Knowing how to wash your home upholstery is fundamental to keeping your home clean and in good condition. Can you imagine spilling a cup of wine or coffee on your sofa upholstery and not knowing how to clean it?
Stains are common in everyday upholstery. Therefore, keeping furniture in perfect condition is not always easy. In addition, washing your upholstery should also become a regular part of your life – it’s the only way to keep it in good condition!
Some fabrics can be washed in the washing machine, so you can remove the cushion covers and wash them in your home washing machine. Other fabrics can be cleaned with solutions recommended by the furniture manufacturer.
Before you wash your upholstery, you should always check the label to see how you can best wash it. If you don’t do this, you could make a mistake and use the wrong way of washing and ruin the upholstery. There are even companies that indicate that it is better to contact a professional for the washing.
In the latter case, you should contact a professional directly before trying to clean it yourself, so that you spoil it and there is no other choice but to change the entire upholstery.
Cleaning frequency
Upholstery cleaning, including washing the fabric, is a job that can vary in frequency. In an ideal world, you would vacuum upholstered furniture once a week and do a complete cleaning once a month.
If you’d rather have your upholstery cleaned professionally, consider hiring a certified cleaning technician every one to two years. Otherwise, you can follow the steps below to clean the upholstery yourself.
Removing Pet Hair
You’ll need to put on a pair of rubber gloves and run them through the upholstery to remove the pet’s hair so it can be vacuumed more easily.
Vacuuming upholstery
Use the upholstery attachment on your vacuum cleaner, moving it from left to right in short, overlapping lines. Switch to the corner nozzle and vacuum between the seams and under the cushions.
Treating stains
Attack stains with the appropriate water-based or solvent-based cleaner. Let the cleaner sink and then dry it with a microfiber cloth. Do not rub the stain, as the action may push the stain further into the upholstery or damage the fabric.
Also read: How To Clean A Shag Rug – 18 Easy Ways To Clean Your Rug…
Washing upholstery
Combine half a teaspoon of clear dish soap and warm water in a small bucket, foaming the mixture to create a lather. Dip an upholstery brush into the lather and gently brush through the upholstery. Do not wet the fabric. Finish the job by wiping the fabric with a clean, damp cloth. Before sitting on the upholstered furniture, let it dry completely.
Washing upholstery in a machine
Removable upholstery covers must pass two tests to ensure that they can be washed in a washing machine: First, the fabric must be pre-shrunk, second, it must be a fabric that does not fade.
If the upholstery is not pre-shrunk, washing it in the washing machine will shrink the fabric and make it difficult or impossible to replace the cushion covers or sofas. That makes your existing furniture almost useless unless you buy new covers. The manufacturer’s label should indicate whether the fabric is pre-shrunk or not.
To check if the upholstery is not fading, take a damp white cloth and rub it over the upholstered surface. If the color comes off the cloth, the upholstery may not be colorfast and should be cleaned by a professional.
When washing, avoid warm or hot water, as cold water is gentler on fabrics. Use the gentle cycle for the first wash to give it the least amount of aggression. Check how the fabric holds up in the wash cycle to see if it’s strong enough for future washes.
Drying upholstery fabric is equally important and requires careful instruction. Do not put a cover in the dryer because it could shrink or fade, even if it is washed thoroughly.
It is better to put it in the dryer or air dry it, but without shrinking it. Take it out before it’s completely dry, so don’t put it through a long cycle (in the dryer). Allow the cushion fabrics to air dry, for example.
Removing stains from upholstery
Some stains are more difficult to remove than other upholstered furniture, but start by treating the stains with a water- or solvent-based cleaner, depending on the furniture’s cleaning code. Dry the stain with a microfiber cloth and if necessary with a cool air dryer.
Remember that when in doubt, always have a professional clean or reupholster your furniture.
Translated and adapted by Noobuzz staff.
Sources: Facilisimo
