DIY Upholstery Cleaning

Can you think of one reason in the world anyone would take a perfectly tidy house and destroy it?  Especially if you are one who loves tidy?

Perhaps a good reason is to hold a PJ dance party with your besties?  Fun music, popcorn and dancing in the front room?

That is a very acceptable reason to mess up the house!

But that is not what happened to my perfectly tidy house this week.

I decided to spring clean my upholstered furniture and boy did that make a mess. Here is my DIY upholstery cleaning journey.

Baking Soda

First, I liberally sprinkled soda on all the cushions to let it sit for a half hour.  And that soda?  It got everywhere.  So then I could see every hard surface would need dusting and the carpet would need vacuuming and the hardwood would need mopping.  Ugh.

But sprinkling baking soda occasionally is a good practice to freshen up furniture.

After 30 minutes I vacuumed all the cushions and inside the couches and chairs.

Ripping apart the furniture, vacuuming and putting everything back together is one of the least favorite chores in the world.

They look so much peppier and better,  but I hate doing it.  Have I already mentioned that?

Green Machine

Then I got out the Bissell green machine and added Oxyclean and hot water to clean the family room furniture and the dining room chairs.

In all the years we’ve had our furniture, I have never shampooed it and the family room felt like it was high time.

The fireplace is in the family room so it gets used a lot in the winter.

And man, it was satisfying and disgusting all at the same time to see the dirty water pour out of the green machine!

I didn’t want all the furniture to be wet at one time, so I only did the soda treatment and vacuumed the living room sectional.  I also flipped all the cushions and puffed them up.

Dining Chairs

Mandy loves to hang out most of the day on two or three dining chairs.  I have no idea how she chose that space, but that’s where she likes it.  And she sheds.

So after the baking soda treatment, I shampooed all the chairs and hit the bar stools while I was at it.

Result

It is always recommended to test a spot before using cleaning products on furniture, but you know that is for way more sensible people than I.  I just went at it full force.

Luckily, everything turned out great.

With the warm, dry weather we are having the furniture dried quickly.

Then of course, I had to dust and vac and mop.

So the next morning I woke up to a tidy house again.  And hopefully one that smells better!

Wrap Up

I hope this gives you a little motivation to tackle a spring cleaning chore you’ve been putting off like I have.

And if you come to visit, your bottom will be sitting on a nice clean surface!

Have a happy weekend and if you’re accomplishing stuff around the house, share with us what you’re doing.

XO