One of the most unpleasant things that can happen to household furniture is spilled iodine. The caustic chemical dyes any material, and neither fabric nor skin can be wiped off with a wet sponge. As a result, yellow-brown pollution becomes part of the interior forever. Or maybe not! Let’s analyze how to wipe iodine from furniture without a trace using effective and proven home remedies. Both chlorine and ordinary potatoes performed well in cleaning.
Let’s analyze what material furniture can be made of and what can be used to clean it from iodine:
- Upholstered furniture. Upholstered sofas and armchairs very often become victims of spilled iodine. You can use baking soda, hairspray and hydrogen peroxide to clean upholstered furniture. Importantly! Iodine is poorly washed off from the fabric, so you need to start cleaning as soon as possible.
- Leather furniture. Lemon, baking soda or ordinary alcohol will help remove iodine stains from expensive leather furniture.
- Wooden furniture. Vinegar, alcohol, or acetylsalicylic acid are suitable for successfully removing iodine from a hard wooden surface. You can also try to wipe fresh iodine contamination on a hard surface with a damp cloth, and then carefully wipe the iodine trace with an eraser.
And now in detail about cleaning products.
Preparation for cleaning
To successfully clean furniture from iodine, you need:
- It is advisable to take more than one option to prepare a means that will be used to remove stains – in case the first choice turns out to be ineffective.
- Collect auxiliary items: gloves, cotton cosmetic discs, kitchen sponges, brushes, rags and water.
- Clean the furniture from dust with a vacuum cleaner.
- Try the chosen product on an inconspicuous area of furniture to check its effect on upholstery or hard surfaces.
Hydrogen peroxide
In order to successfully wash iodine from furniture with the help of hydrogen peroxide, it is necessary:
- Thoroughly soap the contaminated area of the fabric. Thus, the soap will not allow the iodine stain to spread over a larger area of the upholstery.
- Apply hydrogen peroxide to the dirt with a cotton pad, which will discolor the stain.
- Wet the remnants of soap and peroxide with wet, clean napkins. Do not rub or smear.
This method does not cause any damage to the fabric of the furniture.
Vinegar
If the trace is quite old, then you need to use vinegar.
- Take a cotton pad and soak it in a 9% vinegar solution.
- Apply a moistened cotton ball to the stain. When entering into a chemical reaction of vinegar with iodine, crystals are formed, which are easy to remove with a napkin.
- Wash off the remains of divorces on the sofa with a damp cloth.
Bleachers
To remove iodine from the fabric, you can try to buy a liquid stain remover based on chlorine.
Oxygen bleach in the form of a powder, which is used for washing clothes and linen, has also successfully proven itself as an iodine purifier. Such a tool perfectly copes with cleaning home textiles, carpets and linoleum, furniture, kitchen surfaces, sanitary ware and household appliances. Do not forget to check the stability of the color of the furniture in an inconspicuous place.
When using chlorine-containing bleaches, you must:
- Apply the solution to the stain for 10 minutes to ensure the chemical reaction.
- After removing traces of contamination, the surface should be cleaned with a stiff brush.
- Remove the remaining stain remover with a wet cloth.
You can check the possibility of using chlorine products on its label.
Ammonia
Products containing ammonia can very effectively remove iodine pollution. For this you need:
- When using ammonia products, it is necessary to carefully follow the safety rules – clean the surface only with gloves, and open all windows to ensure the flow of fresh air.
- Dissolve 1 teaspoon of ammonia in a glass of water.
- Wet cotton wool in the solution and rub the stain.
- After cleaning the stain, the surface of the furniture must be washed using ordinary soap and water.
Potato
Folk remedies, for example, raw potatoes, are successfully used to clean furniture.
- Cut one potato tuber into 2 parts.
- Rub the trace of iodine with half a potato until it completely disappears.
- Traces of potato starch can be washed off with a wet cloth.
Additional options
- In the case of using ascorbic acid, it is necessary to dissolve 2 tablets of the product in a glass of water and rub the iodine trace until it completely disappears.
- With the help of baking soda, you need to make a slide at the spot of the stain and drip water on top. The slurry obtained as a result of the reaction should be left on the problem surface for several hours. After removing the soda stain, you can wash it off with a damp cloth.
- Hairspray. You need to spray the varnish on the trace of iodine and rub it with a soft toothbrush. After that, leave the iodine trace in the air for a couple of hours. If the spot has faded, but not completely, the procedure must be repeated.
- Ordinary alcohol or vodka will help to successfully clean iodine. To use this method, it is necessary to dilute 2 teaspoons in half a glass of water and wipe dirty traces with a cotton pad dipped in the solution.
Any chemical means for removing iodine must be used only in a diluted state. And, only if the diluted product did not completely remove the stain, it is worth increasing the concentration of the drug. And don’t forget that aggressive chemical means for removing stains greatly thin the upholstery material, so their use is undesirable.
The most important thing is that if it was not possible to finally remove the iodine stain from the surface of your favorite sofa, you should not be upset. Iodine is a volatile substance, therefore, in a well-lit and ventilated room, the stain will gradually disappear from the fabric completely and without additional effort.