Can you get red wine out of a sofa?

Usually, especially if it has not been heat-treated or scrubbed. Red wine is a tannin plus a dye, so it needs a tannin treatment and sometimes a gentle oxidising step. Old wine on a pale natural fibre may reduce to a faint shadow rather than vanish, and we will tell you which to expect before we start.

Do you actually remove pet smells or just mask them?

Remove. Fragrance masking lasts about two weeks and then the smell returns, because urine salts reactivate with humidity. We find the full extent with a UV lamp, apply an enzyme treatment with enough dwell time to break the salts down at the source, and extract. Severe cases may need the underlay treated, which we will quote for honestly.

My cleaner made the stain worse. Can it be fixed?

Very often. Most "made it worse" cases are detergent residue, a dried halo ring or a distorted pile, all of which are recoverable by flushing the panel through and drying it evenly. Tell us what was used — that genuinely helps.

Will the smoke smell come out of my sofa?

Cigarette odour reduces substantially with a deep clean because most of it is in the surface tar deposits. Long-term heavy smoking that has reached the foam is harder and may need repeat treatment. We will give you a realistic answer after seeing it rather than promising a result we cannot guarantee.

Stain & Pet Odour Removal London

Stain work is a different job from cleaning. A general clean removes the soil that is sitting across a whole surface; a stain is a single defined event with its own chemistry, and treating it correctly depends entirely on what it actually is.

Tannin marks, protein spills, dye-based stains and oily marks each need a different pH and a different mechanism, and using the wrong one does not merely fail. It can set the stain permanently. Heat on a protein stain, for example, cooks it into the fibre in the same way heat sets an egg to a pan.

Odour is harder again, and it is the thing most often faked in this industry. Fragrance does not remove a smell; it sits on top of it for a fortnight. Actual odour removal means finding and neutralising the source, which for a pet accident is usually not where the visible mark is.

What a stains & odours visit includes

Identification of the stain type before any product is chosen
Tannin treatment for tea, coffee, wine and rainwater marks
Protein treatment, without heat, for milk, blood, vomit and pet accidents
Enzyme or oxidising treatment for organic odour at the source
UV inspection for pet accidents that are not visible in daylight
Sub-surface flushing where a spill has reached the foam or underlay
Honest assessment of what will lift fully and what will only reduce

Pet accidents: the mark is not where the problem is

Urine goes through carpet the way water goes through a sieve. What lands on the surface spreads as it soaks, so the patch in the underlay is routinely two or three times the size of the mark you can see, and a good proportion of it reaches the floorboards. Cleaning only the visible patch removes the stain and leaves the smell, which is why people think odour treatment does not work.

The smell itself comes from urine salts, which are dormant when dry and reactivate every time humidity rises — which is exactly why a room smells worse on a warm or damp day, and worse again straight after a poorly done cleaning attempt that added moisture without removing the salts.

Doing it properly means locating the full extent with a UV lamp, saturating the area deliberately with an enzyme treatment so it reaches everything the urine reached, giving it dwell time to break the salts down, and then extracting thoroughly. On a severe case it can mean lifting a section of carpet and treating the underlay and floor. We will tell you if that is what yours needs.

Stains & odours: before and after

Real customer jobs. Drag the handle to compare.

Grey fabric sofa after hot water extraction, ring stain gone and damp strokes visible — Fabric sofa. Grey woven-fabric sofa; large brown ring stain and general body soiling removed by hot water extraction, damp strokes still visible.

Grey fabric sofa with heavy body soiling and a large brown ring stain on the seat — Fabric sofa. Grey woven-fabric sofa; large brown ring stain and general body soiling removed by hot water extraction, damp strokes still visible.

Cream linen bar stool on a patio with even off-white upholstery after cleaning — Dining chair. Cream linen-look chair from an outdoor patio set; orange-brown staining on the curved backrest removed.

Cream linen dining chair with an orange-brown stain on the curved backrest — Dining chair. Cream linen-look chair from an outdoor patio set; orange-brown staining on the curved backrest removed.

Blush velvet dining chair seat cleaned to an even pale pink with no ring marks — Dining chair. Blush velvet dining chair seat on oak flooring; overlapping water rings and grey-brown blotching cleaned to an even pale pink.

Blush velvet dining chair seat covered in water rings and grey-brown blotching — Dining chair. Blush velvet dining chair seat on oak flooring; overlapping water rings and grey-brown blotching cleaned to an even pale pink.

What to do in the first ten minutes of a spill

Blot, do not rub. Rubbing pushes the spill deeper and distorts the fibre, and on velvet or wool it causes permanent texture damage on its own. Press a clean white towel down firmly and lift it straight up, repeatedly, changing to a dry part each time.

Use white cloth only. Patterned tea towels and coloured kitchen roll transfer their own dye into damp fabric, and we are then removing two stains instead of one.

Plain cold water, sparingly, is safe on almost everything. Do not reach for washing-up liquid, bicarbonate paste, stain sprays or a steam cleaner. Detergent left in the fibre attracts soil and creates a dark ring within weeks; heat sets protein stains; and a supermarket stain remover on a coloured fabric can bleach it. If in doubt, blot, leave it alone and send us a photo on WhatsApp — we would far rather advise you for free than remove somebody else's attempt.

Stains & odours prices

Typical ranges for this service. Where your job sits depends on size, fabric and condition — send a photo on WhatsApp or call and we will agree your exact price before you book.

Typical price ranges — final price agreed by phone or WhatsApp
Item	Typical range
Single stain treatmentAdded to a clean	£15–£30
Pet odour treatment, per areaEnzyme, with dwell time	£35–£65
Sub-surface / underlay flushQuoted after inspection	£60–£130
UV inspectionWith any booked clean	Free

Stain and odour work is usually added to a clean. Severe pet contamination is quoted after we have seen it, because the source has to be found first.

Estimates, not final quotes. These are guide ranges based on typical London rates. A smaller or lightly soiled job can come in under the range, and a big or badly soiled one can sit above it. We agree your actual price with you on the phone or on WhatsApp before anything is booked.

See the full price list for every service.

Where we do most of this work

Stains & odours is one of the most requested services in these boroughs. Each page covers local access, parking and housing stock.

Stain & Odour Removal for Sofas and Carpets in London