If you’re reading this article, then you may have come to realise why it’s always good to have a bottle or two of best upholstery cleaner in your cleaning cupboard. Whether it’s a dreaded red wine stain on your new sofa or many months of pet- and child-related grubbiness that’s built up on your furniture, the top upholstery cleaners can work wonders. Indeed, choose wisely and using an upholstery cleaner should feel a little bit like magic. Strong stains, worked-in grime or everyday dirt should all lift straight off with the right product – it’s simply a case of using the best cleaner for the job at hand. If you’re regularly dealing with really tough stains and large surface areas, you should consider a dedicated cleaning machine such as a spot cleaner or a carpet cleaner. We’ve included a couple of affordable spot cleaners in this roundup, but you should also take a look at our guide to the best carpet cleaners. Do different fabrics require dedicated cleaners?

When cleaning a more delicate material such as wool or leather, ensure that you use a gentle cleaning product, or one specifically made to be used on that material. Using the wrong upholstery cleaner on delicate items can result in damage, so it pays to be careful. Are there gentler cleaners available for those with allergies or pets? Removing stains from clothes, fabric and upholstery can be a nightmare to remove. However, whether it's red wine or turmeric-flavoured curry on your tablecloth, or blood on your favourite white shirt, we've found the best stain removers.

The best upholstery cleaner to buy in 2023

While many cleaners are formulated to work safely on most types of fabric, it’s essential to read the label on a product before applying it in your home. Always perform a spot test on a small patch of inconspicuous fabric and wait to see if it causes any issues. This way you can be extra sure that a product won’t damage the texture or colour of your soft furnishings. Meat tenderiser powder works by breaking down the proteins in meat, which helps to give you a more tender steak. This same process can be used to break down protein-based stains such as blood or vomit.

Our verdict: If you ever did the volcano experiment at school you know how this goes. It's very visually impressive. That said, don't use bicarbonate of soda to clean red wine stains. When we tried it, it appeared to react with the wine stain and we were left with a large patch of carpet with a blue tinge. We tried two different bicarb mixes for these tests. One with warm water and one with vinegar. With both mixes we sprinkled the bicarbonate of soda over the stain, fully covering it. Then we poured over the liquid until the stains were drenched. Each zone was used for a stain - one of each type of stain for each product and home remedy being examined.Fresh stains were cleaned within five minutes of application, while dried stains were left until touch dry. Each stain was assessed on the following factors: Ease of use We recorded how much elbow grease and repeat applications were needed to clean off the stain with each of the products and home remedies.