ProPlus Dry Cleaning Sponge

This is the first time using this brand Chem sponge and it worked perfectly! The price was spot on and I was able to tear it apart to make 2 sponges. It glided over the walls and ceiling with ease and removed smoke damage from a grease fire.

Great product, works well

I have a very large, very expensive, hand-built, semi-custom, Weimer white sectional sofa. The fabric is a blended polyester, kind of a white on gold color, hard to describe but very susceptible to collecting dirt. Other large alternating sections are made from a very delicate, fine white cotton felt blend. Its very soft and luxurious; a truly beautiful piece of furniture. I had this sofa "professionally cleaned"...I wasn't very happy with their heavy handed approach, but thats another horror story. They managed to get it back to white from black, (and me almost having a stroke watching them brutalize my sofa), but I still wasn't convinced it was as clean as it should be. A few days later I decided to try to clean it myself, using the approach I had expected to receive from the cleaners and I decided I would try this sponge first. I took the time to unhook each sectional piece and proceed to hand clean it from top to bottom using the Hydro Sponge. It was a daunting project. I had purchased this sponge (among other tools) to have on hand for my renters to use in case there was an accident, but I decided to give it a try and wow was I surprised at how much dirt I pulled from the fabrics. It is very simple to use. You don't need any other cleaning products or water, just the sponge. Use a light hand. Don't try to get it all at once, work with the sponge, not against it. Don't expect it to perform miracles right away, you will get the feel for it right away and pay close attention to the color change in the sponge as it fills up with dirt. Dab it on any soot or spots you find, increase pressure slightly if needed and lightly go over the areas you want to clean. Again, watch the color of the sponge, it will start to get darker as the sponge's pockets start to fill up with dirt. Flip and turn the sponge, using the clean parts of the sponge each time until there are no more clean spots on the sponge Once the tiny chambers of the rubber sponge are filled up, you are going to need to clean the sponge to remove all that dirt. Simply run it under cold water in the sink, scrub it with your finger tips vigorously until the sponge comes completely clean all over. It only takes a few minutes or so. DO NOT twist the sponge, rather just squeeze it firmly in your hands to get the excess water out. Then wrap a clean, white cotton towel around it and squeeze tightly again to remove the remaining moisture. Do not wring it, just squeeze tightly inside the cloth to remove any remaining moisture. In a matter of two or three minutes the sponge will be air dried and ready to use again. This is a process you are going to repeat again and again and again, so get used to the sequence of using it till its full of dirt, rinsing and cleaning the sponge and drying it. Only use a clean sponge on your fabrics or you risk pressing the dirt you lifted, right back into the fabric you're trying to clean. Be sure to store the sponge in a clean condition so its ready to use when you need it again. I also used the broad surface of the sponge all over the cleaned surface, again with a light hand, to lift the delicate felt fibers back up. It brought the life back to this couch that I thought was gone forever. It looks truly wonderful now because I took the time and effort with a light handed and logical approach. I would recommend this sponge to anyone who has fine furniture or delicate fabrics they wish to clean themselves before calling in a professional service. (or after, in my case) Although, I would expect a professional upholstery cleaner to have several of these in his bag of tools when he shows up to clean your furniture by hand. I took away only one star because I thought that for such a dense sponge it sure needed cleaned many more times than I had expected it to. You don't get much mileage out of it before you have to run and clean it out again But that was a minor concession for the fine job it did.

Good product works if used as directed

I purchased this sponge to clean layers of dirt off of some antique engravings that I purchased at an estate sale. I remembered these cleaning sponges from an archival library supply catalog. They worked great. This small restoration/conservation job, would have cost me at least $100. With a few light passes over the delicate paper, the dirt was gone and the image and paper was a shade lighter. When using this for conservation, do not use it on any pencil marks you want to keep. And, do not press hard on any images or you could remove them. Otherwise, they are perfect for conserving antique papers and books. Since they are called a dry cleaning sponge, I think someone might assume they a sponge from the dry cleaning industry, as opposed to a sponge that you use to clean without liquid, in a dry manner. The sponge is for removing layers of dusty dirt from things that you cannot wash with water, or would be impractical with clean with water. They are not designed to remove clothing stains, red wine type stains, ink spots, etc. This product is a specialty cleaning item for specific tasks. It is not a multitasking, solves-all problems cleaning tool. If you are looking to clean dirt particles and dust from delicate items, this is for you. If you are looking for an alternative to a high dry-cleaning bill, this is not for you.

The best way to describe what this product does is to compare it to some textile art I took to a conservator for cleaning. When I picked it up, I noticed the art looked better--not spectacularly better, but better. I hung it and thought no more of it. The next morning I walked past it, and the art jumped out at me. The colors were richer. Fifty years of dust, and not the kind you could remove in normal dusting, had subtly but significantly grayed its colors. As it turns out, this also happened to my fifty-year-old upholstery and wallpaper. The improvement this product made was subtle yet dramatic. Suddenly the colors were fuller, crisper, brighter. You walked into a room and "wow". It's amazing what old dust and cooking oils does to colors, and what removing it does. This product takes up where vacuuming leaves off. When I saw this I started using it on lots of other things: lamp shades, textile art, the linen mats on paintings, even my shoji screens, all with the same results. This is good stuff. However, I would still recommend caution. The sponge smells like it's been immersed in some kind of petroleum distillate, and I'd be reluctant to use it on anything on a regular basis, due to possible long-term damage, and on anything that's of great value. That's when you call a conservator, assuming you can find one. BTW the smell isn't obnoxious to me but might be to someone who's sensitive to chemical odors. Thanks to another reviewer for the tips on how to clean the product. The seller gives very little information, either on Amazon or on its own website, which is remarkable. Maybe the primary market for this is conservators who already know how to use it? I don't know, but I'll be trying it (carefully) on other conservation projects like old radio grille screens and doll clothing.

This item does clean a lamp shade but won’t take water marks off, so I could only give 4 stars