Upholstery cleaning is a pretty challenging process, and that’s why so many people literally avoid upholstered furniture. We are sure we all want beautiful looks in our home decor, but regular maintenance can be a real headache for the people who regularly use it. It’s a textile, but it can’t be washed in the traditional way, but on the other hand, you must keep it clean and tidy, to avoid dirt build-up.
Furniture made of textiles and fabrics may be the most beautiful and cheapest, but in that case, you must learn how to maintain it properly. It is very easy to get dirty from spills, dust, sweat, dandruff, and even dirt penetrating the interior of the upholstery. Of course, upholstered furniture must be maintained regularly. It is the most comfortable choice among all the offered options. Therefore, in today’s article, we will look at what options you have when it comes to upholstery cleaning and how to avoid maintenance errors.
1. Regular vacuuming
This way you will remove all surface impurities from the upholstered furniture and it will always look clean and tidy. At the same time, you have the opportunity to hire a professional service that has vacuum cleaners for deep cleanings, like the ones here, and make an appointment with them. Their advantage is that they use powerful vacuum cleaners with different accessories, which can extract dust even from the upholstery layer. Of course, do this several times a year, and practice the usual vacuuming once a week. Dirt creates conditions for bacteria to grow, so this kind of regular cleaning is crucial in maintaining upholstered furniture.
2. Clean the spills immediately
Spilling liquid on furniture is not something that rarely happens. If you have leather or faux leather furniture, the liquid will not soak into the upholstery. But if you have textile furniture, then it can easily happen to penetrate into the interior layers. It is therefore important that if a spill occurs, intervene immediately with an absorbent cloth. Why is that? The textile used in the manufacture of upholstered furniture is usually with a high degree of protection against absorption. This means that you will be able to collect the excess fluid before much of it enters the inner layers. Then it is easier to clean even if surface stains remain.
3. Use professional services to clean upholstered furniture
The reason for this is very obvious and very simple – they have powerful machines and use the right tools to clean all the pieces of furniture in your home. Sometimes you can use DIY tricks, such as using peroxide, baking soda, and salt, as well as regular detergents, but professional services can do much more than that. Therefore, it would not be a bad idea if you hire them at least once a year, since it is a process that saves your time, and the price is worth it in the long run.
The most common mistakes people make when cleaning upholstered furniture
Rubbing with an abrasive brush is a big mistake, because it first destroys the upholstery, and then suppresses the spill in the inner layers. Therefore, use an absorbent cloth and then hire a deep cleaning service.
Next, keep in mind that not all textiles need to be treated with water. For example, microfiber shouldn’t be cleaned with water, but with rubbing alcohol. Spray, then wait for it to dry partially, and then wipe with a dry, clean cloth.
Hard stains should be treated with a steam cleaner. But before you do it yourself, you need to check if the textile can be steam cleaned, so you can avoid serious damages. For example, if there is a mixture of silk, then you should not use steam cleaners.
Do not use chemicals for regular cleaning. Furniture must not be cleaned with products you use for washing, dishwashing, or personal hygiene – and of course, never use toilet cleaning products for any piece of the furniture.
You should also not use stain removers for carpets and rugs. It certainly seems like a similar product, but the upholstery has several layers of material, while the carpet has only a thin layer of material. Also, the chemicals that will be absorbed into the upholstery can damage the inner layers and shorten the life of the furniture.
And of course, the biggest mistake that almost everyone makes is ignoring the need for regular maintenance of upholstered furniture. Just because you use covers does not mean that the furniture is protected from dirt, but that you just do not see what is happening under the cover.
This also means that you need to follow the markings or cleaning instructions. Most often the markings are W – you can use water, S is for a dry cleaner, WS is a combination of them, and X is that it should be cleaned with a professional dry cleaner. However, these labels may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.
And of course, the most important thing is that whatever you do, you should always leave enough time for the upholstery to get dry. If it is summer and it is hot outside, open the windows in the room where there is furniture so that there is a constant circulation of air. If necessary, turn on fans and even heating devices, so that the process goes better and there is no lag of moisture inside the furniture.
Conclusion
The methods of cleaning upholstered furniture are limited to only a few approaches – regular vacuum cleaning, as well as the occasional hiring of professionals, and of course, the use of appropriate cleaners. But, as you can see, the mistakes are much more numerous and you need to first know how to prevent them, in order to successfully maintain your upholstered furniture in a tidy and clean condition.
This article will help you focus on the mistakes and recognize and avoid them. That way you contribute more to the tidy condition of your furniture than to regular but incorrect cleaning. Our advice is to use a professional service occasionally while doing regular vacuum cleaning to remove dust and surface dirt.
