If your sofa has seen better days, home hack queen Anita Birges has just the solution for you.
Known for her inventive methods for cleaning and organising around the home, Birges recently struck gold once again when she shared “by far the most impressive” method for cleaning the couch after having “tested and tried so many cleaning hacks over the years”.
“It takes about an hour to do and you most probably have the items you need already in your home,” Birges explained.
Equipped with everyday household items, Birges embarked on the journey to restore her sofa to its former glory, following these steps:
1. Take all your cushions off and give the couch a good vacuum.
2. Put a dishwashing tablet in a bowl and put over some boiling water over it and let it dissolve.
3. Pop in a microfibre cloth and let it cool down to a temperature that won’t burn your hand off!
4. Squeeze out your cloth, lay it down and wrap it around a small pot lid. You can also use a hair elastic to keep it secure around the pot handle.
5. Wipe down your couch in gentle motions. You don’t need to scrub hard.
6. Rinse and repeat until you do it all.
7. Leave everything to dry overnight and place everything back in the morning.
While the results speak for themselves, Birges recommends conducting a patch test with the cleaning solution before trying out the method for yourself.
“You want to make sure it doesn’t cause any weird reactions,” she explained.
“A good place to test is a spot at the back of your couch where no one can see.”
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Birges’ expertise is not just confined to the lounge room, she recently shared an impressive trick that promises to transform the nightmare of getting your quilts into quilt covers into a seamless and enjoyable task.
“Getting a king size quilt into a king size quilt cover seems almost impossible to do without it having to touch the floor, especially if you are doing it alone,” she began.
“Watch how I do this little doona/ duvet hack, practice a few times and you will be a pro at it as well.
“It’s also a great party trick to show your friends.”
So, what’s the secret key to this quilt-cover mastery? Birges breaks it down into five simple steps:
Step 1. Lay the quilt cover on top of your bed, inside out. With the opening at the foot of the bed
Step 2. Lay the quilt on top of the inside out cover. Make sure they line up perfectly.
Step 3. Starting from the closed end of the quilt cover, roll the quilt and cover up together until you reach the other end.
“You will now have a long sausage type roll,” she explained.
Step 4. Watch this part closely.
“Grab either end of the ‘sausage’ and, holding the quilt and the side of the cover closest to it, flip the other side of the cover outward and around the ‘sausage’,” she said.
“Do up the buttons.”
Step 5. Unroll the “sausage” and like magic your quilt will be perfectly positioned inside the cover.
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Thanks to Birges, these essential yet typically tedious chores of home cleaning and organising become effortless and even enjoyable activities.