Upholstery cleaning is a necessary part of keeping your furniture looking like new and fresh smelling because no matter how careful you are spills can happen plus there is the accumulation of dust ad dirt as part of normal use. If you do not want to clean the upholstery yourself you can hire a profession from the many upholstery cleaning NY companies. If you decide to do it yourself there are some steps you should make sure that you follow.
- Make sure that before you do any cleaning that you vacuum it first to remove dust and dirt that have built up on your furniture over time. When you clean your upholstery, the cleaner is going to make the upholstery damp or wet and if the dust and dirt gets wet, it can make your couch, chair, ottoman, etc dirtier. Use the attachment to get down in all the crevices and cracks and clean the cushions thoroughly. You should also make sure that if you have a pet that you vacuum up as much pet hair as you can. If necessary you can also try a pet hair remover but find one that works on upholstery.
- Make sure that if anything gets spill on your furniture that you blot it up right away because you do not want it to soak into the fabric, the stuffing, or the wood. You do not want to rub or scrub at the spill but instead blot it up with a clean dry cloth as soon as it happens to keep it from spreading and setting into the fabric.
When you get ready to do the actual upholstery cleaning you need to know just what type of cleaner you should use, which depends on two things. The first thing is the type of spill and the second thing is the type of fabric. To find out just what type of cleaner you should use check the tag that is usually attached to the furniture. If it an older piece of upholstered furniture you should have it cleaned by a professional. If you do not have the furniture tag you can test the cleaner in an inconspicuous area to make sure that it color fastness and that it will not harm the material.
On the furniture tags, there are different codes, which mean:
- W—clean with a water based detergent
- S—clean with a water free product like a solvent for dry cleaning
- WS—you can use either a water based or water free cleaner but which one you use will depend on the stain.
- X—this particular furniture piece has to be cleaned professionally and all the cleaning you should do is brush and vacuum it.
In Conclusion
For upholstery cleaning, how you clean it and what you use depends on what type of stain it is or are you just general cleaning the couch, chair, ottoman, etc, and how the fabric tag tells you to clean your upholstered furniture.
