It always comes down to long term maintenance when comparing wooden furniture to upholstered furniture. Though upholstered furniture looks beautiful, upholstered sofa maintenance is a little more intensive than polished wooden furniture maintenance. However, the comfort of sitting on a plush upholstered sofa vs a hard wooden bench makes the effort well worth it.
The beauty of customized furniture is that you get to pick the upholstery fabric yourself. Ask the lady with toddlers who picked a white sofa and you’ll know how crucial picking the right fabric is to how your sofa looks and your upholstered sofa maintenance requirements. If you share your home with pets choose fabrics that do not have loose weaves or a lot of texture. If you aren’t really the type to dust your furniture everyday and don’t have help that can do it for you, avoid white or light coloured fabrics. In short, along with your style preferences, keep your lifestyle in mind while picking upholstery fabrics for sofas like the Lawson etc.
When it comes to maintaining upholstered furniture, prevention is better than cure. Here are a few tips to keep in minds.
- To minimize fading, we recommend placing your upholstered pieces where they won’t be exposed to direct sunlight.
- Don’t drag furniture when moving it around but lift it and shift.
- No matter how good the quality of foam and fiber your upholstery uses, it has a lifespan and will compress and sag with time. Make life interesting for you and your sofa by shifting your favourite spot on it every few days.
- Plumping up cushions not only makes them look good but also keeps them plush for longer. Switching cushions from one place to another can also help ensure they are all used evenly.
- We recommend smoothening the cover on the set and back cushions to keep the inner materials evenly distributed. This will prevent the formation of wrinkles on your fabric. Restore the appearance of tight attached seat and back cushions by smoothening the surface and tucking excess upholstery into the sides of the seat or back.
- Fumes from cooking and smoke can also damage your fabric. To prevent this, ensure that the room your sofa is in, is well ventilated.
- Once a week, vacuum your furniture to remove any surface soil and dirt before it can get embedded into the fabric.
- Keeping your sofa covered with a loose cover when you’re out of town can protect the fabric and elongate its lifespan.
If coordinating between wallpaper colours and your décor scheme led you to pick a pastel or off white upholstery fabric, stains are guaranteed to always be on your mind. We’d suggest printed fabrics that can camouflage stains if you really must have delicate pastels. A spill or stain is often seen as a nightmare for the owner of an upholstered sofa but it doesn’t have to be so. Ideally a stain should be addressed as soon as possible before it has time to dry or set into the fabric. Spot clean with a damp white cloth and blot up the excess water instantly. Avoid rubbing the fabric. If the stain does not go with water alone try a sofa cleaning shampoo. Never use spot cleaners containing bleach or alcohol for upholstered sofa maintenance. With sofas upholstered in leatherette, maintenance becomes a tad bit easier as spills can simply be wiped off before they stain the sofa. However, if you have pets, their scratches can be difficult to conceal.
Do not dry clean or machine wash cushion casings as it may damage the fabric, backing or stitching. For persistent stains and overall cleaning, contact a professional upholstery cleaning agency. We recommend getting an upholstered sofa professionally cleaned once in two years. This keeps your sofa looking as good as new.
