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How to Simply & Effectively Bring Microfiber Back to Life!

Thursday, September 04, 2014


During my last pregnancy we got a brand spankin' new couch. A light brown coloured microfiber couch to be exact. Well, near the end of my pregnancy it had turned pretty gross. I mean, gross. Stains from water, juice, milk, food, sauce... You name it, it was probably on there. I wanted it to be in perfect condition when I got home from the hospital, especially when guests arrived to visit!

I did some research and found depending on your couch all hope was NOT lost. There is suppose to be a tag on your couch showing if you can wash with ONLY water, soap or something else. So I flipped mine over and began hunting for a tag. Of course there was none with the markings I had googled and found so I was determined to find out one way or another so I did some tests.

I had a few things on hand I wanted to try.

Mean Green
Windex
Soap and Water
Rubbing Alcohol and Water

All things are said to be safe on different microfiber, it's finding which will work that is the tricky part. People told me I was crazy to try, to rent a carpet or steam cleaner and I'm so glad I didn't, this was super easy and less than $5 as I had everything on hand except a few extra bottles of Rubbing Alcohol. (dollar store $1 per bottle!)

First I tried the Mean Green. A simple spot check where the pillows would cover is all I did and I'm glad that's all I did. Within seconds it had bleached out that spot. I mean, it was orange. No go with Mean Green.

Scaring myself I decided to go with the most likely to work and less likely to ruin Rubbing Alcohol and Water.

I again did a discreet spot check and it didn't do much but it also didn't bleach out the spot so I decided to give it a go.



Boy was I happy I did. It worked wonders! It turned my disgusting eye sore of a couch into a brand new looking comfortable pretty piece of furniture again!


Wonderful right? I've done it a few more times since, and have to do it again. It hasn't damaged at all and even the scrub brush I used hasn't left a single mark. It's great.

All you need is 50/50 rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle. You soak the couch (or lightly spray, or moderately depending on how severe the couch is) and take a scrub brush and brush it. I left windows open and used fans to have mine dry quicker but once it does properly it's glorious.


I would recommend hunting down the tag on your item to find out what you should use, if you can't find it I would do a small spot test or if you feel adventurous tackle it with something less likely to ruin the item. Spot testing is something I would advise though, you don't want to ruin anything! Not really fun trying to clean couches, especially with how big mine is (sectional) but it's well worth it. Put on some good tunes, perhaps asheville dj services would do the trick? Boogie on down and get to cleanin'! All kidding aside all you need is to spray and scrub a little for perfection to come back through!

Make some ugly, dirty looking piece look new once again simply and quickly!

54 comments:

  1. I saw this on another blog a while ago and I actually tried it. My couch was too far gone to come back to life completely, but after A LOT of elbow grease, it does look a bit better. It definitely didn't get rid of all of the stains, though and it was hard work to get rid of what I did.

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    1. Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that. I am hoping mine hasn't gotten too bad to try this again, I will post about it though once I try again and see. Thanks for your feedback, I love hearing others experiences with it!

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  2. Great fix. That couch looks amazing!

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  3. I am going to have to try this!!!

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  4. I'll have to try this, my couch is made of the same material. I have three kids living at home so our couch really takes a beating, in fact, so does our chair over in the corner - looks like I have a project for the day!

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  5. The before and after looks awesome on this!

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  6. We have a couch and chair that have been banished to the downstairs room where nobody visits. I'll have to see if this helps clean them up and bring them back to life!

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  7. We have a microfiber couch and loveseat. Both light cream in color. I have seen the alcohol cleaning trick pop through Pinterest a few times. I did buy a steam cleaner on clearance and did the love seat. Once. It was a nightmare. Water got all over the place and it didn't really clean. I'll save that for the rugs and carpet. I might have to pick up some alcohol and give this a go. Seems like it would be much easier and less time consuming than steam cleaning.

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  8. Wow great fix the sofa looks amazing. I had no clue you could do this.

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  9. That is an impressive difference. I have a few things I'd like to treat.

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  10. I have the same couches :) And they are COVERED in spots, ugh. I will try this!!!

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  11. What a great find! Your sofa looks wonderful and I'm certain every time someone comes over to visit you can pat yourself on the back and say, "Gee, I did this!" Congratulations!

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  12. Thank you so much for sharing this! Our couch is brand new (literally... we got it about a month ago), but I definitely need to know how to clean it!

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  13. Oh wow what a difference a scrub makes! I might have to give this a whirl.x

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  14. I needed this post! My dad's microfiber sofa has seen better days and I was recently wondering if there was anything I could do to perk it back up.

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  15. I didn't know you could use an alcohol mixture on microfiber. That is a good tip! I'm glad it turned pretty again. :)

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  16. Great tips! I had no idea it was even possible to bring microfiber back to life!

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  17. I am so glad to see this. I just purchased some microfiber furniture for our new home and with our animals - I will be needing these tricks a lot.

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    1. We have microfiber as well. We brought someone in last year and they did the scrubbing too... I was like I Could do that!

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  18. Wow I had no idea it was so simple! I need to give it a try!

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  19. You did such a awesome job I should have you come over and do my couch next ? do you make special trips I'll pay you by food in return lol

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  20. Wow that did an awesome job! I don't have a microfiber couch but my mom does! I will have to share this with her she will LOVE it!

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  21. That's amazing. This is good to know because we just bought microfiber slip covers for our couch and love seat. I'd like the chance to spot clean when needed so I don't have to take them on and off to wash them.

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  22. Wow it's amazing how well it worked, I need to try this!

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  23. I almost gave up on microfiber. It is hard to clean, but this seems easy enough. Amber N

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  24. I am using these tips this weekend! I ha lost hope in our couches, but your tips are definitely worth a shot! Thank you

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  25. My couches have seen better days for sure. Definitely trying this!!

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  26. That is amazing! I don't have microfiber, but what a cheap & simple way to clean it :)

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  27. Rubbing alcohol and water, huh? I never would have tried that.

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  28. I never would have thought to try rubbing alcohol and water. Now I'll know what to use on my microfiber pillows. Thanks!

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  29. This is a great post! I have a microfiber pillow that has seen better days. Now I know how to clean it!

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  30. Fantastic how-to on finding out what work on microfiber furniture. I am going to use these tips to clean the comfy chairs in the front room. Good information!

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  31. Thanks for this post. I need to do this!

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  32. Wow! I would have never thought about rubbing alcohol for cleaning a couch. What a great idea... and may I add, how courageous of you to try! :)

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  33. I need to try this on my couch! So easy, thanks!

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  34. My brother's family used to have chairs with this fabric on them. They were so nasty with the spills and what not from children. I believe they just threw them out. Could have used this back then!

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  35. Wow, I had a couch that I could have used that on years ago. I can believe how well it worked.

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  36. I will remember this when i clean my microfiber chair. Thanks for the great post.

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  37. I am trying this tonight! Our microfiber couch seems to collect dirt.

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  38. We bought a leather sofa just because it's really easy to clean. It's good to know that rubbing alcohol helps to bring your dirty sofa back to life.

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  39. Way to go girl! I'll definitely remember this if we need to clean any furniture or items that are made with microfiber.

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  40. I love DIY! The before and after pictures here are amazing. You rock! :)

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  41. Our couch is usually easily cleaned with a baby wipe, but there are a couple of spots that are more difficult. I'll have to try this!

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  42. These are really helpful tips. I'll have to try this. Thanks for sharing.

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  43. That's amazing! My couches are a mess, but I've kind of given up on keeping them clean with two small (and very messy) children around. Oh, and a dog, too!

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  44. Thank you!! This is great and I'm going to give this a try!

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  45. THANK YOU! I so needed this! What was I thinking buying a microfiber couch before I had kids, now they have (what I thought) ruined mine, but now I know it can be saved! Thanks again!

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  46. I know what you mean about all the junk that gets spilled! We have a leather couch though,so not sure if the same stuff would work.

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  47. Thank you so much for these tips!! I need them because my son thinks my recliner is a huge napkin!! It is horrible as of lately!!

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  48. We have a microfiber couch too. I have a few water stains from where my son spilled juice. Going to give this a shot!

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  49. Woah! That is amazing! I need to try this on my couch- it is a hot mess!

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  50. These are great tips. I had no idea you could bring microfibre back to life.

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