10 Upholstery Cleaning Mistakes You Might Be Making Right Now
When a spill happens on your favorite sofa or armchair, your first instinct is to clean it up as quickly as possible. While that initiative is great, the wrong technique can unfortunately do more harm than good. Many well-intentioned cleaning attempts lead to set-in stains, damaged fabric, or even worse problems like mold.
To help you protect your investment, we’ve compiled a list of the most common upholstery cleaning mistakes we see homeowners make. Avoiding these pitfalls is one of the most important sofa cleaning tips you can learn.
1. Scrubbing Stains Aggressively
The Mistake: Attacking a stain with vigorous back-and-forth scrubbing.
Why it’s bad: Scrubbing damages and frays the delicate fabric fibers, creating a fuzzy, worn appearance. It also spreads the stain and pushes it deeper into the cushion’s padding, making it much harder to remove.
What to do instead: Gently blot the stain with a clean, white cloth. Start from the outside edge of the stain and work your way inward to contain it.
2. Using the Wrong Cleaning Product
The Mistake: Grabbing an all-purpose cleaner or dish soap for every type of fabric.
Why it’s bad: Upholstery comes in many materials, from natural fibers like cotton to synthetic ones like microfiber. Using a water-based cleaner on a fabric meant for solvents can cause permanent water spots, browning, or shrinkage.
What to do instead: Always check your furniture’s cleaning code first (see mistake #9).
3. Forgetting to Spot Test
The Mistake: Applying a new cleaning solution directly onto a visible stain.
Why it’s bad: Even if you have the “correct” type of cleaner, it could still react poorly with your fabric’s specific dye, causing discoloration or fading.
What to do instead: Always test any new product on a small, hidden area first, like on the back of the sofa skirt or under a cushion. Wait for it to dry completely to ensure there’s no adverse reaction.
4. Over-Saturating the Fabric
The Mistake: Dousing a stain with too much water or cleaning solution.
Why it’s bad: Excess moisture can soak through to the padding and frame. This leads to extremely long drying times and creates a damp environment perfect for mold and mildew growth, which causes odors and health issues.
What to do instead: Less is more. Lightly dampen your cleaning cloth rather than applying liquid directly to the sofa.
5. Not Vacuuming Before Cleaning
The Mistake: Trying to clean a stain on a surface covered in dust, crumbs, or pet hair.
Why it’s bad: When you add liquid to dry debris, you essentially create mud. This can turn a small, manageable stain into a large, smeared mess.
What to do instead: Always give the area a thorough vacuum with the upholstery attachment before you begin any spot treatment.
6. Using a Colored Cloth to Clean
The Mistake: Grabbing the nearest dish towel, which might be colored or have a pattern.
Why it’s bad: The dyes in a colored or printed towel can easily transfer to your upholstery when mixed with a cleaning solution and pressure, leaving you with a brand new, multi-colored stain.
What to do instead: Only use plain white or colorfast cloths or paper towels for cleaning.
7. Applying Heat to the Wrong Stains
The Mistake: Using hot water on stains like blood, milk, or other protein-based spills.
Why it’s bad: Heat can “cook” the proteins in these stains, causing them to bind with the fabric fibers and set permanently.
What to do instead: Always use cold water and gentle detergents on protein stains.
8. Thinking More Cleaner Means More Clean
The Mistake: Applying a large amount of soap or detergent to a tough stain.
Why it’s bad: Excess cleaning solution is difficult to rinse out completely. The leftover sticky residue becomes a magnet for new dirt, causing the spot to become soiled again very quickly.
What to do instead: Start with a minimal amount of cleaner. You can always add a tiny bit more if needed.
9. Ignoring the Manufacturer’s Cleaning Tag
The Mistake: Assuming you know best and not checking the tag for instructions.
Why it’s bad: The tag is your furniture’s instruction manual. It will have a code: ‘W’ (water-based cleaner), ‘S’ (solvent-based cleaner), ‘W/S’ (either), or ‘X’ (vacuum only). Ignoring this code is the fastest way to ruin your upholstery.
What to do instead: Find the tag and follow its instructions without exception.
10. Waiting Too Long to Call a Professional
The Mistake: Letting a stain sit for weeks or trying multiple DIY remedies that fail.
Why it’s bad: The older a stain is, the harder it is to remove. Additionally, failed DIY attempts can sometimes set a stain, making it more difficult for a professional to fix. For deep-seated grime and odors, DIY methods simply lack the power to be effective.
What to do instead: For tough stains or an overall deep clean, the best move is to call for professional upholstery cleaning right away.
Clean Smarter, Not Harder
Caring for your upholstery doesn’t have to be difficult. By avoiding these common mistakes, you can handle minor spills effectively and keep your furniture looking its best. For the deep cleaning that removes years of built-up dirt and restores your furniture’s beauty and hygiene, it’s always best to trust an expert.
If you’re looking for a professional couch cleaner in Los Angeles to get the job done right, Cleaning-Helper has the tools and expertise to help. Contact us today for a free quote!
