How To Spot Clean Old or Set-In Stains on Upholstery

Vacuum: Upholstery should be vacuumed frequently to keep the fabric in good shape and prevent dust and crumbs from settling into the body of the furniture. In the case of an old stain, it's surprising how much a simple vacuuming can help the fade the stain. It should always be the first step in dealing with this kind of damage, you don't really know what you're dealing with, or how bad the stain truly is until all of the loose particles have been sucked away by the vacuum.

Assess: Check your furniture for its cleaning codes. This gets you on the right track of how to best tackle your stain. Some pieces can be cleaned with water, others will require moving directly into various solvents. If your furniture lacks a cleaning code, which is often the case with vintage and antique pieces that have been modified over the years, do a simple spot test on a hidden piece of upholstery. Water, vodka, and vinegar are wise first choices for cleaning, before getting into the more heavy-hitting chemical stuff.

Steam: If your furniture can be cleaned by water hitting the stain with a bit of steam loosens it up and makes the stain more responsive to treatment. You can use the steam from your iron for this.

Clean, Phase 1: This is the phase where you cross your fingers and hope that a simple solution is all that's needed. If your furniture can be cleaned with water, mix a little dish soap with cool water, and using a wrung out sponge blot the stain with the soap mixture. Take care not to rub at the stain, at this point it's unlikely that the stain will set in deeper, but rubbing can weaken and pill your fabric. Rinse the sponge and use just water to blot out some of the soap mixture. Press dry with a cloth or paper towels. If your furniture cannot be cleaned with water, use vinegar or vodka on a cloth to blot the stains. The smell of both vinegar and vodka will disappear when the area is dry.

Clean, Phase 2: Time to go heavy duty and break out the cleaners. Any cleaner you choose to use should be spot tested in a discrete place on the piece of furniture. Some people swear by Resolve, or Tuff Stuff, and Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook has had some truly remarkable results with Folex.

Repeat: If your stain has survived this entire cleaning process, you are dealing with one stubborn stain. As exhausting—and possibly irritating—as the process can be, doing it all over again can give you the result you're looking for.

Celebrate: The seemingly impossible to remove set-in stain has been conquered! Hooray! Feel free to share your accomplishments with friends, so long as you offer to help out if they ever have need of your stain removing powers.