Fight the Wear and Tear on Your Upholstery
It can literally ruin your day in the blink of an eye. There you are, having a nice glass of wine or feeding junior on your living room couch when one slight movement or errant hiccup can leave a huge and unsightly stain on the upholstery. Even without a catastrophic accident like this, a living room couch can see a lot of wear and tear from everyday use, as well as the depositing of everything from dust to crumbs to cobwebs to pet fur, to name a few. Cleaning your couch should be a routine, not only to protect its condition but to free your house of allergens. Here are some tried, tested and true techniques for cleaning your upholstery.
How to Clean Upholstery
To ensure your couch’s upholstery is clean, just follow these simple steps:
1. Vacuum
The first thing you’ll want to do in order to get your upholstery as clean as possible is to vacuum your couch thoroughly. To do so, you’ll have to find and use the textile tool and wand attachments for your vacuum cleaner. This will allow you to get all the dust, crumbs, and pet hair from the crevices of your couch with ease. As well, you’ll have to push back and remove all the cushions from their place to be as thorough as possible.
2. Clean Non-Fabrics
Many couches are not just made of fabric and have wood, metal, or plastic parts that serve as armrests, feet, or decorative pieces. These need to be cleaned as well, not only for aesthetics but to reduce the amount of contact the upholstery receives with potentially harmful substances. For simple cleanliness, you can use a soft rag with warm water and perhaps a few drops of liquid dish detergent. If you want a more specialized clean or polish, you can buy material-specific cleaners and polishes from places like C&M Textiles.
3. Remove Unwanted Stains
Finding an unwanted stain on your upholstery can be a cause for concern. Chances are you may have bought a set of specialized cleansers with your couch, but if you didn’t, there’s no need to fret, a host of modern fabric cleaners can remove any stain with relative ease. Of course, you’ll have to check your couch’s fabric care code to see what cleaners would be best suited for upholstery fabric. Alternatively, there are some homemade solutions you can use to remove stains effectively as well.
4. Lather Up
If your upholstery contains the code W or WS, it’s clear for a good suds-ing. Using a few drops of liquid dish soap in a bowl of warm water, you can use an upholstery brush to lightly lather the surface of your couch. Once you’ve given the couch a thorough clean, you can use a clean damp cloth to wipe it down. An important note – do not go overboard with the soap, as it may be difficult to remove and may require multiple turns with a clean damp cloth to remove!
5. Live and Let Dry
Now that the work is done, you can let your couch dry before you sit down to watch Netflix.
You can also contact C&M Textiles to replenish your cleansers or consult on other reupholstery fabrics!