Couch Flipping Tools We Recommend

1. Couch Flipping: ToolsWeRecommend In ourlast blogpostweoutlinedhowyou candiveintocouch flipping,buttoscale effectivelyyou willneed topurchase afew newtoolsto makefuture flipseasier. In the list below we will outline a few tools we purchased after we had budget from selling our firstfew couches(thisiswhy it’simportant tosavethemoneyfromyourinitialcouch flipping sales). Some itemswe havelistedas “MustHaves” since these toolsarethe bare minimum we recommend if you plan to continue. Selling 2 couches was enough to cover thecostofthese“MustHave”itemssotheyarerelativelyaffordable. MustHave VacuumCleaner:Whilemost folks havethesearound the houseeven before they start, having a qualityvacuumis criticaltosuccessfullyflippingfurniture.Notallcouches needto

2. beupholsterycleaned assuming theyarein solid shape,butnearly allcouchesneed agood vacuum. The vacuumwe purchasedwhenwe first startedwastheBissell2252Upright Vacuum.We chose the Bissellbecause oftheincludedaccessories and extendedhosetohelpyou vacuumallcornersofacouch. Thisvacuumruns for~$110on Amazonandhasbeen incredibly reliable foruseven with daily/weekly use.Theonly downsideso farhasbeen thelengthoftheattachedhose.On largercoucheswe find thelengthabitshort which meanswe have tomove the vacuum aroundmore often. UpholsteryCleaner: Next toa vacuum andupholsterycleaneris oneof themostimportant things you can own. Some couches you pickup won’t have the ability to remove cushion coversso youcan’talways relyon throwing coversin thewash.Additionally,arm restsare often one oftheareasonacouchthat need themost cleaningandthesedefinitely can’t be removed.

3. Theupholsterycleanerthat hasworked forusisthe BissellLittle GreenProwhich runsfor ~$150.If youare looking forsomething abit cheaperthatstillhas somecleaningpower, considerthe standardBissellLittle GreenCleaner. In addition to thecleaningmachine itself you willneed acleaning solution.Wetypicallyuse BissellDeep CleaningConcentratedCarpetShampoo (~$22)forthesolution weaddtothe machine andBissellStandard Pre-Treat(~$13 for2)or BissellPetPlusPre-Treat(~6for1)to treattougherstainsbefore upholsterycleaning. Staple Gun: We didn’t realize that this was something we needed until a few couches in. Since then we have picked up quite a few couches with their bottom felt damaged or detached.Before we resell,stapling up thebottomhelpsensurethatthecouchlooks asnew as possible for the new owner. Down the line, you may pick up couches with broken frames orsprings thathave poppedout.If that happensyouwillneed to remove thebottomfeltto fix the issue,and youwillneedtore-staple itonce repaired. We recommend theAECCN staplegunsince it includesstaplesand runsfor~$20. Feelfree tobuysomethingabitnicer,butthishasdonethe trickforus.

4. Sewing Kit: This is somethingyou willonlyoccasionallyuse,butdefinitely atoolthat is nice to have on hand. While we recommend avoiding couches that have tears in the middle of a cushion,repairing tearsalongseamsisincredibly easyandcanadd quiteabit of value to your couch. WeeCosy offers a sewing kit for ~$15 on Amazon that comes with everything you need to quicklyfixsmalltearsbyhand. TieDownStraps:Whenit comesto tiedown strapswe have found that allperformroughly the same.We picked upourstraps ataTractorSupplyCo,but youcan findquality straps anywhere. TheFortemstraps on Amazonare very similartowhat we ownandrunfor~$25.

5. Tool Kit:It’sfairto assumethatmostcoucheswon’t be takenapartwhen yougoto pick themup.Depending on how narrow thespaceisyou aremovingcouchesfromyou may need to remove thelegsordisassembleit into morepiecesif itisalargercouch(e.g.a metalframe recliningcouch). When you run into couches like this it is always great to have a tool kit ready to roll. TheCartman ToolSetonAmazonisvery similartowhat we ownandrunsfor~$30 Febreze: this one is pretty straight forward. Sometimes couches need a fresh spritz after cleaning.We would recommend findingasubtle scent thathelpsaddnewlife withoutbeing tooperfumy.Youcan pickupFebrezeat almostany localgrocery store. TotalBudget:~$385 NicetoHave Steam Cleaner: Kicking off the “Nice to Have” list is a steam cleaner. While definitely not necessary, a steam cleaner is a great tool to have around because it can help sanitize and deoderize couches. It is also one of the few tools that can get waxy stains (wax, gum, etc.) outofcouches.

6. Since a steam cleanerwon’t be adaily use we found that theDupray SteamCleanerworked forevery taskwe threwat it.Itrunsfor~$150and comeswithanumberofaccessoriesto helpsimplifycleaning. The only issue wehad wasthe time it tooktoheat up(14minutes)which meanttakingabit moretime whencleaning. Rub’n Restore:Without adoubtthisisthecoolest itemonthe “Nice to Have” list.While we avoid mostbondedleather coucheslikethe plague,realleather couchescaneasilybe restored andcan besold forquite abit.Theonly issueswith realleatheris that itwillfade over time. Rub’n Restorehas numerouscolors topickfromwhich willallowyouto refinish yourcouch to make itlook likenew.Belowisan example ofabefore andafter: While notcheap (~$70fora16ozbottle)the resultsaredefinitely worth it.Onewayto ensureyou getthemost value outof yourRub’n Restorepurchase werecommendsticking

7. toasingleshade ofleather (e.g.black)and onlyorderingonecolorto use on allnewly pickedupcouches Moving Blankets:Anotheritem that’sgood tohave laying around isamovingblanket. Most couches won’t need to be covered while moving, but in the instance you pickup other itemsliketablesorleather couchesthat youwant toprotect,thisisgreat tohave handy. ThisblanketonAmazonisvery similarto whatweownand runsforabout ~$26. Dolly:Thelast itemon ourlistisafurnituredolly.Beingin Dallas,we have movedquite a few couchesin andout ofapartment complexes.Theseapartmentsalmostallhad long halls which resultedin uscarryingcouchesquiteadistance.Havingadollyhandywillhelpmakes pickupslike thiseasier. Thedolly we recommendcan be found for~$22at The Home Depot.

8. Total Budget:~$270 While we occasionally make a run to The Home Depot or Lowes for random items we might needwhile repairingcouchesthe listaboveiswhatwe use onaweeklybasis. Forlessthan $700you cangeteverything youneed to tackle almostanycouch pickup or cleaning. SubscribetoourRSSfeedtosee additionalblogpostsaround detailedcleaning methods wehaveusedoncouches AbouttheAuthor Roman is the co-owner of CouchCycled which he started with Andrew Muniz in 2021. Professionally,Roman hasabackground insoftware sales andhas workedforcompanies ranging from small startups up to large companies like Cisco. Outside of work, Roman has always hadapassion fortheoutdoorsandregularly spendstimecampingandflyfishing. Don’thesitate to reachout overtextoremailif youhave any questions about CouchCycled or justwanttoconnect. AboutCouchCycled CouchCycledoffersfree in-homecouchandfurniture removalinaneffort toreduce furniturewastein Dallas/FortWorth whilegivingbackto the community. Allremoved couchesare renewedand resold at anaffordable price.A percentageofallsalesare donated.