Upholstered furniture looks great but can be a nightmare to clean. The dust and stains that gather on it over time can affect its appearance result in deterioration of the fibers as well.In addition to that, dust mites can begin to build colonies which can lead to allergies and affect the health of your family.
Aside from this, it’s never pleasant to use soiled or dusty furniture and this means you need to use good upholstery cleaner products regularly to make sure all your furniture is pristine.The same goes for mattresses in your home and dusty and dirty mattresses can harbor dust mites and bed bugs as well. Here are some tips for cleaning upholstered furniture and mattresses:
- Vacuum
It’s important to vacuum upholstery and mattresses regularly. This helps prevent crumbs and dust from settling into the creases in the fabric. Old stains can also be faded by simple vacuuming and this is the first thing you should do while cleaning any upholstery. Once all the loose particles have been effectively sucked by the vacuum, you would be able to see exactly how bad the stain is, and can decide whether you need to hire a professional upholstery cleaner for the job.
- Assess
Inspect the furniture for cleaning codes;this will give you a better idea about how best to deal with the stains. While some of the pieces can easily be cleaned with water, others may have to be cleaned with specialized upholstery cleaner solutions.If your furniture doesn’t have a cleaning code, which may be the case with antique and vintage pieces that have undergone modification over the years, you can conduct a simple spot test on a patch of upholstery that’s hidden from sight. Test water, vinegar and vodka, as these are great cleaning choices, before you try any chemical upholstery cleaner.
- Steam
Using a steam cleaner is one of the best ways to loosen stubborn stains on upholstered furniture. If you don’t have a steam cleaner , use your steam iron for the purpose; you will also be able to easily access the smaller areas of the furniture to get to the stains there, with it.
- Clean
Upholstery cleaning will have to be done in phases:
- If the stain isn’t very stubborn, a simple soap and water solution should do the trick. Use a wrung out sponge to blot the stain with this soap mixture but do not rub at the stain as that can pill and weaken the fabric. Rinse out the sponge and use only plain water to blot out the soap mixture. Press the area dry with paper towels or a cloth. If the furniture can’t be cleaned with water, try using vodka or use vinegar on a cloth to blot out the stains.
- If this isn’t effective in cleaning out the stain, you would have to use an upholstery cleaner. Test it first in a discreet place on the upholstery. Depending on which stain you are trying to clean, you can buy a specialized wine cleaner or something that will help clean tough stains.
- If this too doesn’t do the trick, you should attempt going through the same process all over again and sometimes that can help remove severe stains.
Even after all these efforts, if the stains on your upholstered furniture or mattress do not leave, call on professional cleaners, like the ones at Royal Cleaning. We are one of the leading companies the industry and can provide excellent upholstery cleaner solutions. Please contact us on the numbers or the online form on this page.