Is Baking Soda the Best Way to Clean Your Sofa?
At the heart of every living room is a sofa that has seen it all. Buttocks, pets, spilled food and bare feet can make your sofa rough very quickly and very quickly. But that doesn’t mean you can just put it all in the washing machine. Of course, you can wash the covers, but not all sofas have this option. Luckily, baking soda , our favorite home workhorse, can help deodorize the couch – with some caveats (more on that later).
As we’ve pointed out many times before, baking soda is good for cleaning and / or deodorizing everything from electric stove burners to sneakers and mattresses , and it can also help your natural fiber sofa .
Is baking soda really the best option?
When it comes to your sofa, baking soda helps deodorize it, which is not the same as cleaning it, says Lifehacker Melissa Maker, cleaning expert and founder of Clean My Space . If you really want to clean your sofa, she says your best bet is to either hire professional cleaners who come in once a year, or use a steam cleaner that heats up to at least 212 degrees Fahrenheit to kill bacteria.
The easiest way to get rid of odors from food spills, pet dandruff, and dead skill cells, Maker said, is to vacuum the sofa regularly. Just make it part of your regular vacuuming routine: after you’ve washed the floor, move on to the upholstery. This way, odor-causing materials and bacteria are less likely to accumulate and go so far as to smell bad.
If you still want to use baking soda, Maker said, it’s okay and a good option for those who want to go the natural way and not use cleaning products that contain chemicals. She also notes that baking soda can be quite a mess if you sprinkle it on your furniture, so in the long run it will probably be easier to vacuum soft surfaces in your home like a sofa (no baking soda).
If you do decide to go the baking soda route, here’s what to do:
Prepare the sofa
Gather some supplies: baking soda, a clean rag, and a vacuum cleaner with a brush and cloth attachment. Start by wiping down the sofa with a clean dry cloth or a clean stiff brush to remove dust or dried debris.
Refresh this sofa
Then sprinkle a thin layer of baking soda on the sofa and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes, says chemist and cleaning expert Alexis Rochester to Lifehacker. Seriously, the key here is to make sure it’s a thin layer of baking soda and that you’re not being too heavy on it. Then vacuum the baking soda with a cloth attachment.
But will it hurt your vacuum cleaner? “Baking soda won’t clog your vacuum cleaner if it’s dry and applied in a thin layer,” explains Rochester. “If the baking soda gets wet, you can clog it.” So just use dry matter and don’t add water. The manufacturer says another way to fix the problem is to use a wet and dry vacuum to collect the baking soda, since they have stronger filters and don’t clog as easily.
Damned spots
While baking soda is an effective deodorant, both Maker and Rochester point out that it wo n’t actually cleanse your sofa. If you have stains, wipe them off with a clean cloth and a cleaning solution suitable for your sofa fabric (baking soda won’t cut here).
Look for a tag on the couch that should identify it as belonging to one of the following categories :
- W: You can use water (or water based products) for cleaning.
- S: Use only a water-free solvent-based cleaner to clean the cloth.
- SW or WS: Safe to use water or solvent based cleaner.
- X: Clean only with a vacuum cleaner or light brush.
Using a water-based solution allows you to use a little warm water and a little dish soap to clean up any additional stains, Rochester said. “If the tag says S for solvent based, you will need to purchase a dry cleaner to remove the stains. If it says X, then the safest option is to hire a professional, ”she explains.
Regardless of the fabric of the sofa, before using the cleaning solution on the entire sofa, test the cleaning products on a hidden part of the sofa to make sure they will not damage the fabric. When it comes to your couch, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Let it dry
Finally, let the sofa dry after you finish your deep cleaning. In the meantime, try other seating options in your room.
If your sofa is not natural fiber
Baking soda is great for deodorizing natural fiber sofas, but what if you have a different sofa? This is another article for another day, but for now, here are some tips on how to clean polyester , microfiber and leather sofas.
This story was originally published on 5/20/2016 and was updated on 6/18/19 and 6/19/19 to provide more complete and up-to-date information.