Cleaning Upholstery, Mattresses & Furniture
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Cleaning Upholstery, Mattresses & Furniture
Sept 2006
On a recent visit, my 2 1/2 year-old nephew put his autograph
with black ballpoint ink on my beige microsuede couch. I didn't
treat the ballpoint inkmarks with my regular stain-remover (for
laundry) because I was afraid it would just make it worse. What
works best (prefer to hear from people that have tried the
remedy themselves)?
Thanks in advance
Marinela
Hairspray.
It even worked on an ink stain on clothes that had been washed many
times.
(I'd test first on a hidden spot on your couch, just in case, but think
it'll be fine) Amazed by hairspray for inkstains
I recently had my beige microfiber sofa professionally cleaned and wow!
Brand new again! My son wrote on the sofa with a Sharpie. I had
actually forgotten about that until we had the sofa cleaned and I
noticed the ink was gone. Microfiber seems to really show grease stains
- grubby little hands, spilled milk - but after having it professionally
steam cleaned, it looked brand new again.
Good luck
My sister told me about using hair spray to dissolve pen ink in fabric.
If the Hair spray leave some lacquer residue a watered down solution of
Rubbing alcohol should dissolve the lacquer from the Hairspray after the
hairspray has gotten rid of the ink. You should try this on small patch
of the couch suede out of sight first to make sure that this will not
discolor or leave residue. Try both the hair spray and the rubbing
alcohol in a hidden spot first hair spray solution
August 2005
Someone recently gave me a very nice glider chair that's been
used by two separate families. It's clean and in good condition,
but the cushions smell *terrible*, sort of a combination of baby
powder and the residue of body fluids! Airing them out has not
helped; in fact, moisture in the air seems to make the smell more
intense! Any other suggestions? (The cushions are foam covered in
a polyester fabric, and the label says ''do not dry clean''.)
Thanks a million!
Try putting them outside in the full, hot sun for as many days as it takes. When I lived in Mexico this is how everything was disinfected. It works with shoes, bedding, etc., pillows, so I'm pretty sure it will work for cushions. I don't know if it will fade badly enough to have to be covered again, but it's worth a try if you can't stand the smell. Good luck.
anita
If a cold water wash and drying in sunlight doesn't work, (I know it says dryclean only, but what have you got to lose?) buy some foam and quilters batting at a fabric store. Use a serrated bread knife to cut the foam to size, wrap it with batting, make a muslin cover to hold it all together while the outer cover is in the wash, and that's that!
I got a couch once that smelled ''old''. I washed the polyester cushions in a set-tub I had (or bathtub), with strong non-toxic soap that I liked the smell of, then dried them outside for a couple of sunny days. This was quite an undertaking but it worked. Of course you risk the chance that despite the effort your unique smell might still be there. (I also got new upholstery for the whole thing.)
Also you could buy new custom cut foam or latex, though these are more expensive options.
I'm actually interested in hearing what others did too. Good Luck.
anon
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