What do I do next to remove this sofa stain?

Hi there. Welcome back.

I don’t know the answer, but I remember you. I came back, too, after a lapse (not as long as yours), to say farewell to Gail. And there were still some good people to stick around for.

Can you try peroxide on a small inconspicuous area? Put a little on, scrub the area with a toothbrush or other brush, blot with a damp cloth. Good luck.
Welcome back!

Won’t that ^^^ drain the color and leave a white stain?

It worked on a pair of tan pants that I had spilled makeup on without discoloration.

Hey @sliceswiththings!

Maybe start over with the Iron on steam and focus on the water marks.

Unfortunately I would say once you’ve tried a few things that haven’t worked, the stain may be set. However, I would talk to a dry cleaner and see if they have any products or methods they could suggest.

Once you blot a stain with water or some other cleaner, go over the area with a dry towel. That will pull the stain (or dirt) out.
But you might want to hire a professional upholstery cleaner.

If it still matters—peroxide won’t damage fabrics—it will only bleach hair and teeth,

@chyna is correct

A)
Sell it “As Is” and extoll its “good bones” and how great it can be with a slipcover.

B)
Get (or have made) a slipcover and sell it as a great sofa with “good bones”, renewed with a slipcover.

Hello!

Did you try buying some furniture cleaning liquid? I have some for my Bissell little carpet and furniture cleaner. I usually dilute it a little and put it on the stain with an old white washcloth or rag. I wait a minute and let the chemicals work and then use a wet towel to try to get the stain out.

Bissell, Woolite, and other brands make sprays for stains on furniture. I’m not sure if it’s the same chemicals as Shout.

Test on a corner first that won’t be seen.

I too would think peroxide would bleach out the fabric, that’s interesting that people on the Q have had success with it. I’ll have to remember that when having a stain problem.

Lots of people swear by Oxiclean products, I’ve never used them.

Do you think it’s chocolate? Coffee? Maybe if you have a guess we can google suggestions for the substance.

I rented a steamer a few years ago and steamed my couch. I was amazed that it came out looking like new. It was a brown ultrasuede, I rented the steamer for around $30 from Walmart. You can also get them at the kiosk in the supermarket. Walmart had a kiosk, Rug Doctor, you put your credit card in, type in your info (name, address, etc.), and it tells you the price (a few dollars extra if you want to do the second day), gives you a return time, spits out a receipt and unlocks the door so you can take the appliance. It wasn’t hard to do myself, and because the appliance is a professional one (not one made to be sold to a consumer), it sucked the water out of the couch so it was dry in about an hour.

A year or two later, I bought a Bissell Hot Shot or whatever it was called. It was supposed to do the same thing as the one I rented at Walmart but it was made for the consumer, so the plastic was cheaper and more lightweight and it was more portable. It sucked, because literally it didn’t suck. I brought it to a friend’s house to clean her couch, and it would shoot out the water but it didn’t suck it up that well. I returned it to the store.

The rental from the store kiosk was the way to go. It was a pain in the ass, honestly, because it was so heavy (around 40 or 50 lbs), and cumbersome, but it did a great job for a great price.

Deleted by me.

Let us know how you dealt with it and the outcome please.

If I understand it correctly, the stain is gone, but you now have kind of a water mark line around where the stain was to deal with. I would try using a toothbrush wet (not dripping) with just water and gently rub where the line of the water mark meets the undamaged area. Rub back and forth over the line so that you’re redistributing the line demarcation into the unmarked area, rather than rubbing along the line – which would probably only make a new line. Don’t know if any of that makes sense, just my 2cents. ~}8^)

Thank you all! The update:
So, I got a lot of interest for this couch. Buyer 1 asked about the stains, which is when I examined and noticed. Plan A was to make it nice for Buyer 1, but that failed and I lost Buyer 1. So then Plan B was to make it nice for Buyer 2. I finally fessed up about its condition to Buyer 2 who said “that’s fine!” I tried to convince her that there were MASSIVE WATER STAINS but she wouldn’t back down about buying it!! I was sure once she saw the pics she’d realize she didn’t want it, so I put in some more work today with vinegar and more Shout to try to smooth it out. She finally wrote back saying the pics looked fine and she could come right away. So I said “um, er, it’s wet and will be for hours.” She said “that’s okay!” So the sofa is now in the back of a small Honda, wet, on its way to its new home, and I’m $200 richer. All that stain removal work was a waste it time, it turns out! I should have just run it by her in the first place!

I hope you stay around @sliceswiththings. And good job getting your sofa sold.

Yayyy!

Next time rinse it a few times and stand the cushion upright and put a fan on it instead. I had a sofa like that, that would get water stains that looked worse than the stain I would try to get rid of. Turned out cool air dried it out without leaving the rings around it. Hot air from a blow dryer set the stain in.