Clean Between Seat Cushions
Hey friends! Welcome back to Sawdust and Cornbread. If you have furry friends or small children in your home things will inevitably get spilled on your sofa/recliner seat cushions. Many of you have already seen my video on how to make a sofa/couch look new without a steamer or professional shampoo. As of right now, it has 192,318 views! Today I’m going to show you how to get in between the cushions to clean. It isn’t as hard as you think.
Separate Couch/Sofa Sections to Clean
One of our beagle babies recently had a sudden, frightening bout of pancreatitis. Without going into too many gory details, her mess found its way between the cushions of our electric loveseat backrest as well as the seat cushions and footrest. The only way to save the couch and clean the soiled areas was to separate the two sections of our loveseat. This sounds like a huge endeavor, but as I’ll now show you, it’s not that hard at all. I did it by myself in about 10 minutes.
Preparation to Clean Between Seat Cushions
Before you begin separating the electric recliner seats, make sure you unplug the unit. If your loveseat/couch is pushed against the wall, pull it out. You will see there is a flap of fabric on the back disguising (covering) the separation between the loveseat or couch seat sections. It may be attached by a strip of velcro. If this is the case, gently pull the velcro apart to fully separate the seat sections.
Access the Underside of a Couch/Sofa/Loveseat for Cleaning
First, I gently rolled the electric reclining loveseat/chair onto its back. This gives me access to all the mechanisms underneath. I was surprised to discover the only thing holding the seat sections together was metal bars with a few screws! One bar is located along the front and the other at the rear. All I needed to do was remove a few screws to release the metal bars and separate the couch/loveseat sections for easy cleaning!
Finding and Removing the Correct Screws to Clean Between Cushions
Next, I discovered hidden access for the screws. If you don’t immediately see the screws attaching the metal bars to your electric loveseat/sofa/couch, don’t dismay. The couch maker probably cleverly hid them under the floor pads. Here are the ones on the bottom of my electric reclining loveseat. At first, they just looked like little circles of felt to protect the floor. I peeled one off and it revealed the screw. I removed all the felt floor protectors. Please note, that you will probably need to replace those little felt circles. The sticky part isn’t very strong after you remove them. Luckily, the hardware and big box stores sell them for a few dollars a pack. Besides, if your couch is as old as ours (over 15 years) it can probably use new floor protectors.
Separating Electric Recliner Seat Sections
Now I simply matched the correct size socket bit to the head of the screws. Attaching the bit to my drill, I quickly removed all the screws and the metal bars came free. Just like that, the loveseat sections were separated to clean between couch seat cushions! I had full access to clean all the puppy messes plus any people messes that found their way between the seat cushions, backrest, and footrest.
Clean Dog Vomit or Other Germy Messes on the Sofa/Couch/Loveseat
I used the same cleaning method as shown in my Make an Old Couch/Sofa Look New Again Video, with one exception. Since this was a (ahem) bodily fluid mess, I knew there was some yucky bacteria involved. After removing large solids, I pre-treated the area with a laundry stain pre-treatment spray combined with peroxide. There was approximately 10% laundry stain pre-treatment and 90% peroxide. I sprayed this on the couch and used a shop vac to immediately suck up the foaming mixture. I repeated this method until most of the foaming stopped. This made me feel much better about the germ situation.
Drying a Clean Loveseat/Sofa/Couch After Cleaning Between Couch Seat Cushions
Finally, I allowed the clean couch/loveseat sections to dry overnight before re-assembling. If you put the seat sections back together before the cushions fully dry, you will encourage mildew and another smelly problem. Once you clean between couch seat cushions, and they are fully dry, I re-assembled the electric reclining loveseat.
Reassemble an Electric Reclining Loveseat to Clean Between Couch Seat Cushions
I found it easiest to reassemble the couch/loveseat by focusing on one metal bar at a time. I put the screws in each outer corner, then lined up the inner seat sections and attached them with screws. Then, I repeated the assembly of the other bar. I re-applied sticky, round, felt, floor protectors over each screw on the little round “feet” on the metal bars. It is tempting to skip this step, but your hardwood floors will pay the price if you don’t do it.
Enjoy a Clean Fresh Electric Reclining Loveseat!
With everything firmly together, I slowly and carefully rolled the electric reclining loveseat upright. This is the time to re-seal the velcro strip if your couch/loveseat has one covering the space between seating sections. Plug your clean couch back in and slide it into position. Now you can rest easy knowing everything is fresh and clean. It’s easy to clean, even between seat cushions on an electric loveseat/recliner/couch.
Other Great Cleaning Tips For Your Home
If you found this post helpful, be sure to explore all the Sawdust and Cornbread Home DIY cleaning tips here on the blog and the YouTube Channel. Until next time, God bless!
~Lora Lea