How to wash the upholstery fabric

Knowing how to wash your home upholstery is essential to keep your home clean and in good condition. Can you imagine spilling a cup of wine or coffee on the sofa upholstery and not knowing how to clean it?

Stains are common in everyday upholstery. Therefore, keeping furniture in perfect condition is not always an easy task. In addition, lavar the upholstery must also become a regular part of life… Only then will you be able to keep it in good shape!

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Some fabrics are machine washable, so you can remove the cushion covers and wash them in your home washing machine. Other fabrics can be cleaned with the recommended solutions 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. Even some companies 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 on your own. there’s no 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 the upholstered furniture once a week and do a complete cleaning once a month… But this is not reality.

If you prefer to have your upholstery professionally cleaned, 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 have to put on a pair of rubber gloves and run them through the upholstery to remove the pet’s hair and so I can suck it up more easily.

Vacuuming the upholstery

Use the upholstery accessory 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 the stains

Attack stains with the appropriate water or solvent-based cleaner. Let the cleaner sink in 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.

Washing the 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. Don’t wet the cloth. Finish the job by wiping the cloth with a clean, damp cloth. Before sitting down on the upholstered furniture, let it dry completely.

Washing upholstery in a machine

Removable upholstery covers must pass two tests to ensure they can be washed in a washing machine: First, the fabric must be pre-shrunk; secondly, 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 on the upholstered surface. If the color comes off the cloth, the upholstery is probably not colorfast and the furniture should be cleaned by a professional.

When washing, avoid warm or hot water, as cold water is softer for fabrics. Use the gentle cycle for the first wash to give it the least amount of aggression. Check how the fabric is held in the wash cycle to know if it’s strong enough for future washings.

Drying the upholstery fabric is equally important and requires careful instruction. Do not put a sleeve in the dryer because it could shrink or fade, even if it is washed thoroughly.

It’s 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). Let the cushion fabrics 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 cold air dryer.

Remember that if you have any doubts, always go to a professional to have your furniture cleaned or reupholstered.

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