How to Clean Sofas – Sofa Cleaning Tips

It's finally time to clean the sofas too. We've talked about why this matters in previous articles — beyond the visual side of things, keeping your sofas clean once a year is important both for your health and for preserving the quality of the fabric for many years to come.

How do you clean sofas?

The sofa cleaning market in Israel is full of professionals — some good and experienced, some less so. You need to look closely at who you're letting into your home!

At Zeus Sofa Cleaning, every customer gets a guarantee, a price quote, and a free demonstration.

The first thing we do the moment we arrive at your home is check the fabric type and how well it will hold up to the cleaning process.

Keep in mind, not every fabric sofa can be cleaned — some sofas can be damaged by water, and others can lose color during the cleaning process.

If we find that the fabric holds up well to cleaning, we do a small demonstration on a spot chosen by the customer.

This demonstration lets us show the customer exactly what level of cleanliness we can achieve. If the customer likes what they see, we get to work.

For a standard set — a three-seater and a two-seater sofa — the cleaning process takes between 45 minutes and an hour and a half. Times can vary depending on the fabric type and the level of dirt.

At the end of the job, the customer is invited to look everything over and confirm the cleaning meets their expectations — only after their final approval is the job considered complete.

Drying takes between 3 and 12 hours after cleaning, again depending on the fabric type and level of dirt. A sofa that was in reasonably good condition before cleaning will dry much faster than a sofa that was very dirty beforehand, simply because on a dirtier sofa we need to use a lot more water to get the best possible result.

Only ever book an experienced, established professional who's willing to give you a free price quote and take responsibility for any damage caused to your sofas during the cleaning process.

Don't be tempted by cheap prices like 250 NIS for a full living room set — there's no such thing!

A professional company charges between 90 and 150 NIS per seat. Sometimes during "slow" periods, like the height of winter or right before the holidays, you can find deals like cleaning a 3+2 sofa set for 400 NIS plus VAT. If you get quotes cheaper than that, you can be sure something isn't right — and it's not your sofas that will pay the price.

How do you clean fabric sofas? Using professional products only, combined with professional sofa-cleaning equipment.

How do you clean natural-fabric sofas? Using a product made specifically for cleaning natural fabrics, which preserves the fabric and prevents it from being damaged during cleaning.

How do you clean leather sofas? Unlike fabric sofas, leather sofas need to be cleaned by hand.

How do you clean urine smell out of sofas? At the end of a professional sofa cleaning process, you need to apply a professional product that neutralizes unpleasant odors by breaking down the bacteria that cause them.

How do you clean Impala-fabric sofas? The process is exactly the same as cleaning regular fabric sofas, except with Impala fabric you need a more concentrated product and several rounds of rinsing before you reach a satisfactory result.

It's important to clean Impala-fabric sofas using boiling water and an injection pressure of at least 400 PSI (not every company works with equipment like this).

How do you clean upholstered garden furniture? If the furniture is upholstered, it can be treated exactly like the regular sofas in your home.

Tips for cleaning sofas and keeping up with routine maintenance — a do-it-yourself guide.

Did the kids scribble on the sofa with a marker?

Did coffee spill on the couch again?

Did guests leave the sofas a mess? First of all, don't worry — everything is fine!

There's always a solution that fits. Every week we visit several customers who tried cleaning their sofas themselves using all sorts of old-fashioned home remedies they found online. Every store-bought cleaning product, along with cleaning methods using baking soda, vinegar, bleach, magic eraser sponges, and various other stain removers, will never actually solve the problem for you — quite the opposite, in most cases it will only cause even greater damage, and sometimes damage that can't be undone.

Some of these methods can cause damage such as color fading, color darkening, tears, mold, and unpleasant odors, and mainly they just push the dirt deeper into the upholstery. The most common mistake is scrubbing, which spreads the stain over a much larger area.

Never rub a stain — you need to blot it instead!

​So how do you do it the right way?

First of all, don't rush out to buy household cleaning products worth tens or hundreds of shekels at the supermarket. Something spilled on the sofa?

First, grab a clean towel or a microfiber cloth — known for their absorbency — and simply blot the liquid into the cloth using gentle pressing motions.

After you've blotted up most of the liquid, fill a container with about 500 ml of lukewarm water and add around 100 ml of plain dish soap, which you'll find in any household. Take another towel, dip it in the soapy water, and gently wipe the area, making sure not to spread the stain over a larger area.

After lightly wiping with soap and water, blot up the remaining clean water from the sofa using a dry towel.

Weekly maintenance: make sure to vacuum the dust off your sofas at least once a week.

Regular vacuuming prevents dust from building up into layers that, over time, become embedded in the sofa and cause it to completely lose its original color.

We recommend booking professional sofa cleaning at least once a year, even if the sofa isn't visibly stained, in order to prevent dust mite buildup and, most importantly, to preserve it for many years to come.​ Still couldn't solve it? Worried about cleaning it yourself?

Feel free to contact us — we'd be more than happy to advise you.

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