Would you like to learn how to protect and maintain your fabric upholstery?
The argument in the upholstery market has always been between the choice of fabric and leather upholstery, based on the ease of cleaning. While both present considerable cleaning options, it is possible to keep a leather upholstery cleaner with less effort. With brushing and wiping, you can be sure to get rid of debris and liquid in good time.
When it comes to fabric, your options are narrowed down to removing and washing the cloth, as well as giving it a quick clean. The downside is that in the process, the stains might spread and that often results in damaging the cloth.
Our intention of writing this article is to help you choose the best method of maintaining and cleaning your fabric upholstery so as to protect it.
How to Maintain Your Fabric Upholstery
Let us start by talking about some maintenance measures you can take to keep the cloth clean. Top on the list is the vacuuming of the cloth to “draw out” the dirt and dust that lurk beneath and above the surface.
Other maintenance steps you can start taking are:
1. Be Specific About the Fabric Selection
One way to keep your fabric upholstery in good shape is to be specific about the one you purchase. Note that depending on the extent of usage, where it is used and what it is exposed, the cloth can get worn out quickly.
For example, it is best to buy a non-weave fabric if you have pets. This helps ensure that pet hair doesn’t get left behind after it is shed on the surface.
On the other hand, if your furniture is meant for the outdoor, go for the fabric made with synthetic fibers.
2. Dust Your Fabric Upholstery Regularly
Dusting the cloth can be done with a clean, dry cloth. You can also use your vacuum cleaner for the process.
Note that the vacuum cleaner might hurt the fabric’s lifespan. This is why it is important to go for the one that doesn’t have dedicated upholstery hand attachments. This way, you are sure that the bristles don’t scratch or snag the cloth’s surface.
3. Allow the Fabric to Sit before Replacing
Do not be in a hurry to replace or recover the furniture with the fabric upholstery after the cloth has been washed.
Allowing it to “sit” or dry properly is a sure way to prevent crease formation. Besides, it also helps prevent the stains in the furniture from getting dampened on the cloth.
4. Perform a Deep Cleanse on the Furniture
It is not only by washing and drying the fabric that you keep it clean. The furniture, where it is placed, can also increase the risks of getting it stained.
Once or twice in a month, use a fabric-friendly cleaning product to get rid of the light marks, and grime on the surface.
Related: How Many Yards of Upholstery Leather Does It Take to Re-cover a Sofa or Couch in Nigeria?
How to Clean Your Fabric Upholstery
Here are some tips on how to clean or keep the cloth cleaner or neater at all times:
1. Do the Basic Cleaning
The first cleaning method is to do the basics, which include drying, mopping and wiping the spills on the cloth’s surface.
Note that this must be done with a clean, dry white cloth. Sometimes, this method doesn’t bring the desired result, due to the fact that the stain has been on the surface for some time.
2. Use a Solution to Clean the Fabric
When the first method doesn’t work, it is time to activate the second. This method involves using either a solvent-based cleaner, a dedicated cleaning solution or follow the DIY process of using lukewarm water with the dry cloth to wipe the fabric’s surface.
3. Tackle the Stains Immediately
It doesn’t make sense to leave the stains or spills on the fabric’s surface when these happens. Due to the less porosity of the cloth, you would expect the stains or spills to go deeper and end up staining the fabric.
The best way to tackle this is by using a dry, clean white cloth to blot the spills immediately you notice them.
4. Consult an Upholstery Cleaner
Your fabric upholstery might just need dry-cleaning. This is the case in extreme cases where the cloth doesn’t respond to the blotting, wiping or brushing of the surface.
If the stains have gone deeper, it is time to call on the services of a professional upholstery dry-cleaning service provider.
Protective Measures for Your Fabric Upholstery
Cleaning and ensuring an overall maintenance of your cloth are two excellent ways to extend the lifespan. To extend it even further, here are some tips on how to protect the fabric upholstery:
1. Make a Periodic Shuffling of Your Furniture
Whether the fabric upholstery is used with sofa, chairs or any other furniture, the fact is that it comes off loose after an extended period of use.
It is no news that some pieces of furniture get used the most. The ideal thing to do is to shuffle, make a periodic turning over of these cushions or shuffling their positions. This way, the sofa that wasn’t used the most will be evenly used when its original position is changed.
2. Invest in Fabric-Cleaning Products
You can also use dedicated fabric-cleaning products to protect the upholstery from stains and dust. These products range from vacuum for sucking out the debris, cleaning roller for a quick, superficial cleaning and a lint brush for making a manual removal of pet hair.
You should also consider investing in fabric protector spray for furniture. It works by acting as a shield over the cloth’s surface. This also means that fighting stains is strengthened, as the upholstery protector repels both water-based stains and oil-based stains from taking a center position on the fabric’s surface.
Related: How to Identify an Original Upholstery Leather in Nigeria
Conclusion
To wrap up, we recommend following this sequence to keep your fabric upholstery in good shape;
- Blot away the spills immediately they happen.
- Make a regular cleaning of the fabric, using either lukewarm water or a solvent-based cleaner.
- Applying fabric protector spray for sofa to reduce the penetration of water and oil-based stains.
If the above methods don’t work, you might as well consider consulting a professional fabric upholstery cleaner to handle the cleaning and maintenance for you so as to protect it.
Would you like to purchase upholstery fabric, leather or tarpaulin? Contact any of the Nestken Masters’ offices in Lagos or Aba. Call: 08039388366