How to Deep Clean a Fabric Sofa or Chair (Easily!)
This post may contain affiliate links, please review my disclosure policy.
Hello friends! I don’t know about you, but we have two little ones under five, and keeping light furniture looking clean is a real 24/7 type of job. I’ve tried what seems to be every home remedy and stain remover possible to clean a fabric sofa / chair, and nothing has come close to this method for me. The result is a professional looking clean with no watermarks left behind! So let’s get into it.
The chair I’m about to show you is in our children’s play room. I’ve given up on keeping food and drink off of it, and no matter how hard I try to stay on top of the stains, it starts looking icky FAST. Dave and I honestly thought we were going to have to burn this chair, and I am not even joking (lol). You can see why below.
Yikes. I mean, so many mystery stains. It looked bad all over, but the chair arms are the worst. We are talking dirt, juice, food, WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE. I am embarrassed that it came to this. BUT, on the flip side, without this seemingly unredeemable chair, I would have never resorted to trying out the Bissell Little Green Pro.
Bissell Little Green Pro
It’s super light and easy to move around with and comes with 2 cleaning brush heads, as well as a small bottle of their Pro Max cleaning solution. The machine is honestly so simple, light-weight, and easy to operate.
I also want to clarify that I am in no way sponsored by Bissell. I found this little guy after lots of research and digging on the internet, and then loaded my kids up on a Saturday morning and went and purchased it at our local Wal-Mart.
This post includes affiliate links. For more info visit my disclosure policy.
What You’ll Need to Clean a Fabric Sofa or Chair:
Bissell Pro Max Cleaning Solution (our purchase of the machine came with a sample bottle of this, so if you are just purchasing, you will have a bottle included)
Resolve Spot + Stain Remover *OPTIONAL – but I think it helped a lot!
HOW TO DEEP CLEAN SET IN SOFA STAINS:
1) You’ll follow the instructions that come with the machine to get it all set-up. It’s quick and simple. You’ll just need to fill the water reservoir to the fill-line, add 2 oz. of the cleaning solution, add a brush head, and you’re set to clean. (I suggest testing on an area of your couch to see how your fabric reacts before getting too far in).
2) Spray set-in stains and let sit for at least 3 minutes before vacuuming. I sprayed with Resolve and the Bissell cleaning solution. I used Resolve because I’ve had success with it before and wanted as much cleaning action as possible.
3) Cleanse the area with the cleaning head. You’ll just press the little button on the handle to spray water, and then suck up the water with the vacuum head. I found that not being stingy when spraying the water really helped to get stains up quicker. Don’t be afraid to saturate the area and then slowly vacuum up the water with the scrubbing head. I alternated between scrubbing and then vacuuming. Press firmly when vacuuming up the water.
The picture below is after just a few swipes to the chair. I mean WHAT! And it gets better. Just wait.
4) Repeat this process until clean!
All the dirty water goes to a little reservoir at the bottom that you can easily dump out when you’re finished.
The Little Green Pro is $150, so it’s not exactly cheap. HOWEVER, this baby is an investment if you have furniture that frequently needs spot treatment for stains. It is Bissell’s most powerful portable cleaner, and honestly, I believe worth every penny to clean a fabric couch / chair. I feel like I just had this chair professionally cleaned – it’s THAT good.
It can also be used for carpets, car interiors, stairs, etc. I don’t know what I’ve been doing with myself and wish I had bought one years ago. I have tried to many methods and while some have worked somewhat, they take way more effort. I’m telling you, this a game changer!
Let’s see it in action. Look at all the dirty water coming up! I think this could become addicting, friends.
I was able to set it up and clean the whole base of this chair within 20 minutes. Our cushion covers are removable so I am able to throw those in the washing machine with powdered Tide. Gets them clean every time. If your cushion covers aren’t removable, you will clean those the same way.
After Deep Cleaning:
It looks almost brand new. I cannot even tell you how overjoyed I am to have found something that really gets out stains, without leaving water marks behind.
And here is a side-by-side, to show just how far we’ve come! No filters here, people. This is all natural and I cannot even believe the night and day difference.
Cleaning our Ikea Couch:
I’ve also been using it to spot clean our light beige Ikea sectional. It works flawlessly for stains that aren’t too deeply set in and doesn’t leave any water stains behind. That’s been my biggest struggle with spot treating our couch. Mind blown with this!
The arms of our couch take the worst beating. Once again, I can remove the couch cushion covers to throw in the washing machine, but the base cover is much harder to remove. So I spot treat mainly. Hence, why we have all these little stains.
This is how the chair arm looked the morning after cleaning.
WOW!!! Now let’s put that side-by-side too!
If you are like me and have struggled to find a good solution for keeping your fabric furniture clean, this is your solution! I want to shout this from the rooftops!
I hope this method to clean a fabric sofa or chair helps you as much as it has helped me!
Until next time 🙂
