Secrets of proper cleaning of upholstered furniture and leather sofas

Upholstered furniture is an important element of your interior. It has a functional use and is a decoration of your flat or house. Intensive use of your sofa or armchair often leads to contamination with grease, sauces, drinks, and other substances that spoil the upholstery of your furniture. In ordinary supermarkets you can find products that promise complete cleaning of furniture from various contaminants, but you should not rush to use these products before reading this article.

Self-cleaning fabric stains on a sofa or armchair

Cleaning stains from upholstered or leather furniture using products from the regular supermarket may be convenient, but it comes with some risks. Your furniture may be made of different types of fabric or different types of leather. Here are some common mistakes people make when trying to clean stains on their own:

Use of improper cleaning agents

Many supermarket all-purpose cleaners contain harsh chemicals that can damage upholstery fabrics. - Products containing bleach, ammonia or strong detergents can cause discolouration, fading or weakening of the fabric fibres. The purpose of such products is to get a quick visible effect, but after these products dry they leave stains. Frequent use of such products destroys the structure of the fabric and your furniture will quickly cease to look new.

Cleaning too intensively

When you do your own furniture cleaning, you feel like you have to use force and such washing can drive the stain deeper into the fabric or spread it over a larger area. - It can also damage the fibres of the fabric, causing them to fray or crease. Using force to clean fabrics or leather is unacceptable and a grave mistake. This is especially true for fabrics or leathers where non-resistant dyes are used. You clean one stain but another stain forms instead, it is a vicious circle.

Excessive wetting of the fabric with detergents

Too much water or cleaning agent can oversaturate the fabric, causing it to take a long time to dry. Over-watering can also lead to water stains or the growth of mould and mildew on the upholstery. Chemicals from the supermarket that have got inside your sofa will evaporate under the heat and poison you for months. Trying to dry a wet stain with a hairdryer will dry out the fabric and weaken the threads.

Have you read the label, test on an inconspicuous area of the furniture first?

Manufacturers of common "clean any sofa in 5 minutes" household cleaning products often warn you to test the performance of their product on a small, inconspicuous area of the furniture before cleaning. Failure to test the cleaner on an inconspicuous area could result in unexpected damage or discolouration of the fabric. If you do decide to take the risk of cleaning your furniture yourself, always test the product on a small, inconspicuous area first to make sure it won't cause any negative effects.

The wrong way to remove stains from your furniture

Rather than rubbing or scrubbing stains, they should be gently blotted with a clean cloth or paper towel to absorb as much of the stain as possible. - Rubbing can spread the stain and damage the fibres of the fabric. Some stains, especially those such as ink, oil or blood, require specialised cleaning and are classified as stubborn stains. It is best to start removing such stains before they have had time to dry on the fabric, but more often than not you try to remove these stains when they have dried and trying to remove such stains leads to a bigger problem.

Self-cleaning stains from a leather sofa or armchair

Leather furniture emphasises the style and luxury of your interior, even if your sofas and armchairs are made of artificial leather rather than natural leather. Leather furniture requires regular and proper care. Quite often it is very easy to spoil leather furniture by trying to clean stains from it yourself.

First mistake is the use of harsh cleaning agents: Many common household cleaners are too harsh for cocooning and can cause the leather to dry out, cracking of the leather or loss of natural oils. - Products containing alcohol, ammonia or bleach should be avoided. But unfortunately, despite the promises made by the manufacturers of conventional cleansers, there are always such substances in the composition of their products.

Second mistake when there is no regular maintenance of the furniture. Leather furniture requires regular maintenance to keep it supple and prevent the leather from drying out. Very often you will see leather cracking and deteriorating, but with proper care your leather furniture can last many times longer.

Third mistake is the use of abrasive materials and excessive force is harmful to the skin. Cleaning leather with abrasive materials such as rough sponges or brushes can scratch or damage the surface. Believe me it is very easy to do this no matter how tough the leather surface looks. If you decide to do a light cleaning of the leather yourself you should use soft cloths or brushes specially designed for leather.

Fourth mistake you don't know exactly what kind of leather and what kind of dye is on the leather of your sofa. Important! Different types of leather require different methods of care, this is logical. You may have received cleaning instructions from the manufacturer when you bought your leather furniture, but you do not follow these instructions.

Fifth mistake is to refuse professional help in cleaning your leather coverings. Severe soiling or significant damage to your leather furniture may require professional cleaning and restoration. - Attempting to deal with these problems without the proper knowledge and equipment can exacerbate the damage. It doesn't matter if it's faux leather furniture from a regular furniture shop or custom made genuine leather furniture. It is best and most correct to entrust such work to professionals.

An important note for you! If the stain is extensive, the fabric is delicate or the leather furniture is valuable, it is better to contact professionals, so as not to aggravate the problem, agree it is not logical to give a huge amount of money for leather interior and at the same time save 50 euros on professional cleaning of leather furniture.

How do our professionals in Kilkenny work?

The main rule of a professional company is to follow a systematic approach to effective cleaning of sofas and other upholstered furniture. In our reviews and articles, we repeatedly prove that it is better to carry out regular cleaning and regular maintenance. This allows you to get the best cleaning results, and keep your upholstered furniture or leather furniture looking its best. Let's take a look at the technology of the job using the example of professional company Magical Cleaning from Kilkenny.

Preliminary inspection of your furniture

Our employee will inspect the sofa to identify specific stains, fabric type and areas that need special attention. This will help determine the appropriate cleaning method. This is an important stage of the job that affects the final result. Our professionals have all the necessary knowledge to do this.

Pre-treatment of surfaces

As we told you earlier, cleaning always takes several stages, which is a dramatic difference from cleaning on your own with "all-purpose" products from the supermarket. A specialist can pre-treat visible stains and heavily soiled areas with a suitable upholstery cleaner. This pre-treatment helps to loosen dirt and stains so that they are easier to remove during the cleaning process. Our specialist does not rush into anything, it is important to allow the impregnation to better grab the dirt and soften the fabric, to penetrate into the structure of the leather covering.

Different methods for basic cleaning of fabrics or leather coverings

Hot water extraction (steam cleaning), this method is one of the most common for deep cleaning upholstered furniture. A specialised upholstery cleaning machine is used, often a portable extractor or a system installed inside our specialised van.

Hot water mixed with a cleaning solution is injected into the fabric under high pressure. The mixture is then immediately drawn out along with loosened dirt and contaminants, leaving the fabric clean and relatively dry.

The cleaning solution used will vary depending on the type of fabric and the degree of soiling. It can be a mild detergent, upholstery shampoo or a specialised upholstery cleaning solution. It is the analogue of a "hoover", but in this case the right attachments and the skills of the technician play a role.

Moisture extraction and drying of the fabric:

After cleaning, the specialist will carefully remove as much moisture as possible from the fabric. Fans or specialised hair dryers may be used to speed up the drying process. In some cases, the technician may use a specialised upholstery drying tool to ensure quick drying and prevent over-wetting. Drying the fabric is an extremely important procedure, after this stage not only dirt, but also harmful insects and even bacteria are not left in the fabrics.

Inspection after cleaning

Very importantly, after the sofa has dried, our technician inspects it again to ensure that all stains have been effectively removed and the fabric looks clean and fresh. This is not just a quality control, there are cases where stains are difficult to remove and the cleaning process has to be repeated.

Cleaning products, professional products

As we said earlier, there is no one-size-fits-all "apply to stain, rub a little, wait 5 minutes, rinse and you're done" cleaner. Such products may remove the stain but create other problems. Magical Cleaning specialists use multi-ingredient solutions customised for your furniture. Here are the main types of solutions used for cleaning.

Upholstery cleaner: is the common name for a specialised cleaning solution designed for fabric upholstery. It is usually pH balanced and gentle on the fabric fibres. The correct ratio of components must be observed and all components must be well mixed.

Stain removers: is the generic name for a group of solutions that are specially formulated to combat different types of stains such as grease, ink or pet stains. And a separate group of solutions for blood stains and particularly stubborn ink stains. The working principle of such stain removers is chemical reactions and rubbing or friction.

Deodorising agents: or solutions help to neutralise odours and give furniture a fresh fragrance. Professional chemicals do not contain perfumes, but the composition of the chemical components may contain odours, so it is important to remove all residues and odours after cleaning.

Protective gear: Additional products applied after cleaning to protect against future stains, as well as preventing the life of furniture mites and bacteria, this helps people who suffer from allergies. For this reason, Magical Cleaning specialists recommend the use of protection for fabrics and leather coverings.

A few words about upholstery cleaning equipment

We use specialised upholstery cleaning equipment, this can be a portable extractor or a lorry mounted system with hoses, brushes and tools designed to clean the upholstery fabric. Our cleaner uses different attachments depending on the type of fabric and ease of access. We also use brushes or agitators, these are used to gently clean the fabric and introduce the cleaning solution into the fibres. Our aim is to clean as gently as possible to prevent the fabric from deteriorating and the sofa or armchair from looking dated.

Wet or dry hoovers are necessary to remove moisture and dirt from the fabric, they are different from the hoovers sold in supermarkets, it is very important to adjust the suction power individually, and then blowers or fans are used to speed up the drying process. Additionally, a specialised upholstery drying device is used. This is a specialised tool designed to remove moisture from the upholstery without over-watering or over-drying it. It is worth remembering that fabric upholstery or leather upholstery is quite sensitive to water, heat and chemicals. But as we cannot avoid the process of cleaning upholstered furniture it is important that the impact on the surfaces is as delicate as possible. The efforts of the professionals at Magical Cleaning are centred on an important principle: clean and do no harm.

An important reason why more and more people invite professionals to clean upholstered furniture is the methodical approach, modern technology, appropriate tools and equipment. In short, professional cleaning companies can effectively remove dirt from sofas and upholstered furniture, leaving them clean, fresh and looking like new. If you book a regular cleaning service for your flat or house then this light cleaning can be carried out regularly, which will prolong the new look of your furniture. Do not ignore the advice of professionals, self-cleaning only seems to save money, most likely new problems will arise.