INSPECTING my sofa up close, I’m shocked at the results after putting a viral cleaning hack to the test on my own furniture.
I tried the cleaning trick to see if it actually helped remove stubborn stains from my sofa.
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There are loads of so-called hacks people rave about on social media, but it’s hard to know which ones really work.
I’ve always been concerned that they could actually make a stain worse and leave me with an even bigger problem to fix.
That’s why I’ve always turned to proper furniture cleaners to lift pesky marks off my sofa.
I keep two go-to cleaners in my cupboard – 1001 mouse and Astonish for carpets and upholstery.
With a dog who likes nothing more than to cuddle up on the sofa with muddy paws, I’m often left with stubborn stains to deal with.
But my regular sprays have never been able to lift the marks completely.
I’ve also toyed with the idea of having my sofa professionally cleaned, but this can be pretty pricey.
The average cost of getting a sofa cleaned is £60 for a two-seater sofa, according to Checkatrade.
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So when I heard about a viral sofa cleaning hack involving a damp cloth, a saucepan lid, a laundry pod and a bowl of hot water, I was willing to give it a whirl.
But will it work and is it cheaper than buying a proper upholstery cleaner? I put it to the test to find out…
How the cleaning hack works
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I filled up a bowl with warm water and grabbed one Marks and Spencer laundry pod from the bag.
A bag of 30 costs £6.50, meaning just one pod from the bag is costs 21p.
I then placed it in the bowl of water and it took just a few seconds before I could smell the gorgeous Jasmine scent.
After soaking a microfibre cloth in the bowl, I squeezed out the excess water and wrapped it around a saucepan lid.
I found that I needed to secure it with a hair band so it didn’t slip off.
It did feel a bit strange at first to be running a saucepan lid over my sofa and, despite the hair band, the cloth did keep slipping off.
In the end, I ditched the lid and just used the cloth and I was astonished at how well it worked.
It didn’t require much elbow grease at all before I started seeing the stains being lifted from the sofa cushion.
I was really happy with the results and it left my sofa smelling amazing too – I will definitely use it again.
Is it actually cheaper?
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The cleaning hack cost me very little because I already had most of the products in my kitchen cupboards.
I used a £1 Go Green recycled microfibre cloth from Savers and a single M&S washing pod, which worked out at just 21p.
But you could find even cheaper washing pods if you shop around.
For example, Tesco sells its own of 25 brand detergent capsules for £3.75 – or 15 per pod.
Aldi’s Almost laundry capsules are priced at £3.49 for a box of 20 o or 18p each.
You could also try the hack with laundry liquid, which could work out cheaper.
Persil sells a bottle of liquid detergent – suitable for 53 washes for £7 at Asda.
So if you used the same amount of liquid for the hack as you would for a wash, this would cost you 13p.
This is the cheapest deal we could spot, but make sure you shop around in case we missed something even cheaper.
If you needed to buy a saucepan lid, you can pick one up for as little as £5 from Ikea.
The cost of buying everything brand new would come to £6.21.
While this may seem a little pricey, remember you will be able to keep reusing it.
A 350ml can of 1001 Moose for carpets and upholstery costs £2.39 at Savers.
I usually go through a can every two to three months, so this can cost be around around £10 a year.
While the Astonish carpet and upholstery cleaner costs £5 at Amazon for a 750ml bottle.
To keep replacing this over the course of a year would set me back around £20.
Overall, because I had most of the items needed for the cleaning hack, this proved to be much cheaper for me.
The verdict
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When it came to cleaning my sofa, I found this method was a huge success.
Even though I ended up taking the cloth from the saucepan lid, it still worked perfectly fine.
It was also pretty cheap and efficient if you already have the items lying around so I can understand why so many people swear by this method.
Cleaning expert Ann Russell, author of the book How to Clean Everything, said that while hack is a great way to keep furniture “bright” – but it works on some pieces better than others.
She said: “The trick won’t deep clean obviously as it only removes surface dirt, but it’s quick and easy.
“If it’s done regularly it will help keep upholstery bright.
“It will work better on rigid upholstery than on soft feather cushions. I’d be careful on linen covers too in case it water marks.”
I’ll definitely be using it to remove stains from my sofa in the future.
Meanwhile, we tested supermarket stain removers and the winner made clothes look goods as new.
Plus, an airer trick that must say is cheaper than a tumble dryer proved to be a bust – find out why.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]
