I recently went all Velveteen Rabbit on my daughter's toys. She only has two small boxes of stuffed animals and things, and maybe four or five other bigger toys. Instead of setting everything on fire, I wiped it down with vinegar.
And then, because I was on a roll, I cleaned the couch.
We bought our couch in early 2008, for the living room of the house we own in Arizona. It's beige. Because we painted two walls of the living room strawberry red and with that you need neutral furniture.
I think I started requesting a new one three years ago. I really wanted a new couch while I was pregnant, but instead I got a new mattress. I don't regret that choice. I love my mattress.
And the couch isn't awful yet. The pillows on the back haven't kept their shape super well, and the arms had gotten gross, but it's not actually a bad couch. In rentals (other than the one we own, which still has red walls), the beige is really dull but not terrible.
It's one of those cleanable-by-solvent-only microfiber couches.
So, I decided to wash the arms of the couch. And I figured the worst thing that could happen wouldn't actually result in it looking any worse. I mean, if the fabric disintegrated, I might have to replace it with a cheap futon or something. That's probably as bad as it would get.
But, realistically, worst case, the arms with the water rings and miscellaneous accumulated gross might end up with the gross in a new pattern, or with the smashed nap totally destroyed. Which didn't actually sound much worse to me.
I went with a spray bottle of 50/50 rubbing alcohol and water. And a soft dish cloth. And I spent basically a whole naptime scrubbing and dabbing and rubbing until the nap of the fabric came back up and the water rings were gone.
I bet if I put two more hours into it, or used a white sponge like the instructions suggested, it would look practically new again. Instead, it just looks a lot better.
I had to direct his attention to it twice before he noticed, but I think my husband was also impressed with what I accomplished.
Comments are closed.
|
Mary
I'm actually trying not to be negative, in general, but... Archives
June 2016
Categories
All
|