Let’s Talk Upholstery Cleaning

Similar to carpets, our fabric lounges and upholstered furniture have a pretty hard life...!

Daily use, pets, food & drink spills, sweat and body oils - these build up over the months and years. Dust and soiling, Skin cells, hair, clothing fibres, bacteria, dust mites, bits of dead bugs, soil particles, pollen, and microscopic specks of plastic - all these are in our homes and workplaces.

Our clothing & towels are laundered regularly to keep them clean, but our fabric upholstery isn’t! Though it’s subjected to the same rigours of general life.

Regular vacuuming will always help remove some of these particles to keep a clean and hygienic home, however over time, this build up of particles mixes with other elements like skin oils from ourselves and our pets, and it forms a bond with the fabric fibres that can’t be removed by simple vacuuming.

When the build-up becomes too much for the vacuum to remove, professional upholstery cleaning is the only way to restore them back to a clean, fresh and hygienic state.

Chemistry

Upholstery cleaning, like all cleaning, is a matter of simple chemistry.

So, the dirt & soiling clings to the fabric fibres with a greasy bond that is actually slightly acidic in nature. (By pH value). Our professional process, in a nutshell, is to use our UCC cleaning agent that is slightly alkaline in its pH value. This simple alkali detergent, when used on the fabric counteracts the acidic bond, and will help soften the dirts bond with the fibres & fabric.

This then allows us to gently rinse, flush and extract the dirt and soiling from the fibres, leaving them fresh, clean and hygienic. More on that below…

Our process

It’s useful to follow the process end to end - as this gives the absolute best results! Skipping steps means potentially returning a subpar result!

Brush & Vac

To start, we brush using our UCC specialist fabric & upholstery brush. This helps loosen easy to remove dirt, hair, soiling and dried-on elements (food/drink etc). Then we vacuum up the loose particles. We do this so large, loose items and crumbs are removed so that they don’t end up clogging the extraction wand on our machine.

Homes with pets - Pet hair can be a nightmare to remove! It may not seem like it would be an issue, but it’s a technicians nightmare without the right equipment! It gets ground into the fibres and fabric, and no amount of normal upholstery brushing or sticky-rollers will remove it! So, we utilise our UCC pet hair brush to help remove it :) The silicone bristles build up a slightly static charge that can help attract pet hair, lint & fluff, which makes it much easier to remove.

We normally remove any unfixed cushions, and tackle the sofa or chair base first - creating a clean area to use as a workspace.

Pre-spray

Remember the chemistry? Our powerful, but safe UCC upholstery cleaning agent (with that slight alkali pH value) is misted onto the fabric. Our techs use a professional 2L pressure pump sprayer - but any spray bottle will do just fine :)

This is allowed to dwell for around 4-5 minutes in order to do its work and penetrate to loosen the dirt, grease & grime.

The cleaning agent gently breaks down the dirt and dusts bond with the fabric fibres, then it holds it suspended in place on the fabric - ready for extraction.

Spotting & Agitation

Stubborn areas may require additional attention - potentially, slightly different agents may be used to assist in breaking down certain areas. For example, a protein-based stain may behave differently and need a slightly different chemical make-up to break it down. But for the most part, our UCC cleaning agent is all you need :)

Focus areas will be the arms (where our palms and forearms rest and contact), the headrests, lower-back, and edges of the cushions where the backs of the legs rub. These will be the areas with the most build up of greasy, dirt and grime.

Simple agitation using our UCC upholstery brush assists in preparing these areas for extraction. It’s important to agitate, rather than scrub. After all, it is only fabric! So scrubbing too hard with a chemical resistant nylon bristled brush could cause damage, fraying and wear. We go really easy to start, until we get a feel for how the fabric responds.

Rinse & Extract

So, we use a commercial cleaning machine and a technique called Hot Water Extraction to flush and rinse the fabric fibres. These machines spray pressurised, fresh, hot water onto the fabric to rinse the fibres clean - whilst simultaneously extracting the dirty water into a waste tank on the machine.

Occasionally, depending on the fabric type, the fresh hot water has a rinse-agent element added to it to neutralise the cleaning agent, bringing the pH values back to neutral (pH 7.0). Some fabrics, for example a white or cream linen, may be left with water stains after cleaning (or a spill - even if its just water). Water stains are not ‘stains’ as such, they are a residue caused over-alkalinity of the fabric. They won’t ‘clean’ as such - but need to be treated to allow them to evaporate.

Our techs work in a systematic fashion - normally starting with the base, so there is a clean area to place any unfixed cushions after cleaning them. We work left to right (personal preference), to ensure we don’t miss any spots!

Remember the unseen areas! Like the back that may be against the wall. These areas are rarely seen or cleaned - so dust can build up there over time.

We pay particular attention to the heavy traffic areas - armrests, main cushions (where your legs rub), and headrests. The ‘TV watching seats’ will usually be the heaviest build up… ;)

A number of passes may be used in order to remove as much soiling as possible, and to extract as much water from the fabric as we can to help drying times.

Brush & Air-dry

After extracting as much of the dirt and grime as possible, we re-brush the fabric to smooth & separate the fibres and assist in airflow & drying.

Finally we prop up & set the cushions in a tent-like fashion for effective air-drying. This helps the most amount of surfaces in contact with the air. Fabric to fabric contact will slow the drying process for that zone.

It’s important to allow the fabric to fully dry out before reassembling the sofa! Circulating air is best! Not direct sun. A nice through-draft will really help :)

Techs Top Tips

It’s important to remember that simple vacuuming with an upholstery attachment on your domestic vacuum will really help maintain your upholstered furniture! (+ car seats & carpets).

Up to 80% of dust and detritus can be removed with a simple household vacuum! So staying on top of it will really help keep your furniture & home much more clean, fresh & hygienic :)

When vacuuming your carpets, throw on the upholstery nozzle and run it over your sofa and chairs - even if it doesn’t look like it needs it! It’ll take just 2 minutes - but it will really help prevent a build up of dirt & soiling!