Keep Your Upholstery Clean
23 January 2015
Upholstered furniture is very charming and aesthetically pleasing in any room. It has many pleasant characteristics and can create quite a vibrant atmosphere in the home. However, upholstery cleaning requires time and effort. After you have cleaned your upholstered furniture, here are some tips on how to keep it looking cleaner for longer.The main way to keep your upholstered furniture clean is using methods of prevention. These can include:- Don’t allow pets on the furniture. Pets can shed hair and bring dirt along which can enter the fabric fibres and cause long lasting damage. Pets also risk damaging the fabric using their claws, particularly cats. - Don’t allow food and drink. This is particularly relevant for sofas. These kinds of stains can be the most difficult to clean out of upholstered furniture. Spills occur easily when distracted by talking or watching the television, so often it is better to have a no food or drink rule. - Vacuum or dust once a week. Regular cleaning will keep dust particles from becoming permanently ingrained in the fabric fibres. This is important to stay on top of so that damage doesn’t occur over a long time. - Use a covering. By keeping certain areas of upholstered furniture, such as the arm rests or cushion covered with a blanket, this can prevent fading and general wear and tear that occurs over time. When it comes to cleaning your upholstered furniture if spills or stains do occur, try some of the following handy tips to get you started. - Act fast. This is the most important thing to do when something spills on your upholstered furniture. Don’t let the stain sit around and become permanent. - Blot, don’t scrub. When attending to a stain, make sure you use a blotting action with the towel or cloth. Don’t scrub in a circular motion as this can spread the stain and make it worse.- Be aware of what cleaner to use. There are different types of cleaners for different upholstered furniture items. The label or care manual instructions should indicate which type of cleaner to use. There should be a code that refers to a type of cleaner that is suitable for your item. The codes are as follow:o W: use a water based detergent.o S: use a water free product, such as a solvent for dry cleaning.o WS: use with a water product or a solvent, depending on the type of stain.o X: this indicates that your furniture needs to be professionally cleaned. It is ok to vacuum and brush it, but do not use any home-based cleaning products on it. Getting your upholstered furniture professionally cleaned is another good option. There are many cleaning agencies that specialise in sofa cleaning and focus on other upholstered items as well. When professionally cleaned, this increases the lifespan of your upholstered furniture pieces and keeps them looking in top quality condition longer. If you are getting your furniture professionally cleaned, make sure you do so as a preventative and causative way to care for your upholstered furniture. In general, larger upholstered items should be professionally cleaned every six months, and smaller items that are used more often should be treated every four months. Investing time and effort into caring for your upholstered furniture will have long lasting benefits and make keep your home looking and feeling charming.
