Anyone have experience with Eco-friendly upholstery cleaning?

August 31, 2014 7:11 PM

I had someone come out to clean my light-colored sofa, which gets pretty dirty because I have a dog. The guy used eco-friendly cleaning products and, $100 later, my sofa seems to me no cleaner than before he came. I'm wondering if this is because eco-friendly products just don't cut it and I need to go with the old-school, harsher chemicals, or whether my sofa is just too dirty to be cleaned. I'm thinking the former, but I'd hate to shell out another $100 bucks and still be left with a dirty sofa. I wonder if anyone has firsthand experience with this.
posted by swheatie to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

Don't shell out another $100 - ask him to refund your money or come back and try again.
posted by bq at 7:45 PM on August 31, 2014 [2 favorites]

Depends on the material of your sofa. If it is microfiber then rubbing alcohol is the method (google it). I assume it is not leather. Steam vac and mild soaps usually work, otherwise. Also, if your sofa started out super light colored e.g., white then it is really hard to clean to original state.
posted by jadepearl at 3:36 AM on September 1, 2014

What were the "eco-friendly" products he used? Can you get an ingredient list? I mean, water is eco-friendly, but plain water isn't going to do much to clean a sofa.

I would use OxiClean.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:33 AM on September 1, 2014

Response by poster: It's been about six weeks since the guy came, so I think I've missed the window of opportunity to have the guy come back or refund my money. So I'll maybe give OxiClean a shot. Thanks.
posted by swheatie at 1:13 PM on September 1, 2014