Attention couch potatoes! Think about the dirtiest spot in your home that is riddled with bacteria. No doubt your bathroom, toilet and even your kitchen springs to mind. But have you thought about your couch? That’s right, your couch upholstery! If you think about where we spend most of our time relaxing after a long day, perhaps eating or even entertaining guests, chances are you’ll think of your trusty couch.

While many of us do a good job at keeping our couch upholstery reasonably clean, a UK study found that your average couch houses a staggering 12 times more bacteria when compared to your bathroom. Worse yet? According to a 2012 Hygiene Council survey, up to 61% of the population has never had their sofas sanitised or professionally cleaned, now that’s a serious health concern!

The soft fibres in couches and armchairs trap dirt, allergens and bacteria. As these contaminants build up, they can start to pose health risks to your family. Add a fur baby or two to the equation, and the problem starts to escalate further, as upholstery is notorious for attracting pet hair, dander, dirt and faeces (ew!) like a magnet. All of these factors combined can significantly impact the indoor air quality in your home, trigger allergies, hayfever and potentially asthma.

Luckily, deep cleaning your couch is easier than you might think and you don’t need to get a professional in. Here’s some tips to get you started.

1) Vacuum first – If you’re the type to have potato chips or breadcrumbs nestled under your couch cushions, you might want to clean that up beforehand. A good tip is to take advantage of your vacuum’s hose tube attachment. It’s smaller size makes it easy to pick up dirt and dust from tight spaces and it’s quicker than picking them up one by one. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

2) Remove pet hair – If your furry friends enjoy rubbing themselves against your legs from time to time, they probably do so with your couch as well (sorry if it makes you feel less special). Make sure you leave no stone unturned and vacuum all sides of the couch, in, out and every side of the cushions. A great tip when your vacuum is having a tough time picking up pet hair is to try putting on a rubber glove, then wipe your hand over your couch and cushions to create static. This will pull the hair right off.

3) Routinely deep clean – Sadly, many of us adopt the ‘If I can’t see it, it ain’t dirty’ mentality when it comes to caring for our upholstery. However, your upholstery definitely needs attention too, even if a dark or patterned fabric is hiding a multitude of dirt and stains! We recommend that you clean you couch once a month and a deep clean every 12 months. More often if you are living with pets. For a rough idea about how often you should clean, check out our carpet cleaning calculator.

Fortunately, DIY upholstery cleaning could not be easier with the Britex Upholstery Cleaner from Bunnings Warehouse, Woolworths and selected Coles, IGA , Mitre 10 and Home Hardware stores. Using the power of hot water extraction, the Britex upholstery cleaner reaches deep into fabric furnishings and upholstery, extracting dirt, grime dust and general nasties from your upholstery. You can clean and renew your fabric furniture, car seats, boat interior, rugs, mats and much more when you hire the Britex DIY upholstery cleaning system.

The next time you’re hiring a Britex deep cleaner for your carpets, pick up the Britex upholstery cleaner at Bunnings, Woolworths and selected Coles, IGA and Mitre 10 stores and start cleaning your upholstery too. The Britex upholstery wand is available to hire as an add-on to the carpet cleaner for 24 hours or 48 hours.

Upholstery cleaning shopping list:

• Hire the Britex Deep Cleaner PLUS the upholstery wand. While you’re at it, you may also want to try deep cleaning your carpets or grout & tiles too.
• Buy Britex Upholstery Cleaning solution and defoamer. Britex Upholstery Cleaning solution is a special formulation that is designed to be gentle on your upholstery. We do not recommend using Carpet Cleaning solution for upholstery cleaning.
• Need some tips on how to clean upholstery? See our how-to cleaning video.

Why not get started? Hire the Britex upholstery cleaner from Bunnings, Woolworths and selected Coles, IGA, Mitre 10 and Home Hardware stores. Find your closest retailer below.

Find your nearest hire location