Considering
the extra traffic your furniture has been going through in the cold
months with most of the people staying home, watching TV or playing
board games, it is not very surprising that you are searching for
some home and upholstery cleaning tips. With a few practical advices
and a little effort, cleaning your upholstered sofa and armchairs
wouldn’t be difficult.

Cleaning
upholstery is part of regular housekeeping chores. Before the actual
cleaning of your upholstered furniture, you have to prepare the area
using these actual pre-cleaning actions to make the overall cleaning
easier.

You
will need to use some water to clean the furniture. But unfortunately
there are some fabrics sensitive to moisture. Check the label of your
sofa or armchair and make sure you know what type of fabric or fabric
blend you are dealing with. Some manufacturers add cleaning
guidelines on the label as well. Some of the most common water
sensitive fabrics and blends of fabrics used as upholstery material
are silk, wool, cotton and velvet. These fabrics shrink easily and
can be discoloured by use of water. This is why the biggest mistake
one can do cleaning their upholstery is to use too much water. To
avoid any damages, fill a spray container which has a mist option
about halfway with water. You should also avoid using rags and cloths
saturated in water and a cleaning solution. Always test on a hidden
area with just a couple of drops of cool water to check if the fabric
is colour fast, and to see how long it will take to dry. Too much
water used during cleaning can cause too long drying time. Upholstery
left wet can give a musty odour and may turn into mold after a while
complicating rather than solving the problem you are trying to get
rid of.

After
you have made a test to see if the upholstery reacts well to
moisture, choose mild upholstery or fabric cleaner.

It’s
good to try to dry your upholstery completely within 24 hours. The
best you can do is to clean your furniture in warm day and leave it
air dry with the windows wide open to let the air circulate freely.
If this is impossible, following these steps to speed up the drying
process: