Furniture Cleaning- Tips for DIY Cleaning and Care of Upholstered Furniture

If you want your upholstered furniture to be clean, look new, and to last a long time, then you definitely need to take the time to take care of it. A dirty home is one that is not cared for and one that can make the inhabitants of a home not only depressed but also sick. If you want to make the most of your furniture investments, then you have to not only vacuum the floors and clean up spills but also need to clean your furniture, even the upholstered items. This way, you will know that you have removed all dust, dirt, and debris from the furniture and that it will last for quite some time. The following furniture cleaning tips will help you keep your home look bright, welcoming, and clean.

One of the first things you should do when cleaning upholstered furniture is to remove all loose cushions. Doing this will make it easier to clean all pieces of the furniture, and it will ensure that you have done a thorough job.

Next, you want to make sure that you have a dusting brush to help you remove all dust from the furniture. Make sure to dust not only on the surface of the item but also on all sides of the cushions, down into crevices and on the back and underside of the furniture This item will help you remove dust from all surfaces of any piece of furniture.

For the next step, you will need a vacuum, either a handheld vacuum or an upright vacuum that comes with a number of attachments. You want to vacuum the arms, underside, skirt, back, and any other piece or section of the furniture. Once you have done this, you will then want to vacuum all sides of the cushions and then replace the cushions.

Now that you have removed the dust from the upholstered furniture, you now will need to actually clean the item. To do this, you need to use a cleaning solution of upholstery shampoo with warm water. You want to use upholstery shampoo instead of laundry detergent or dish detergent because some detergents have very harsh cleaning agents that will affect the color and appearance of your furniture. Thus, always test the solution on a small piece of the back- or underside of the item. Most upholstery shampoos are safe with most pieces of upholstered furniture. If your solution does affect the upholstery, then you may have to have the item professionally cleaned. This is common for antique pieces of upholstered furniture.

You will now want to rub the detergent solution into the fabric. You can use a washcloth or an old piece of clothing or fabric. In time, you will see dirt appear. Once you see dirt, you will want to scrape this away. The best way to do this is to scrape the dirt and the suds into another container. This way, you can be sure to scrape away all of the dirt. Once an area no longer has dirt coming up, be sure to rinse the fabric with a different damp cloth and to begin work on another piece of the furniture. You should repeat this process until the whole item has been cleaned in overlapping sections. This way, you can be sure that you definitely got out all of the dirt.

Once you have dusted and cleaned the upholstered furniture, it is time to allow the item to dry overnight. You may even want to have a fan blowing on the item to speed up the process. No one should try to sit on the furniture while it dries.

If you follow the above steps, you can be sure to have decades-old upholstered furniture that looks as if you just bought it yesterday. Proper care and cleaning of furniture ensures that you get your money's worth on your investment and that your home looks as warm and as inviting as possible.