Upholstery Cleaning
So you have decided not to heed the advice on the label of your favorite chair
saying ‘professional clean only’. You are a brave soul, and of course you are
looking to save some money and hassle.
It actually isn’t that hard to clean your own upholstery, you should just know
what to look out for and have some time saving tips.
Moisture Is Your Worst Enemy
Although it may seem like the more wet you wet your upholstery the easier
it will be to eliminate stains, this is not the case. Water will destroy the
fabric. Try to use a powerful stain remover before you go at the fabric with
water. The faster the stain comes out, the faster you can soak up the water
and the less risk you will expose your upholstery to.
When you do extract the water try and get as much of it out as you possible
can.
Synthetics
Synthetic fibers are made to be easily cleaned, so if that is the case you
have very little to fear. What you should watch out for is natural/synthetic
blends. If your fabric has more than 50% cotton you should be wary. Also,
if the cotton is an imported blend I would have it professionally cleaned.
These cottons are often more delicate than American ones.
Baby-Wipes
This may seem counter intuitive, but baby wipes are a great way to clean
some upholstery. There isn’t too much water and soap involved and the alcohol
in the wipes ensures that it evaporates quickly. Just think about it, if they
can get the stains off of your baby’s butt without harm, it can surely do
the same for upholstery.
Spray and Wipe
Unless the stains are really bad, you might want to consider an upholstery
spray. These are quite inexpensive (usually no more than $5) and they work
quite well. Use caution though, they work better on small organic stains.
If you are trying to remove grease or oil in large patches, a spray will not
work.
Know Thy Fabric
As was mentioned before, synthetic materials are easy to clean. If your
chair or sofa is an expensive one, there is probably a lot of organic material
inside. Therefore you should spend the money to have it professionally cleaned.
It is worth the investment.
