couches AND get the water spots out too!!


 
 HI ALL!  It's been a while!  We have taken a summer hiatus around here.  July was busy to say the least,  full of reunions, vacations, swimming, hiking, camping, holidays, traveling, moving/helping move, and a big yard sale at the end to top it all off!!  Well we are back, not so rested and relaxed, but we are full of new recipes and awesome ideas.  This one today is both gross and amazing all in one!

I got these beautiful new microfiber couches a month before I had my twins.  Microfiber wont stain they said, microfiber holds up to kids they said, it will always look new they said,  WELL they obviously didn't have kids or family or pets or anything sitting on their microfiber couches!  Because look what 4 years and tons of sippys of water, milk, juice  and who knows what else has been in there can do!   YUCK!  (ps.  the flash on my camera seriously makes it look more awful than just looking at it with your eyes! but still... gross!!)
 


So I did what any normal person would do, I got on pinterest and found so many amazing before and after pictures of couches that were nasty and then transformed into beauty! 
They all used rubbing alcohol and so I got all the necessary scrubbies and spray bottles and worked away and they still looked like this.....


I thought that I must have done something wrong so I read and reread and found different posts and finally I found a post that said the alcohol is for dirt and grime but WILL NOT get out hard water stains... UGH!  Hard water is all we have in Southern Utah.  I figured I was doomed until my better half on this blog Donna was out looking at couches and told the salesman that she would not be getting microfiber because of how my couches have turned out.  He then asked if I'd ever tried distilled water...? 


I hadn't but I figured that they couldn't get any worse than they already were so I got out my daughters water bottle that I use for her hair and filled it with some distilled water that I already have on hand to use in my steam mop and sprayed my couch down... not to much but enough that it had an even soak.....



Then I just got a light colored rag and scrubbed away until I couldn't see any of the water rings




When I was done it looked like this.. a little damp.



Then it dried and looked like this... it felt a bit crusty...


So I got a hard brush and fluffed up all of the fabric.....


And the end result was amazing!!  Water spots mostly gone and looking fresh and new:)



Now I just need to do the rest of my couches :/
Pin It!

25 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Nope. No soap! Just good ol' distilled water:)

      Delete
    2. AMAZING! I am going to try this TODAY!

      Delete
  2. I'll have to try this. I have a huge sectional I was just getting ready to put on ksl for free because my couch looks just like yours did!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope it works out for you like it did for me! :)

      Delete
  3. Thank you so much for helping me save my couch!!! This worked wonders for me!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I HAVE SEEN ON A FEW SITES THAT WINDEX WORKS AS WELL. I HAVEN'T TRIED EITHER TECHNIQUE YET.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I might have to try that next time it needs a good cleaning! I will let you know :)

      Delete
    2. I might have to try that next time it needs a good cleaning! I will let you know :)

      Delete
  5. So just plain rubbing alcohol works for regular stains?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes. there are better instructions online for the rubbing alcohol, but it's basically the same thing as spraying the distilled water, just with the rubbing alcohol. Make sure you test a spot first because it could change the color of your fabric!

      Delete
  6. I tried the winded method today because I didn't have any distilled water and I didn't want to run to the store! It worked great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's good to hear! I might have to try windex the next time my couches get dirty.

      Delete
  7. Found this on Pinterest! Thank YOU!!! Both your post and from your comment section about trying the windex. I will try both. I have been sad beyond belief since moving to Florida, as I brought with me a very beautiful microfiber couch that we purchased in Washington. Ok, so, my husband wanted to sell all the furniture there, and get new stuff here. I couldn't bare to part with my beautiful french country nail studded olive high roll top back couch, and made him get the truck and haul it here. Then, much to our surprise, it couldn't fit into the door of the mobile home we bought and wound up on the lanai for almost two years, exposed to weather, though completely under the cover of the roof. INE no water hit it, but lets face it, it was outdoors for two years! Then we moved to South Tampa and had a bigger place on the water. It was so beautiful there, but alas,we still couldn't get this couch into the house, yep, so it went to the back porch, completely enclosed this time, but no air or heat. Friends would come over and come in from the back of the house by the dock, and all hot from their walk or run and yes, the grease started settling in on the all ready tired fabric. We moved here in 2009, and in March of 2015 we bought our permanent retirement home, a big wonderful manufactured home in a park that is about 5 miles from Honeymoon Island here in the Dunedin/Palm Harbor area. We had to again put the furniture in storage, as we had remodeling to do and floors to lay. The project went long and the furniture sat in storage for 9 months. Once we had the floors done, we rushed to the storage and got our babies out of prison. My vintage mid century items had a little mold, white residue on some of the doors, and my poor French Country couch, well, it looks so dirty on the arms compared to the nice new surroundings we have built. But, just as I was contemplating the error of my ways, spending all that money to transport this furniture from Wa and storing it at great cost, I came upon your post in Pinterest, and am now looking forward to bringing the arms back to a nice clean look and enjoying my dream couch once more! I will try the distilled water first, as I am leery of changing the color. But if needs be, I may dilute the windex with distilled and try that if the distilled doesn't work on it's own! Again, YAY, and thank you for your post!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am so glad you found us. It sounds like you have your work cut out for you. I really hope you are able to get your couch cleaned up nicely to enjoy in your home.

      Delete
  8. I usually don't have distilled water around, but we do have a reverse osmosis water filter, so I suppose that would be just as good. Hope it works, I really don't want to fill a bottle with rubbing alcohol with kids around!

    ReplyDelete
  9. So would you spray rubbing alcohol to clean and let dry and then spray the distilled water, scrub and let dry?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I would do the same sort of process with the rubbing alcohol. Spray and scrub then let dry. And then if you still have water spots do the distilled water treatment.

      Delete
  10. Will alcohol get a grease stain out?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not sure about getting a grease stain out. It wouldn't hurt anything to try, it may just make for more scrubbing.

      Delete
  11. Our dogs seemed to have ruined our loveseat. Does this cleaning work for odor as well?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I dont think the distilled water would work for odors but the rubbing alcohol may help.

      Delete
  12. Baking soda and vinegar takes the odor away and the distilled water will rinse the vinegar smell away. The baking soda brushes right off and didn't hurt the color of my microfiber couch.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am going to try alcohol/ brush. I tried dish washing detergent, but rings are still there.

    ReplyDelete