If Your Upholstery Could Scream It Would: Clean Me!

You Wouldn't Sleep On Sheets You Haven't Washed In 6 Months-- Right?

But I bet you keep lounging on furniture soaked in sweat, skin cells, body oils, hair, sunscreen, pet dander, and saliva? Add to that the biological surprises: leaky diapers, drool, potty-training mishaps, and yes—other unmentionables. Your upholstery quietly soaks up food and drink spills, allergens, bacteria, germs, airborne dust, fungi, chemical residues from fertilizers, pesticides, and street grime tracked in on clothes, shoes, and paws.

Speaking of paws, do you let your dogs or cats have free reign on your furniture as well? Well, that’s a whole other thing. Muddy paws, pet hair, oils from their coat all have impact on your upholstery too. But added to that is more contamination such as the bacteria that grows on cat saliva that is highly allergic to humans. Not to mention, a dog will drag its butt across carpet and upholstered fabrics to scratch the anal glands, depositing secretions on your poor fabrics.

Let’s be honest—your furniture hides the dirty secrets of daily life.

It’s true, upholstery fabrics are exposed to a lot of contamination! But at the same time the fabrics do a marvelous job of masking the soils. They have no choice. You purchased the piece—there the fabric sits. It’s a direct hit by everything gravity driven. And it’s a direct hit from everything pet or human. Furthermore, it is exposed right down to places where the sun don’t shine too…

But masterfully your upholstered fabrics, while they lay prey, they in fact do an admirable job of hiding what all they are exposed to. Sadly, if not a concerted effort on your part, the fabric might never get a good wash!

This reminds me of a call I got last fall:

A woman called me to schedule her sectional at her shore house to be cleaned. She said that while she loves her son in law dearly, and welcomes he and her daughter to be with them whenever they’d like, she does not like the fact that every morning after his jog, that he comes in and plops down in front of the tv, while cooling off. While I got what she was saying, and that she looked forward to getting it cleaned, I couldn’t help but expand on that very concept.

Sunscreen, sand, sweat, a little toe jam, and a whole lot more, that poor sectional and other pieces like it are probably dying for a bath!

That reminded me of a second scenario. While inspecting another well appointed home at the shore I saw a stunning sectional purposely positioned in front of a wall of windows facing the bay. It was a gorgeous view. Now that sectional was nearly white, and it clearly was a custom piece. But right next to it, along the side walls were a wine fridge, a beer meister and a daiquiri and margarita bar. I couldn’t help but think that the probability of that sectional being a direct hit from some overzealousness that those tasty libations might pose to that poor upholstery.

Your upholstery is not just decor, it's the heart of the home!

It’s what makes for a comfy gathering spot. But unlike your sheets or towels that get tossed in the laundry, your upholstery just sits there, completely vulnerable unless you make a concerted effort to clean it.

Is It Time to Clean Your Upholstery? Here’s How to Tell:
- Do the “Pillow Test” – Whack a cushion with a broom handle. See a dust cloud? Time to clean.
- Check Skin Contact Zones- Take a look at areas where people have dermal contact, the backs where your head or neck lays, on arm rests, or where hands grab. If you see areas like those they might be oily, discolored, or –yikes– even crusty! If so, it’s time to clean.
- Next, give it the “Sniff Test”–Smell the fabric, if it doesn’t smell fresh, then it needs attention!
- Got any biological boo-boos? Pet issues, potty training, vomit, drool, dog butt wipes, or worse? Biologicals breed germs and disease! For instance, urine, pet or human, breeds hepatitis!
- Visible stains or spills- obvious dirt, food or beverage spills, it’s time to clean!

If your upholstery needs some care, don’t risk it by removing the cushion covers!

You might be tempted, but you shouldn’t! You might have done it before, but you still shouldn’t. Or you might have listened to a friend who has done it, but again you shouldn’t! The reason those zippers are even there has nothing to do with the fact that you can remove the cushion covers for cleaning. They are solely there so you have the ability to replace the cushions themselves. Now not as much these days, but in year’s past people purchased upholstery with the idea they would have it for the long haul. But today’s trend is more that people treat upholstery as more of a ‘throw away” item. Gone are the days of pieces lasting generations. More so they are one, and done.

So why do I say don’t remove the pillow covers? Because the fabric removed from the cushioning can shrink, stretch or distort if put in the washer. They well could lose their dimensional stability and not go back on the cushion the way they were before you removed them. For the chance of saving a few bucks you could well ruin the entire thing by chancing to clean them that way!

Call us for professional cleaning, your upholsterys' life might just depend on it!

Proper and professional upholstery cleaning frankly is more complex than cleaning carpet. You can blast the carpet all day long with hardly a worry. But upholstery, it’s a whole different animal. In fact, a typical sofa might have parts made by as much as forty different manufacturers. Add to that the fact that fabrics are made and dyed from all over the world, with absolutely no standards or consistency.

So the cleaning of it if frankly more risky! What you don’t want is merely choosing an upholstery cleaner on price. Chances are the cheaper cleaners daring to clean your stuff might just lack experience. They might not be able to safely work with certain fabrics, and they may not have the insurance in place to protect your should they damage it while cleaning.

Bottom line is, working with us you get decades of experience in cleaning upholstery. From the simple to the complex, we have the tools, knowledge, experience and the methods to safely clean your upholstery!

To read more about upholstery and how to care for it click here… Visit our comprehensive carpet and interior textile care guide, it is jam packed full of great information!

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