Fabric furniture cleaning the permies way! Help please!

Admission!  I've just answered the other thread about how often we clean, and smugly stated that since we have updated our house (smooth plaster, good windows, proper insulation etc etc) we hardly need to 'clean' at all.  Then I looked at the arm of the fabric covered sofa I'm sitting on and realised it hasn't been cleaned for a very long time and has a couple of random stains and unidentified grubbiness on it!!!

I use throws to cover it (3 dogs!) but sometimes they slip.  

So!  Please help with natural ways to spruce up the fabric-covered furniture!  

I have vinegar, can get baking soda, and may be able to find a steamer to borrow... but what do I do?  Make a paste?  Scrub?  Steam to sogginess and then dry?  I don't know the best way to tackle this...but I know you all will have the answer! 😊

Thank you! 🙏

I clean my couches and rugs with a Hoover portable mini shampooer that I was given as a housewarming gift. I've used both the included oxiclean type solution and diluted vinegar, about 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water. I've never used a steamer so I don't know what's better, but it does the job! I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has used both...

With a steamer it might be good to know what the fabric content is so that the hot steam will not melt the fabric.

To back up Anne’s comment, I destroyed a sofa once with a steamer.  The fabric melted quickly.