Show All ItemsStep 1: Vacuum your couch. First thing, vacuum your couch.  I used the brush attachment.  Go over your whole couch. While your doing it look for stains. I noticed spills on my cushions, grim on the arm rests and the back looked like someone was letting their "Soul Glo" « PreviousNext »View All Steps DownloadYour couch often seems to belong more to your dog than you. Your pup is so sweet to cuddle, but his hair isn't as sweet when it's stuck to your microfiber couch. The hair seems to work its way through blankets you use to cover the couch cushions, making it a constant battle to keep your black pants clean when you sit on the couch. There are several ways to clean the dog hair off the couch in just a few minutes at a time without too much elbow grease. Rubber Tools Microfiber fabric has a smaller pile than most fabrics, giving it that sleek look. The small pile also makes it easier to clean than most other fabrics. The dog hair still sticks to it, but the short pile releases the hair easily.

Start by rubbing the couch with a rubber short-bristled brush or slide on a pair of rubber cleaning gloves. This causes the hair to bunch and clump together, making it easier to remove. Press hard while you're rubbing to get as much hair as possible. Vacuum Vacuuming is most effective after you've used rubber tools to make the hair release from the microfiber couch. best cleaner for dirty wood floorsInstead of picking up the clumps of hair, clear it away using the vacuum's hose attachment. best vacuum cleaner 2015 australiaDig into the edges and creases of the couch cushions to remove any stubborn hairs. best way to clean vertical blindLint Brush A sticky lint roller can be tiresome if you use it for the entire couch.

Make one swipe on an overly hairy couch and it's time to peel off the top layer of the roller. However, if you clean the couch regularly, a link roller is a fast, easy and effective way to remove the dog hair in a pinch, such as when your mother-in-law shows up unexpectedly. The Source of the Problem The first step in cleaning the hair off the couch is trying to keep it off in the first place. Brush your dog regularly with a fine-toothed brush to pull out as much loose hair as possible. Keep up on the flea control to keep him from scratching and pulling out his hair, and give him baths once a week or so to remove additional loose hair. References Simply Good Stuff: Cleaning Up Dog HairReal Simple: How to Fake a Clean HouseBane-Clene: Microfiber Furniture and Upholstery Cleaning and Care Photo Credits Jupiterimages/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images MORE MUST-CLICKS: How to Groom and Trim an English Setter's Ears How to Groom a Poodle's Feet How to Groom Long Hair on a Maltese How to Stop a Saint Bernard From Drooling Dematting Tools for Dogs Recommended Bathing Intervals for Pugs DIY Grooming an Irish Terrier How to Bathe

Dogs With Baking Soda How to Groom a Matted Maltese How to Groom a Rough-Haired Collie A Thorough Spring Cleaning Checklist My sofas are gross. Like, I can't believe I'm about to show you this before picture sort of gross. That arm isn't wet, it's just that dirty.  I know it's gross, don't judge me. I'd tried to clean them many times, but to no avail. Until I found the answer on pinterest!  Robin from Chris and Robin's Nest shared her technique for cleaning microfiber sofas, and friends, it works. Here's what my sofas look like now: And by sofas, I mean that one arm of one sofa.  Because about 3 minutes into me focusing half my attention on something other than the children, pandemonium erupted. Here's what my sponge looked like after just that one arm of the sofa.  Can you say yuck? Here's the before/after comparison that is going to make you all run over to Robin's blog and find out how to do it:This is not my normal kind of post. There’s no food involved.

At least not the kind that comes with a recipe. But this is important enough that I am posting it anyways. Instead, this is what to do if food tries to mate with your microfiber furniture. If you’re like me, you had people over for some kind of something – whether a party or a meal or whatever – over the holidays and food was most likely involved. You may also be freaking out over the great new stain you have on your microfiber couch, chair, etc. I’m here to tell you it will be ok. I have the answer to your problem – rubbing alcohol. It’s a trick I learned about 5 years ago B.P. (Before Pintrest 🙂 ) and it saved a sectional couch. This time, it saved my dining room chair. I have been able to get pen, a slight burn ring from a hot plate, and now this stain out of microfiber with this method. Grab your supplies and stained furniture. How do you like my nasty stain? I’m not really even sure what it is. Dip your q tip into the rubbing alcohol and apply it to the soiled area. D

Apply as much alcohol as you need using the q tips without totally drenching your furniture. You should be able to see the dirt coming off onto the q tip. If it seems good to go, let it dry a little. If it looks like it needs more work, go for it. Once you’re done and it is mostly dry, if there seems to be a “spot” from where the rubbing alcohol was, like below… …grab your damp cloth and rub it over the area completely. Allow it to dry and you have a beautiful piece of furniture once again! I hope this finds those that need help like I did. This little trick saved my husband from seriously freaking out. And I will be back next week with some awesome recipes you don’t want to miss! I've had my sofa for about four years. The piece is still in great shape and beautiful except for one thing: For some unknown reason everyone prefers to sit in one specific spot on the couch — the far right side. Over time, the spot where people rest their head while sitting there has developed a nice dark, round, greasy spot in the shape of humiliation.

The cushion is not removable and neither is the fabric. For now, I have just been throwing a blanket over it so nobody has to see it and so it doesn't get any worse. How can I get rid of that greasy spot?Before we do this thing, everyone should go on and click play so we can enjoy a thematic soundtrack to our couch triage efforts. Our Letter Writer didn't specify what type of fabric the couch is covered in, for shame, for shame. But actually I'm glad he didn't because it gives me the excuse to introduce you to the Couch Cleaning Legend. You'll find the cleaning information you need on the couch's care tag, and will interpret what you find there thusly:W = Wet/water cleaning onlyS = Dry solvent cleaning onlySW = Dry solvent and/or wet cleaningX = Professional cleaning or vacuuming onlyIf you've got a W on your hands, go ahead and get an upholstery cleaner; I prefer the foaming ones, and ones like this Bissell dealie because it comes with a brush attachment that will help greatly in getting that greasy stain up off your couch.

As always with these kinds of cleaners, be sure to test it out on a less visible area of the furniture to be sure it doesn't cause any kind of damage to the fabric. You could also go in for a steam cleaner — you can rent them from most hardware, home-improvement or grocery stores for about $30 a session. An important caveat here is that if your couch contains polyester it will not react well to the heat from the steamer. Because it's a grease stain we're talking about, it will also be good to know that products like Pine-Sol and Lestoil are great as oil and grease stain treatments. If you've got the time and inclination, you may want to dab a bit of one of those things on the stain, allow it to work for 15 or so minutes, and then break out your upholstery cleaner.If you're working with an S, you should march right on down to your local hardware store for a can of dry-cleaning solvents. We talked before about using dry cleaning solvents to clean up a car interior that had been treated to a butter wash, so I'll give you the short version here.

First things first: because these are chemicals we're talking about, you'll want to wear protective gloves, make sure you've got some ventilation in your workspace and test the product on the fabric to be sure it's safe to use. Once your set-up is in place, put a small amount of the solvent on a clean white- or light-colored rag and blot at the stains. You may be tempted to use a lot of solvent, but dry-cleaning solvents work best when used sparingly. That's an important thing to know, I think! The final step, once the stain is gone, is to remove the solvent by going over the areas where you've used it with a clean, wet white- or light-colored rag. Oh, one last thing — once you've wet the rag, be sure to wring it out so that it doesn't saturate the cushion.If your couch is an SW, you can choose your poison. But you already know that because you're wicked smart.And finally, if you've got an X why in the world did you buy such a fancy couch, stud?!? I mean … you should hire a professional cleaner or use the old cornstarch trick.

The old cornstarch trick, by the by, involves putting a heap of cornstarch (or talcum) on a greasy stain and allowing it to sit for upwards of 5 or 6 hours. It works best, it will not surprise you to learn, on flat surfaces. Given the placement of this particular stain it might be off the table, solution-wise, but I mention it anyway. I keep my car pretty clean, ever since the first time I unexpectedly had to give my boss a ride. However, over the 9 years I've owned it, a good amount of coffee and other beverages have slopped into the console cup holders and change slots, all of which are solid and tough to reach into. What is a good way to get out the accumulated crud, particularly when my fingers don't fit in the smaller slot?Well you could certainly do what every car-owning friend of mine has done and ask me to come by with my tiny marsupial hands to manually clean out the console! Might you have a child? Child labor has always ended well for everyone involved.But if you're hellbent and determined to act independently in pursuit of a clean console, sure I've got some ideas for you.

If what you've got stuck in there are a whole bunch of crumbs, you could certainly grab for a can of canned air and blow 'em out. They may just settle back down in the console though. It's a good detailing tool to know about though, generally, so I mention it here. Particularly great on vents and such which isn't what you asked about but we're here and having such fun, so why not prolong our time together?!An important note on the use of canned air: always use it before you vacuum the car's interior. Canned air will blow whatever crumbs and lint and such that's in the console all over the place. So if you vacuum first, then use canned air, you'll just have to vacuum again.More than likely, however, what's hanging around in there is a combination of crumbs, dust, spilled drinks that have dried into a sticky film, and other things I probably am better off not knowing about. For that, you'll want to employ a long, narrow tool to which you've applied an all-purpose cleaning solution. Your Fantastiks, 409s, Simple Greens — that sort.

Do be sure to take a gander at the ingredient list to be sure whatever it is you're working with is free of ammonia which, over time, can cause plastic consoles and dashes to crack. Windex is sadly guilty of this. While you're checking out the ingredient list, you might as well also make sure the product is safe for use on plastic, which it probably is. So once you have an all-purpose cleaner, you'll need a tool — here, you should feel free to use these few suggestions as a starting off point to fuel your creativity. You'll also want to take into account the severity of the film you're looking to remove and use a sturdier tool for more serious messes. Some ideas:If you wanted to get really fancy about things, you could invest in a shop vac with a crevice tool attachment. Here's one model just to give you a sense of what I'm talking about and also so that we can all sit around like a bunch of 12-year-olds tittering at the name Vac N' Blo.Jolie Kerr is the author of the upcoming book My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag …