I get questions about how we keep our Crate & Barrel Lounge ii sofa clean all the time. We’ve owned several of the lounge sofas for years, and they are our absolute favorite recommendation for families or people with real life messes!
A few years ago I wrote a post about our Crate & Barrel lounge ii – if you are considering the sofa, you probably want to start there! We bought our first lounge ii six years ago, fell in love with the performance fabric and we are hooked.
I have a creative way for the stubborn stains that have kept this couch in great condition. It’s seen lots of dirt and spills – and it’s still more or less spotless!
Table of Contents
How We Clean The Crate & Barrel Lounge ii Sofa
**First, let’s acknowledge that Crate & Barrel does NOT support my method of cleaning. I’m sure it ruins your warranty. The performance fabric we have recommends spot cleaning with mild detergent. For deeper stains Crate & Barrel wants you to contact a professional upholstery cleaning service.
But now I’m going to tell you how I kept both my lounge ii sofas in great condition – and one is SIX years old! This all coming from a household with 4 kids and a beastly sized dog – and then you can choose what you want to do. 😉
We have the Taft fabric in the Steel and in the Cement. Both are performance fabrics meant to withstand active family life. There is no reason to Scotchguard or protect your beautiful sofa when you first get it even though you’ll be tempted to – trust that the performance fabric will do its’ job.
our playroom with a lounge ii in the Taft Slate
Light Maintenance
- Most everything will wipe right off with nothing but water and a rag! Thats the magic of performance fabric. Big wet muddy paw prints included. Make sure you are getting to spills immediately. The longer they sit, the harder to clean.
- Our cleaners vacuum the lounge twice a month, and I go in with my Shark Dustbuster (love that thing) now and then and get the crumbs/dirt.
- Not eating on the couch as a rule is the biggest favor you can do
How To Clean The Deeper Spills On The Lounge ii’s Cushions
I only can attest this method cleans the Taft fabric; I am hesitant to recommend other fabrics.
- Zip a cushion cover off, and spray the stain with stain remover. Shout Out never does us wrong and is always my go to; but you use whatever you like to use for stains.
- Zip the zipper closed, and put the cushion cover in a cold wash on delicate. I don’t use any special detergent, just my norm.
- Hang it up to air dry. Don’t put the cover in the dryer or it might shrink on you! I’ve tossed ours in the dryer before on air dry only, but I still think it’s a risky move!
My covers come out looking brand new and the fabric is perfect. Putting the cover back on is a little bit of a work out but nothing too tricky.
I wouldn’t treat the lounge ii covers as a slipcover and wash them too regularly. That’s not what this is for, and eventually repeated washing could wear down the fabric. But it’s an amazing trick to have up your sleeve for an occasional bad spill or nasty stain!
The Sofa Arms
During 2020 my kids had to do their schooling at home for a full 12 months – meaning our family of 6 stayed home (and on the lounge ii couch!) for the year. All things considered, it held up well, but it really did take a beating!
Thanks to washing the cushions we don’t have any stains, but the arms developed a dark shadow across them after months of our family stuck at home (and gathered on the couch). Probably from 4 little tushies sitting on on the arms, tiptoeing across them, and jumping off of it.
Of course the arms can’t be washed! Once the kids went back to school and our lives were back, we used our Little Green Machine Upholstery Cleaner along the arms.
This machine is amazing!
- Read the reviews – you get such a good bang for your buck using this
- I used the machine on the arm of the sofa with just water and the soap the machine comes with, and the shadow lightened significantly.
- Later I mixed in a teaspoon of powdered Tide with the water inside the machine, and it worked best.
- One thing to be careful of: the upholstery machine does leave a water line along the fabric. To avoid this I rinsed the whole side of the sofa, instead of just the dark edges. It only took a few extra minutes.
sources: Frame TV | rug | coffee table | rattan chair | white side table | lamp | drapes | sconces | fan
*Read my review of the Samsung Frame TV, or how we picked the Frame TV 55″ size for above the fireplace here*
If you have any questions about this couch, or if you are looking for that perfect sofa, you will want to read my review of the lounge ii here. I’ve got all the pros and cons, and how it’s held up with our family and the feather down cushions.
And now that you know how to clean the Crate & Barrel sofa, you realize you don’t actually need to have a slipcover to have a clean couch! You just need a high quality sofa and a performance fabric.
*A note about my advice – you would be wise to always first test a new product on your upholstery before using it all over. Even if your sofa is the same Taft fabric, first try washing a pillow cover before the whole cushion to be sure it won’t damage your sofa. When using the Little Green Machine Upholstery Cleaner, first test it on an inconspicuous area (again, like the sofa pillow), before using it all over.
If you’re still feeling doubtful, come on over to my Facebook group and ask some of us there. Lots of Lounge ii owners that love to chat about it! I would say it’s almost a cult following at this point.
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