Most people are shocked when they find out how huge the industry is for something as simple as furniture repair and reupholstery. The United States alone generates more than $2 billion in this industry every single year! Although it took a hit during the Coronavirus pandemic, the furniture repair and reupholstery industry in the United States grew by almost 4% in 2022.

However, the market for reupholstery might not be so huge if more people knew about how to manage upholstery cleaning on their own. Many people neglect their upholstery so long that it significantly shortens its lifespan. Then, people have to pay significant amounts of money to replace or repair upholstery.

It is much more efficient if you can clean your upholstery on your own. On top of that, you will enjoy cleaner furniture for the years that you use it. But how can you go about cleaning your upholstery in as effective a way as possible?

Read on to learn all about the most important things to understand about how to manage the upholstery cleaning process!

1. Follow the Labels on Your Upholstery

Before you start the cleaning process, it is important to check the labels on your furniture. They will contain any necessary information about how to avoid damaging your furniture during the cleaning process.

Many people do not find out about this until after they have damaged their furniture and start to look for an explanation as to why. You don’t have to do this every time you clean your furniture, but it is important to check all of the labels before you develop an upholstery cleaning routine.

As well as warning you about potential problems, the labels on your furniture may also help you to figure out the best and most efficient way to clean your upholstery. Either way, checking your labels is a great way to make sure that your upholstery cleaning goes as smoothly as possible.

2. Start Your Upholstery Cleaning Routine With Vacuuming

Every kind of upholstery is different. However, there are certain things that all kinds of upholstery tend to have in common. Regardless of the rest of your cleaning process, it is essential to start your upholstery cleaning with thorough vacuuming.

Many people don’t appreciate why the step is so important. Then they wonder if they can save time by skipping over it. However, you are much more likely to end up taking longer to clean your upholstery by failing to vacuum.

Without vacuuming, the water you apply to your upholstery will pick up dust and dirt and help diffuse it across a wider area. In some cases, water and cleaning products can even help this dirt and dust to settle into a deeper place in your upholstery. That will make it much harder to get these contaminants out of such deep crevices.

In many cases, being thorough and slow is faster than trying to rush through things. To help your furniture last longer and to clean it more easily, make sure to vacuum before you move on to more intense cleaning steps.

3. Test Your Cleaning Products Before You Clean Upholstery

At this point, you will be ready to use some cleaning products and water to start to do a more thorough cleaning of your upholstery. However, the first time you start your routine, it is important to make sure that you know which products work well on your furniture.

Every piece of furniture is unique, so it is important to test out your cleaning products on a small part of each piece of furniture to confirm that it will not have any negative effects.

Some people skip this step, hoping that they will get lucky and that none of their cleaning products will damage their furniture. However, it only takes a few minutes to apply a quick test to each piece of furniture. That makes taking the gamble of damaging your furniture a very unprofitable risk.

4. Try Out Other Home Maintenance Cleaning Tools

Keep in mind that there are a variety of cleaning products you can use. You can even use homemade cleaning products or use tools not designed for upholstery cleaning in particular. For example, dish soap is often a great choice when you need to remove stains from upholstery.

Many people also find that baby wipes are a great way to apply a small amount of soap and water without going overboard. Regardless of what cleaning tools you end up using, make sure to test them on your furniture before going all the way.

5. Emphasize Speedy Upholstery Care for Stains

Keep in mind that it will be much easier to clean stains out of your upholstery if you take care of them right away. When people develop an upholstery cleaning routine, they sometimes decide to wait for their usual cleaning time to manage spills.

However, the spill that might take you 2 minutes to clean right now might take 30 minutes if you let it sit for days or weeks before cleaning.

6. Make Sure Not to Use Too Much Water

Make sure not to use more water than necessary to clean your upholstery. If you use a lot of water, it will leave your upholstery wet for a long time. It can also help contaminants to seep deeper into your upholstery.

7. Make Upholstery Cleaning a Regular Chore

Your upholstery cleaning will be easier if you do not wait too long between cleaning. Once a week will make cleaning your upholstery easy. Waiting longer than once a month will mean that it becomes a difficult and unpleasant chore.

Understand the Best Tips for Effective Upholstery Cleaning

We hope learning about the best tips for upholstery cleaning has been helpful to you. Many people never get around to cleaning their upholstery because they do not know exactly how to start. Familiarizing yourself with a few simple tips can help you start and finish the process with a minimum of hassle.

To learn more about how to keep your upholstery in the best condition possible, reach out and get in touch with us here at any time!