5 Tips and Tricks for Removing Common Household Stains

With all the chaos and mischief that you and your loved ones are stirring up in your home, accidental spills and stains become an inevitable part of daily life, but that doesn’t stop them from being frustrating and stressful, especially when they land on the fabric of your upholstered furniture.

Whether it’s a spilled cup of coffee during breakfast or a splash of red wine after dinner, these stains might seem impossible to remove. However, there are a few things that you can do to make the cleaning process easier and more time efficient.

Here are a few basic tips and tricks that you can use to remove stains more quickly!

When Faced with a New Stain, Act Quickly

The most important thing that you need to remember for effective stain removal is that immediate action is of utmost importance for a few reasons. Not only does this prevent the liquid from further spreading and absorbing into the fabric, but it also ensures a much easier removal that prevents any lasting stains or odors from lingering. This habit will also help preserve the appearance of the material and prevent any permanent damage.

Don’t Rub at Stains

Your first instinct when looking at any spilled liquid on your upholstery is to get a clean cloth and rub at the area aggressively, but this will only make the stain much harder to remove. The hard and forceful motions of rubbing and scrubbing just push the liquid deeper into the material, making it more difficult to fully erase.

Instead, use the clean cloth to gently dab and blot at the area to absorb as much excess liquid as you can without worsening the stain. Afterwards, proceed with a targeted cleaning solution that’ll help lift everything completely.

Get the Baking Soda

There’s a reason that baking soda is a widely used household cleaning ingredient, and it’s because of the many different ways that you can use it. A generous sprinkling of baking soda over any fresh stain will absorb the excess liquid, and you’ll know that it’s working when the white powder slowly turns into a paste.

This will make stain removal much easier, but make sure that you either vacuum the area or get a dampened cloth to remove all traces of baking soda before proceeding.

Use Cleaning Solutions that Specific to the Stain

While there are many versatile household cleaning solutions available that cater to a wide range of cleaning needs and tasks, these might not be the most effective way to remove spilled liquids. Fortunately, there are a few cleaning solutions that you can make yourself with just a few ingredients laying around your home, and these solutions can help ease the stain removal process.

To remove coffee or tea stains, mix a tablespoon of dish washing liquid with a tablespoon of white vinegar and a cup of lukewarm water. Afterwards, use this solution to dampen a clean sponge or a clean cloth and dab this onto the stain carefully, repeating this process as much as needed until the stain has faded.

Then, dampen another sponge or cloth with some warm water and use this to remove as much of the solution as possible before getting another dry cloth to soak up as much moisture as possible and leaving the area to dry completely.

For red wine stains, just mix together three parts of hydrogen peroxide with one part dish soap and use a clean cloth to apply this onto the stain, making sure that the cloth is only damp and not soaking. Leave the solution for 20 minutes to up to an hour and get another clean cloth dampened with water to remove all traces of this solution. Leave the area to air dry completely.

When in Doubt, Call Luce Home

There will be those spills and stains that you simply can’t handle on your own, but Luce Home is here to take care of everything for you! Luce Home offers a wide range of affordable cleaning packages and services that cater to your unique household cleaning needs, like our Part Time Maid Service for those of you looking for part time maid to take that long list of chores off your hands completely.

Our professional cleaners have years of training and experience to handle even the worst of messes and leave your home sparkling clean after every session. Luce Home is here to take care of the household cleaning for you so that you can come home to a freshly cleaned home at the end of every day.

Send us a message to schedule an appointment today!