Upholstery Cleaning: What To Do and Not To Do

Aside from maybe vacuuming their furniture every now and then and treating light stains as they happen, not a lot of attention is brought to really deep cleaning someone’s upholstered furniture. The rest of your house is facing wear and tear and more attention seems to be brought to the carpets or the counter tops but the couches, chairs, and ottomans aren’t looked at as big deal. They look as though they stay pretty clean and don’t get as dirty as everything else when in reality, they need attention just like everything else.

Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Even if your furniture looks to be in mint condition to the naked eye, what you can’t see is the the dirt, dust, and dander inhabiting the place where you like to kick back and relax after a long, hard day. Most of the grime that has been picked up by your upholstery is embedded deep down in the fibers of the furniture, making the vacuuming process fail to really make any progress at all.

Before you start panicking and rush to grab every chemical cleaner, scrub brush, and water bucket that you own, take a step back and calm down. You would actually be doing more harm than good and could damage the upholstery fabric itself. If your mind is set on cleaning your furniture on your own instead of calling a trained professional such as Chet’s Cleaning, you will want to pay attention to these Dos and Don’ts that come with the job:

DON’Ts

DON’T ever, ever use bleach on your upholstery—even color safe bleach. Bleach will break down and destroy the fibers of your upholstery and leave your furniture worse off than when you started. The last thing you want is to weaken the fabric and make it more subject to contaminants and also leave it looking worse that it was when you started

DON’T use excessive amounts of water when cleaning. Water will be absorbed by most upholstered products and will actually saturate the fabric, rather than assist in cleansing it.

DON’T use multipurpose cleaners or “all in one” cleaners. Different types of stains and contaminants will need different cleaning methods and an all in one cleaning product might end up doing more harm than good because it isn’t made to target one initial problem.

DOs

DO check the manufacturers tag to look for appropriate cleaning instructions. In many cases there will be specific requirements for cleaning and following these will ensure that you don’t damage the material at all or affect the longevity of the upholstery.

DO treat stains as they happen. Spot cleaning stains as they occur is a must for maintaining clean looking upholstery. It’s important not to let a stain set in the fabric—if it’s allowed to settle, you’re going to have a much harder time removing it. Even minor stains should be tackled appropriately and quickly.

DO refrain from hard, extreme chemicals. If you’re going to use cleaning chemicals, make sure to avoid those that are heavier acids and bases and stick to neutral cleaners. These types of products will resolve stains and grime more naturally, without harming your upholstery.

Upholstery can be tricky but with the proper cleaning techniques, you will have fresher, cleaner furniture in no time! To guarantee that your upholstery doesn’t suffer from damage during the cleaning process contact the professionals at Chet’s Cleaning for a safe and thorough upholstery cleaning.