How to Clean Vinyl Furniture Fast, Easy and Cheap

1. Dry Soil Removal

   Start by removing any loose, dry soil. If the piece is dusty or there are crumbs, you’ll want to vacuum the whole thing before applying any kind of cleaner to it. This is an important step to remember when learning how to clean vinyl furniture or anything for that matter. When dry soil gets wet it turns to mud and mud is harder to clean than dry soil.

2. Emulsify Heavy Soils

   If the piece is not heavily soiled proceed to step 3. Otherwise, step 2 will teach you how to clean vinyl furniture that is heavily soiled. Sometimes when vinyl is not properly cared for it needs extra attention as in the case of the vinyl restaurant booth in the picture below.
   This restaurant booth was heavily soiled and needed an extra deep cleaning to get it as clean as it is on the right.
   
   I cleaned this booth with a strong alkaline cleaner to remove the grease, mud, and mold that had accumulated on it. In this particular instance, I used Husky 901 Industrial Cleaner/Degreaser. You could use a product like Simple Green or Formula 409 on exceptionally heavy soiling.
   
   I sprayed the cleaner on and let it dwell for several minutes but didn’t let it dry. Then I scrubbed the whole piece to loosen the soil. Don’t be afraid to use a soft brush to scrub the vinyl to loosen the soil.
   Use a soft brush to scrub difficult spots like the white stitching on this vinyl club chair.
   
   With the emulsified soil loose I could wipe the vinyl down with a clean towel. It’s important to not leave any residual cleaner on the vinyl because it could cause the vinyl to dry out and crack. Therefore, after this step proceed to step 3 to rinse all of the alkaline cleaner off with a cleaner made specifically for vinyl.

3. Clean and Condition

   Most vinyl that had been properly cared for can be cleaned with a vinyl cleaning product like Meguiars #40 Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner. I highly recommend this product to clean vinyl furniture and I used it, clean vinyl professional, for 13 years. It is an excellent cleaner but it also conditions the vinyl to keep it soft and prevent it from cracking. This is the most important part of how to clean vinyl furniture and make it last forever. With conditioning the vinyl it will deteriorate very quickly.
   
   Spray the vinyl cleaner directly onto the vinyl for heavier soil or onto a clean cloth for lighter soil. For heavier soil the cleaner may need to dwell for a little while in order to break the soil loose.
   
   Using a clean towel wipe the vinyl clean, removing all cleaner and soil with it. Be sure to go over the whole piece and wipe down every bit of the vinyl.
   

4. Repeat As Needed

   Sometimes one cleaning may not be enough, therefore you may need to apply more than one application of cleaner. Other times cleaning just won’t cut it and you’ll have no choice but to recover your vinyl furniture if you want to keep it.