How To Clean An Upholstered Chair At Home Depending On The Type Of Stain And Upholstery

Fabric upholstery gets stained easily, tends to absorb dust and fade with time. While a sofa upholstery may be protected with throws, spreads and covers, this solution will hardly work with fabric chairs . Sooner or later every homeowner is faced with the task of how to clean an upholstered chair at home. Fortunately, most fabrics used for chair upholstery are easily cleaned; a lot will depend on the fabric type and the kind of stain, though.

Tapestry fabric

Most fabric chairs will require dry vacuum cleaning before applying moisture and soaps, but tapestry fabric is highly sensitive to chemical detergents. To keep a chair upholstered with tapestry fabric clean, its best to vacuum it regularly. If it’s seriously stained, use neutral soap or shampoo to remove dirt.

Plush, velvet or velour

These soft upholstery types need to be vacuum-cleaned carefully and gently, using special fittings. Cover chair seat with a thin layer of fabric prior to vacuum cleaning and tap it with your hand to remove dust. If you can see visible stains, carefully wipe them off with a sponge or a moist rag.

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Fiber flock

Fiber flock upholstery is extremely easy to clean due to it’s special structure and processing with dust-repelling solutions. This upholstery type can be cleaned with most chemical detergents.

Microfiber

Another highly sensitive material, which should only be cleaned with soap and sponges, applying gentle strokes. Using chemicals or hard brushes may seriously damage microfiber upholstery.

Leather or faux leather

Leather, especially genuine one, is one of the most expensive upholstery materials, but it surely makes the task of how to clean an upholstered chair or sofa  at home as easy as it can be. Simply wipe it with a piece of soft dry fabric and you are done.

And, of course, different types of dirt and stain should be approached differently, although most chemical detergents will deal with all of them successfully. But, in case your upholstery fabric is too sensitive or if you simply don’t have a detergent at hand, here’s a brief overview on how to deal with the most widespread types of stains:

Wine

Wipe the stain with a napkin and sprinkle it with salt which will absorb moisture. Leave it for 10 minutes and wipe it again with a solution containing alcohol. Wipe it again with some soapy water to remove the rest of the stain.

Coffee, tea and bear

These types of stains may be removed successfully with lots of soap and water. Apply the soap on a stain and leave it for 10 minutes. Remove it with wet sponge.

Blood

You will need some cold water and a sponge. These kinds of stains are difficult to remove, so you might have to add some vinegar to cold water. Wash the spot with soap and rinse it after you are done.

Grease

Sprinkle the greasy spot with salt, soda or starch and leave it for 15 minutes. Then, work the spot with a sponge containing some dishwashing detergent. Rinse with warm water.

Bubble gum

Bubble gum is easily removed when it’s frozen cold. Apply some ice cubicles to a stained spot, wait until the gum freezes and carefully scrape it off with kitchen knife.