cleaning furniture

[esperanza]

I need some tips on how to clean our family room furniture. It's fabric. Not microfiber. From talking to the furniture store, they said it's probably polyester. It's dark brown. There are various water spots. Anytime it has gotten wet (either cleaning something up or water spilled), there is a ring/circle. I can't find any "how to clean" tags. The furniture store was telling me that when the fabric gets too wet, it goes through and leaves a mark like this. They suggested a small amount of dish soap and minimal water. Is there something I can do to absorb the water or clean the water rings?

[Maleldil's daughter]

One thing to try is a hot iron over a damp towel. That sometimes works for similar spots on polyester clothing.

[Trixie]

I have a natural pet stain remover that I use to get spots out of my furniture. I have microfiber though. The cleaning recommendations don't work but this cleaner does. Its essentially oxyclean and baking soda.

[esperanza]

Originally Posted by Trixie

I have a natural pet stain remover that I use to get spots out of my furniture. I have microfiber though. The cleaning recommendations don't work but this cleaner does. Its essentially oxyclean and baking soda.

Is it a liquid? What is the name? Bacout has left stains.

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[mamacat]

Can parts of it be unzippered and washes in gentle cycle and then air dried? I used to have a couch like that and then used a borrowed hand held upholstery machine on the rest

[Trixie]

Originally Posted by esperanza

Is it a liquid? What is the name? Bacout has left stains.

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Turns out it isn't all natural but it is non-toxic. Its Jennifer Adams Pet Stain& Odor Remover. (www.jenniferadamscleaner.com) It contains baking soda, citric acid, oxidizers and surfactants. I risked ruining my couch by using it, but I was so desperate to get the kid stains off the light beige furniture. It didn't harm the fabric at all and got the stains out beautifully. It even got the stains and smell out when Happy vomited all over the couch. I had to pour it on and soak it to get the smell out but it doesn't seem to be harming the fabric at all.

[RiverRock]

I've had success with cleaning, blotting and then feathering the wet spot. What I mean by this is that if something needs to be cleaned out of the fabric, then the particular area that was dirty gets saturated. Once it is clean, "rinse" the area with plain water so films from the soap or cleaner aren't left behind. Apply pressure with a towel to pick up as much moisture as possible, and then with a damp part of the cloth, "feather" out the ring so the wet area gets less wet as you work your way out until there is no ring of saturated wetness. As it dries it will hopefully dry from the outermost edge in, and not leave a distinct line. Using a blow drier or an iron would help speed this process.

[esperanza]

It does look like I could take the covers off. The do zip and there is foam on the inside. The problem is that many of these marks are actually water marks, like from water being spilled or cleaning up spills with water. I'm a little nervous to try the washing machine, but it sure would be nice. The person I talked to on the phone said that the problem with using water is that it goes through and gets the back part wet? Except it seems like that would just be the foam.
I'm half tempted to pay the carpet cleaning people to do it the next time we have the carpets cleaned. I thought by buying dark furniture, we wouldn't have to deal with a lot of stains. It's not terrible by any means, but it bugs me.
I appreciate the ideas! Still in search of the elusive care tag to tell me what I should be doing!