How to Care for Furniture Upholstery

The best thing about maintaining upholstered furniture is that it’s easy to do and it doesn’t take much time. Upholstered furniture is covered by soft, padded textile, leather, vinyl, or similar covering, such as couches, sofas, and armchairs.

With proper care, you can keep your upholstered furniture looking good while they add enjoyment to your home. Although families with young children and house pets often have extra work to maintain their upholstered furniture, in particular, the added care is worth the effort.

Understanding the basics of fabrics and how to clean them lends to helpful advice when purchasing and taking care of your upholstered furniture.

Furniture Upholstery Care Basics

1. Choose the Right Fabric

Choosing the right fabric will make your upholstery maintenance task easier. Not only that, but choosing fabric that is appropriate for your lifestyle and can extend the furniture’s life.

Fabrics made with synthetic fibers are a great choice for upholstered furniture that sits in areas of heavy use. If you have young children or pets, choose fabrics that do not have loose weaves or too much texture.

2. Protect Your Fabric

The best form of fabric protection is prompt attention to spills or avoiding spilling accidents from occurring. Your upholstery fabric undergoes the finishing process at the factory, where it is usually treated with soil and water repellents.

Additionally, fabric protectors may also be applied to your upholstered furniture. While this helps with maintenance and maintenance by keeping spills from being absorbed into the upholstery fibers, it is not a substitute for prompt cleaning of the soiled pieces.

Always clean up any spills or stains promptly and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for proper care methods.

3. Turn the Cushions

You can extend your upholstered furniture’s life by periodically turning over the loose cushions. This is an easy maintenance method to allow for even distribution of wear and tear. Your cushions won’t develop indentations right away, and their condition will last longer.

Care for your cushions by fluffing them after you’ve cleaned them to help keep them in better shape. You can also change the cushions around from one part to the other and turn them over.

Some seats get more usage than others, so changing the cushions around will ensure even usage.

4. Spot Clean Your Upholstered Furniture

While regular care does a lot of the maintenance of your upholstered furniture, accidents will happen. Blot any spills or stains immediately with a clean, folded towel.

Never rub a stain, but blot it gently to soak it into the towel. This is sometimes enough to eliminate the stain, especially if the fabric has been pretreated with a fabric protector.

For cleaning the fabric, check the manufacturer’s instructions to see if you need a water-based or solvent-based cleaner. Use mild cleaning products to avoid damaging the fabric.

Apply the cleaning product with a soft brush and scrub in a circular motion to work into the fibers, and then vacuum dry.

5. Vacuum Your Upholstered Furniture Regularly

Vacuum your upholstered furniture every week to remove surface soil. This will help prevent dust, dirt, and stains from embedding into the fibers of the upholstered pieces and keeps them looking new. Use a soft bristle brush to keep your upholstered furniture clean.

Frequent vacuuming is the best way to clean and maintain your upholstered furniture. Here are a few tips on vacuuming your upholstered furniture :

  • Check for loose buttons and threads, weak spots in the fabric, or debris that could clog the vacuum.
  • Clip threads and repair or tighten buttons before vacuuming.
  • Use the soft brush attachment on the vacuum. Be sure to keep it clean and free of oily residue. You can also buy two of these attachments and label one for use only with upholstery
  • Use a crevice tool for corners and tight spots.

6. Following Cleaning Methods

Pre-treat your upholstered furniture with a recommended fabric protector. When you use a product to spot clean, use the cleaner on an inconspicuous area before treating the affected area. While some products are water-based, other cleaners are solvent-based.

Look at the tags on your furniture and follow the manufacturer’s directions to use the correct product. You may decide to protect your furniture by using a professional furniture cleaning service.

Choosing Upholstered Furniture

Johnston Casuals offers a huge selection of high-quality upholstered furniture collections for living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms. We handcraft all of our beautiful contemporary furniture pieces at our North Wilkesboro, NC factory.

Our furniture designers can assist you with upholstered furniture advice and furniture design choices. Visit our website to browse through our furniture catalogs or contact us.

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