How can I get bubble bath out of a couch cushions?

February 27, 2009 7:26 PM

How can I clean liquid bubble bath out of the fabric couch cushions? The care tag says NOT to wash/launder the fabric cover as it will shrink and no longer fit the foam interior.

The unattended toddler dumped about a half bottle of bubble bath over 1 couch cushion and part of the arm of the couch. The cover does unzip, but the label says not to remove it. The interior cushion is a dense foam with a layer of polyester fiberfill glued on to each side.

I stuffed a thick towel between the cover & cushion to try and absorb it before it sinks into the foam but I doubt it was in time. I've also tried to blot up as much of the liquid with paper towels (no water!) but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

Since rinsing it out doesn't seem to be an option is there anything I could use to absorb it up- like salt or something?

Alternately, I'll trade you a slightly used toddler and rosemary scented squishy couch for a new loveseat.

posted by Mamapotomus to home & garden (11 comments total)

I don't have specific advice for your situation, but Cheryl Mendelsohn writes in Home Comforts that manufacturers' care tags usually present the worst case scenario. You'd probably be fine taking the fabric cover off, soaking it in cold water, rinsing it gently until the suds subside, and drying it flat. I can't think of any fabric that would shrink much if treated like that.
posted by brianogilvie at 7:33 PM on February 27

What are the covers made of? That will help figure out what the shrinkage and water stain factors are. Soap, left unattended on fabric, seems to attract a boatload of grime. Amazing property for something used to clean.
posted by kellyblah at 7:39 PM on February 27

kellyblah: The tag says polyester.
posted by Mamapotomus at 7:52 PM on February 27

The trick to getting the cover back on involves putting the cushion in a plastic bag and using a vacuum cleaner to suck the air out shrinking the cushion enough to get it back inside the cover.
posted by hortense at 7:53 PM on February 27 [2 favorites]

Drying polyesther with medium or high heat will shrink it.

Other than that, it doesn't seem to shrink, soak it in water, and air dry?
posted by talldean at 7:55 PM on February 27

Yeah soak it in cool water until it rinses clean and let it air dry.
posted by Science! at 7:57 PM on February 27

If it's polyester, I would take off the cover and turn it inside out, trying to isolate the bubbly portion. Take it into the yard (assuming you're not in tundra-land) and spray the water hose through the fabric at point-blank range (preferably with a nozzle that concentrates the spray) to blast the suds off of it and out of the fabric. Try not to get the rest of it wet. Let it air-dry.

Spray your toddler while you're at it. :)
posted by resurrexit at 8:34 PM on February 27

(I say spray it because soaking just won't get the soap out fast enough to minimize the wet period for the fabric, and you can also isolate the dirty spot more easily.)
posted by resurrexit at 8:36 PM on February 27

Science! almost has it right:
Yeah soak it in cool water until it rinses clean and let it air dry... by hanging it in front of a fan, so the fabric doesn't mildew.

You can even wash it in the gentle cycle (cold water) of your washer, safely. Use the large-load setting, so the soap is maximally diluted - soap + agitation + heat = fulled cloth, which definitely means shrinkage.

Since you are only trying to rinse the soap out, and not clean the cloth, you can remove the cover after the first wash drains.

Then proceed as hortense brilliantly mentioned with the vacuum trick.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:17 PM on February 27

If you have a wet/dry vaccum available, you might consider wetting the area down and just sucking it out, repeating until you think it's clean. You wont' have to remove the cover (and deal with getting it back on). Then let it air dry when you're done.
posted by lizbunny at 9:11 AM on February 28

Thanks so much everyone! I pulled off the cover, flipped it inside out and stretched the soapy part under the bath faucet for a few minutes. Then I squeezed out as much water as I could and hung it to dry.

It went back over the foam just fine without using the vacuum trick but I'll definately file that in my memory.

Thanks again AskMe!
posted by Mamapotomus at 3:20 PM on March 2