I Tried This Viral Couch Cleaning Hack and Will Never Do It Again

Who doesn’t love a good cleaning hack? Especially when it comes to household chores, I’m willing to try anything that gives me more time back to focus on my family or hobbies.  

So when I saw this cleaning hack on TikTok to remove stains on your couch, I knew I had to try it. Our furniture is racking up the stains these days with a baby at home, and I have used a lot of the traditional methods to get stains out (dish soap, baking soda, OxiClean, you name it). But, this method was interesting because it calls for a laundry or dishwashing detergent pod.

The Hack

In the video, the @kate_cleanhome takes a saucepan lid and wraps it in a dish towel. Then, they place a dishwasher detergent pod in a bowl with hot water. Once the water is sudsy, the wrapped lid is dipped in the mixture and then wiped back and forth on the couch fabric. 

The video then shows that the couch stains disappear. The process seems simple and uses materials I already had on hand, so I decided to give it a try on my upholstered furniture. 

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The Test

My couch (miraculously) didn’t have any visible stains, so I decided to try this on my rocking recliner in the nursery. It had a black stain on the right side that I hadn’t been able to treat yet.

Here’s the before.

I wanted to do a little prework to increase my chances of good results. I started by vacuuming the chair in case there was any loose dirt and dust. Then, I placed a dishwashing pod in a bowl and filled it with warm water.

Next, I dampened the towel-wrapped lid in the soapy water and rubbed it on the stain. 

After a few scrubs, the stain started to fade. I let it sit for a few minutes and returned with another towel damp with plain water to dab at the stain and ‘rinse’ out any remaining soap. Then, I dabbed at the stain with a dry towel to soak up excess water. 

The Result

The spot on my chair took a while to dry completely, but once it did, the stain looked to be mostly gone. The fabric also doesn’t feel stiff or sticky with residue, which is something I was worried about. Overall, it seems like the hack worked!

Final Thoughts

While this method worked and my chair looks better—I won’t be doing it again. The solution from the dishwasher pod was way too strong for cleaning out a simple stain and 1 or 2 tablespoons of dish soap and water would have probably been just as effective.

Had I not diluted the solution and gone back over the stain with clean water, I think there would have been soap and residue left on the fabric. 

This hack also doesn’t seem like it would be a great option for full upholstery cleaning. The high soap content could ruin the fabric, and the towel-wrapped lid scrubbing method doesn’t give you much control over how much liquid to use, leaving you with a soaking wet piece of furniture. 

Next time, I’d stick to a simple cloth or sponge so you can easily wring it out and prevent it from becoming overly wet.