professional upholstery cleaning

Top 7 Upholstery Cleaning Tips

Almost everyone can remember a time in their life — most likely in their childhood — where they were told they couldn’t eat or drink on the couch. As kids, it was annoying. All you wanted to do was enjoy some chips and watch your TV show!

But as adults, we understand the warning we were given. Your upholstery, whether it be couches, chairs or loveseats, are not only an investment but say a lot about your home.

You don’t want to sit on cheese marks from chips or see grape juice stains and spots everywhere. You certainly don’t want your guests seeing it either. 

But what happens if you have kids? Or pets? Or you just have an accident yourself and need it cleaned ASAP? 

The cleaning professionals at Cimara Cleaning have you covered. With these 10 upholstery cleaning tips, the process of cleaning your upholstery will be easy and as stress-free as possible. 

1. Check Your Labels

It’s easy for people to assume that every piece of furniture is the same. It’s all fabric so just splash together a solution and you’re good to go. 

However, those people would be wrong. There’s actually a guide on your upholstery’s label that shows you what cleaner is recommended and it’s the perfect way to know how to clean the specific type of upholstery that you have. 

The code goes as follows: 

  • W = Water Based Cleaning Solutions
  • S = Solvent Based Cleaning Solutions
  • WS = Water or Solvent Based Cleaning Solutions
  • X = Professional Cleaning Required

It’s always better to hire professional cleaners, especially if you don’t have a label to go off of or can’t find the information online. However, if you do have a label you can then tailor your cleaning techniques to fit the proper recommendation. 

2. Vacuuming is Your Friend

The first step before you do any cleaning should be vacuuming your upholstery. Your vacuum has a lot of tools that can be helpful in getting into tight spots such as the crevice tool. 

The best way to vacuum is to start out with a general sweeping tool connected to the hose that can do large sections. Then switch to smaller, specialized tools to get up as much dirt and particles as possible, especially food. 

This is a super important step in your upholstery cleaning process. If you don’t vacuum up crumbs or dirt, then when they get wet they can sink into your fabric more, causing more of a mess. It can even lead to unsavory smells. 

3. Always Test Your Solutions

We understand the desire to dump your cleaning solution all over your dirty couch and get to scrubbing. But that would be a mistake. 

You should always, always check your cleaning solutions on an inconspicuous spot before using them all over your furniture piece, even if you followed the code from the upholstery guide. This will allow you to make sure that the solution you’re using doesn’t make matters worse by staining your couch in ways you can’t fix. 

Also, be sure to use your solution only on the fabric area. If it gets onto the legs or other non-fabric parts of your couch it can ruin them. 

4. Dish Detergent and Baby Wipes Can Be Helpful

As crazy as it sounds, there’s a reason why dish soap and baby wipes are used by parents everywhere, all the time. With just a bit of water and dish soap, you can sometimes blot out light stains from your couch and allow it to air dry. 

Baby wipes can have the same use. Thanks to their light mix of water and soap, it can be a great tool for quick cleaning, especially in places like the car. However, you should always test these first too. 

5. Clean Stains Immediately 

The best way to save yourself time and frustration is to clean stains at the moment they happen. It’s just like with clothes, the quicker you handle the stain, the less of a chance it has to set in. 

When trying to get up a stain quickly, make sure to dab and blot, not scrub. Scrubbing can make dark stains worse and can push them deeper into the fabric. 

Try a little bit of water and detergent to start. If that doesn’t work, you can go a little heavier on the cleaner the next day and use the recommended solutions. 

6. Go Easy on the Water

Although you may need water to clean your upholstery, you don’t want to overdo it. By overusing water on your fabric, it can make it smell and cause other dirt, such as oils and foods, to sink deep into your fabric and start to smell. 

The best way to avoid this kind of mistake is to find pre-made upholstery solutions and follow the direction exactly. This ensures your fabric is cleaned as thoroughly as possible. 

7. Make it a Weekly Chore

Out of all of our upholstery cleaning tips, this one is the most important: do your upholstery cleaning regularly. The more consistent you are with cleaning your furniture, the easier it will be to clean and maintain. 

To keep smells at bay, try sprinkling bicarbonate of soda over your fabric and leave it overnight to get rid of them. This will make your furniture smell better and last longer. 

Hire Expert Help 

Let’s be honest, knowing how to clean upholstery at home can be a hassle. That’s why instead of trying to do it yourself, we recommend hiring a professional upholstery cleaning service to take care of your upholstery cleaning needs, like the service we offer at Cimara Cleaning. 

Our services come highly recommended by our clients because it’s clear they’re created with customers like you in mind. Not only do we clean your space, we do things to maintain it and make your life easier. 

For example, with our upholstery service, we’ll deep clean your fabric by using the necessary solutions and vacuuming it all up. It’s a type of hot water extraction. We’ll then apply fabric protectors to help your upholstery maintain its beauty. 

We’re always here to answer your questions and set up a cleaning service that fits your schedule and budget. 

Request A Quote

Cimara Cleaning is excited to offer its upholstery cleaning service to the following areas

Reach out to us today for a free quote so you can get one step closer to cleaner, healthier upholstery in your home.