Upholstery cleaning is an aspect of cleaning that many people are unfamiliar with and they often have a variety of questions about upholstery cleaning. Cleaning your upholstery is very important, and it is essential that you realize this and have your upholstery cleaned for a variety of reasons. The following are the answers to a variety of upholstery cleaning questions that can help you understand the importance of upholstery cleaning.
Why Should I Have My Upholstery Cleaned?
The number one reason that you should make sure that you have upholstery cleaning done on a regular basis is to make sure that you have clean air in your home. While you might think that the reasons are to make the furniture look great, or to improve the life of your furniture, those are basically added benefits to the most important reason. Air quality is very important in your home, and upholstery cleaning can help you keep the air at its best. Dust and bacteria can get trapped in your upholstery on chairs, couches, and other furniture and cause breathing and allergy problems. Having it cleaned can improve the air and help decrease allergies and other breathing problems that your family may have.
How Often Should Upholstery Cleaning Be Done?
Unfortunately, some people actually never bother to have upholstery cleaning done. But you should actually have upholstery cleaning done on your furniture every two years as a minimum. Every year is great, but at least have it cleaned every two years. Just starting to have upholstery cleaning done every two years can reduce the problems with the air quality in your home.
Common Cleaning Steps:
While it is virtually impossible for the new look to continue indefinitely, what is definitely within your purview as a home owner is to think in terms of regular upholstery cleaning, either DIY or by hiring a specialized service provider. Irrespective of whether you undertake the task or hire professional upholstery cleaning service, certain steps that remain common are –
Vacuum Cleaning
Vacuum cleaning always forms the first step of any upholstery cleaning procedure and it entails running the vacuum cleaner all over the fabric, including cracks, crevices and cushion.
One fine day you might just look at the sofa or couch and realize that it appears too dull and faded. This is attributed to the layer of dust that might have settled over the days or dirt that might have accumulated due to a multitude of factors like children, pets, guests and so on. The purpose of vacuum cleaning is to remove as much dust, grime, and pet’s hair without having to wet the surface so that these contaminants do not dissolve in water and sink further into the fabric.
Spot Cleaning
Given that your upholstery is a catch basin for variety of spills and droppings, spot cleaning forms an important part of the upholstery cleaning procedure and entails dealing with individual stains one by one.
A useful DIY tip in this regard recommends that a fresh spill should be immediately blotted by a white cloth so that much of the liquid is absorbed before it soaks into the fabric of the upholstery. Most people make the mistake of scrubbing or rubbing the stain with a wet cloth which would not just cause it to spread but also penetrate deeper into the fibers of the upholstery.
Blotting is a crucial part of upholstery cleaning because it limits the stain to a particular area wherein it can either be treated by the home owner or removed by a professional cleaner through application of an appropriate cleaning agent.
Identifying Cleaning Agent for Cleaning Upholstery
Choice of cleaning agent depends on two main factors, first among which is the type of fabric of the upholstery.
Decoding the fabric of the upholstery is probably the most seminal step in upholstery cleaning since not only does the choice of cleaning agent depend on it but also the cleaning technique to be applied. Fabric could vary from cotton and wool to silk, rayon, acrylic and leather and each would need to be handled in a different way owing to its unique characteristics. For example, the cleaning agent and technique that you use for cleaning cotton upholstery would be different from the way in which leather upholstery would be handled.
Usually reputed and reliable upholstery cleaning Williamstown service providers are aware of the difference between fabrics courtesy of their training and know-how to handle the situation. A home owner, in comparison, may not be as well-informed and must make it a point to explore this aspect before taking any step. To this effect, tags can prove to be extremely informative as regards the dos’ and don’ts pertaining to the upholstery fabric and should be treated by every home owner as a valuable guideline.
Stain Removal
Another factor that determines which cleaning agent should be used is the nature of the stain. Like upholstery, stains are also of different types and mainly categorized based on their source, for example food, drinks, oil, grease, urine and so on. Since each would require a different cleaning agent, the onus is on the individual – professional or home owner – to decode how to handle it best.
Not only should the cleaning agent be effective in extracting particles of dirt and grime from between the fibers but it should also not have any negative impact on the environment.
Important Facts of Upholstery Cleaning
- If possible, upholstery should be shielded from receiving the direct rays of the sun since it could cause fading and discoloration, thus spoiling the entire look.
- While using candles, you must make it a point to keep them away from your upholstery so as to prevent wax from dripping on to the fabric.
- Spraying your upholstery with a protector would enable you to maintain a clean and fresh look not to mention shield your upholstery from stains.
- It is advisable not to use too much water while cleaning upholstery since it would cause the fabric to remain wet for a prolonged duration and render it susceptible to growth of microbes, mold and mildew.
- After cleaning upholstery, it is important to ventilate the room well by switching on fans and opening windows so that the drying up process is short and efficient.
