How to clean scotch guarded upholstery

A Scotchgard treatment helps to protect your upholstery from staining, but it does not make your upholstery entirely stain-resistant. While most dirt wipes away with little more than an alcohol-damp cloth, getting rid of stubborn stains requires a bit of labour and persistence for success. To take full advantage of the treatment, you need to act quickly when spills occur, preventing them from becoming permanent accents to your furniture. While your Scotchgard treatment won't block the stain entirely, it does give you the time you need to attack the stain directly, removing it as completely as possible to maintain the appearance of your upholstered surface.

Remove loose dirt and debris from the upholstery with a vacuum containing an upholstery attachment.

Wash the upholstery with a cloth dampened with denatured alcohol. Apply the alcohol direct to a clean rag and then use the rag to wash the upholstery surface. Blot at the surface with the rag, do not rub, as rubbing the upholstery will only work any dirt present further into the upholstery fibres creating a stain.

Examine the cloth as you go along for the transmission of any staining substance from the upholstery to the cloth. Change the cloth as it discolours from the dirt contained in the upholstery, to prevent spreading the dirt along the upholstered surface. If there is a stain on your upholstery already, then multiple applications of the wash may be necessary.

Allow the alcohol to dry. Wait up to an hour for the drying process to finish before touching the surface.

Examine any stains after the waiting period to determine if the last pass succeeded with the removal. If not, the repeat the alcohol application until no trace of the stain remains.