Upholstery Care Tips – Keep That Sofa Looking Brand New!
Upholstered furniture is a great and common addition to any household, but it is especially important to keep clean. The great part is that when cared for regularly, upholstery maintenance is actually relatively easy.
Prevention:
The first step to caring for upholstered furniture is to protect it. Slipcovers that can be removed and cleaned are much easier than dealing with stains or wear on furniture. If you don’t want to cover the whole piece you can use arm covers, seat cushions, and similar partial coverings for the areas that receive the most use.
You can also apply fabric protectors, which are treatments meant to make the fabric more resistant to liquids and stains. This can be done in some stores or at home.
The most important part of upholstery care is to read the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions and/or ask the retailer when purchasing the furniture how to care for it. All upholstery is different.
Here are some tricks that work on most upholstery:
Most upholstery can be vacuumed regularly. Others can be brushed. All fabrics have some kind of similar maintenance that can be done routinely to keep the upholstery looking fresh. I recommend that you do this weekly.
Turning the cushions and rotating the pillows can also keep your couches and chairs looking fresh and distribute the wear more evenly.
In order to maintain the color of your furniture avoid too much direct sunlight. This can mean choosing where you place your couch carefully or just simply shutting the blinds when you’re not home. Darker colors may fade faster. Additionally, don’t place newspaper or anything else that may bleed ink onto the furniture.
It is also important to keep pollutants away from your furniture, especially smoke. Upholstery absorbs smoke, lets it fester, and then emits it back into the room creating a strong and constant smell. You may become used to this smell, but your guests will not. If you intend to smoke on your upholstered furniture ensure proper ventilation in the room.
If a spill is made, immediately try to scoop or blot up the extra with a clean white cloth. Try not to spread the mess while doing this, but get any excess off as quickly as you can. Sometimes this blotting can remove a stain completely. If not, invest in a fabric cleaner that is approved for the kind of upholstery you have. Read the instructions carefully and test on a small inconspicuous area before using regularly.
The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) recommends that you have upholstery cleaned professionally every 12 to 24 months if it is regularly used. Crate and Barrel recommends this even for furniture that has been under slipcovers.
To reiterate, the key to proper upholstery care is to read the tag on your upholstered furniture and/or ask your sales associate for specific cleaning instructions. Some upholstery can only take water on stains, and while you may think water is safe on everything, other fabrics cannot take water at all. Read the label carefully!! You also can check out your manufacturer’s website which may have additional information.