Top Tips for Cleaning Your Upholstery

When’s the last time you cleaned your couch beyond a cursory go-over with a vacuum? This is a no-judgement zone, but if your answer is any more than a year, then you need to consider whether it’s time to call in a professional to get your upholstery cleaned.

Even if the only visible dirt on your upholstery is the stain you swear is impossible to move, it’s not the way it looks that you should be concerned about, but rather what has started to live within the fibres. Here’s what you need to know to keep your home sanitary and prolong the life of your upholstery.

How often should you be cleaning your upholstery?

When we talk about cleaning upholstery, there are two types of cleaning to talk about: spot cleaning and deep cleaning. Doing just one or the other won’t keep your upholstered furniture truly clean, so it’s best to combine them!

Spot Cleaning

You should of course clean up any spills as soon as they happen to avoid staining, in that respect you should be treating your upholstery in the same way you treat your rugs and carpets. Beyond that you should also make sure to sweep, dust, or run a vacuum over your upholstery weekly to help reduce surface dirt. Pet owners need to be especially frequent in their cleaning, unless you’re happy to have your furniture grow a fur coat of its own.

Not only will this keep your upholstery looking clean, but it will also help your upholstery last longer as surface dirt has a nasty tendency of wearing down the fabric it sits on over time.

Deep Cleaning

A deep clean of your furniture will require the help of a professional and should be done 1-2 times a year. You can’t perform the deep clean yourself unless you’re willing to spend a lot of money buying the necessary tools and products, it will also take a lot of practice to build the expertise required to use these tools and products effectively and efficiently. With a professional deep clean, you can expect steam cleaning, deodorising, and stain removal – your upholstery will look good as new! While you may be tempted to skip the deep cleaning, just remember that keeping it regular will increase the life of your upholstery and keep it looking fresh.

What happens if you don’t clean your upholstery?

The most obvious change over time will of course be aesthetic, your upholstery will look dirty and the colours will begin to fade. The dirt and grime that makes your upholstery look grubby will also carry an odour with it, which will make both your upholstered furniture and the room smell unpleasant.

This layer of dirt will be made up of dead skin cells, hair, fur, dust, mould, and pollen – as well as being a bit gross, this dirt will negatively effect the quality of air within your home and aggravate the allergies of your friends and family. Keeping your upholstered furniture clean is therefore in your best interests health wise, because why make health issues worse when you could just get your upholstered furniture cleaned?

If your furniture has gone uncleaned for a while, it would be smart to organise a professional cleaning sooner rather than later to combat the dirt that has already been building up. You should also get your upholstery professionally cleaned if you’re buying it second hand for peace of mind.

The dos and don’ts of upholstery cleaning

When cleaning your own upholstery, the number one most important thing to do is check the tags for the manufacturer’s recommendations. If the upholstery on your furniture is removable with zips or buttons, you will usually be able to find a tag if you turn the fabric inside out. If it’s not removable then your best bet is to look underneath your furniture as a tag is likely sewn at the bottom. These tags are important as they will tell you the exact materials used in your upholstery, and they often also include specific cleaning instructions.

Once you know the exact materials you’re working with, don’t just use whichever cleaning products you have in your house. If you’re wanting to wash your upholstery yourself, you need to make sure the detergents you’re using are safe on the materials you’re working with, otherwise you may end up staining your furniture or stripping it of colour. Rather, you should research which products are safest for use on your upholstery’s material and then do a spot check just in case, that way any damage caused by cleaning products will be minimal and easily hidden (depending on where you did the check).

Something else to consider is that some materials should not be cleaned with solvent-based cleaners at all, and some materials you shouldn’t even touch with water. If this is the case, you should stick to just vacuuming your furniture and leave the deep cleans to the professionals.

The easiest way to achieve the best clean

For the most thorough upholstery cleaning, look no further than Cheap as Chips – our upholstery cleaning service is competitively priced, quality assured, and you can organise a clean today! After you’ve had your upholstered furniture cleaned, you should consider sealing those results with a Scotchgard treatment, which seals the fabric against future spills and stains and makes spot cleaning even easier. If you’re ready to give your furniture the clean it deserves (and needs), contact us!

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