How often you should really clean your sofa as experts warn it could be 'making you sick'

People are just learning how frequently you should be cleaning your sofa (Image: Getty)

Everybody knows how important it is to keep up to date with your household chores in order to avoid a build-up of mess. 

Things like vacuuming the living room and wiping down your tables so they're dust-free are usually carried out a couple of times a week, but there's one task that's often very overlooked. 

For a lot of people, many an evening is spent relaxing on the sofa - but how often are you really giving it the good clean that it deserves? 

Experts have now unveiled exactly how often that you need to do this, and it may be a lot more frequently than you might think.

It's especially useful to know if you suffer from an allergy to dust, something that affects an estimate of five million people in the UK. 

Your sofa could be harbouring all kinds of dirt and dust (Image: Getty)

For those with this allergy or those with children who do, your sofa could be the culprit for any flare-ups if you don’t follow these cleaning tips.

Thomas Bird, textiles expert and owner of Fabric Online said: "As dust mites prefer to live in warm conditions, they are often found in your bedding or soft furnishings. 

"While it is difficult to completely remove dust mites from the home, cleaning your sofa once a fortnight can help to reduce the likelihood of suffering from allergies within your own home."

How to clean your sofa

Vacuum

Make sure to vacuum your sofa at least once a week, paying attention to areas where dust can build like the edges of cushions. This can reduce the chance of dust mites gathering by removing their food source. 

Brushing

For fabric sofas, brushing and beating can be effective in disrupting any dust settled in the fabric. You should also beat any cushions outside to dislodge dust particles from them. 

Steaming

Once a fabric sofa has been brushed, steam cleaning is another effective method of picking up any remaining dust and bacteria as the hot steam will penetrate the fabric to kill the dust mites and bacteria. 

Washing covers and cushions

If your sofa has any removable covers, these should be washed alongside cushion covers to kill bacteria in hot water. However, ensure that these are put on a gentle cycle so that the fabric is not damaged.

Allow these to air dry fully once they have been washed so they don’t become mouldy.