Sofa, armchair, bed & Co. are used every day. It is therefore also important to regularly clean the textiles as well as leather and upholstered furniture. Because even if you don’t see most of it: Dirt and bacteria are deposited here, which in the worst case can even become a health risk. In this article we give you an overview of careful and gentle textile care – from fluffy carpets to leather sofas. To see shapely decorative letters, please check proindustrialfans.
How and where dirt is created: why you should clean your textiles
Having breakfast in bed, walking across the carpet in dirty street shoes or snuggling up on the sofa with Bello: What many people take for granted as part of everyday life leaves its mark in the home. Crumbs and hair get caught in upholstery and covers, dirt from the street sticks to textiles – where it becomes a collection point for all sorts of unsavory things. It is therefore worth cleaning and even disinfecting textiles, leather and upholstered furniture.
Where is textile care offered? For example here:
- Seat cushions on chairs
- Sofas and sofa covers
- Armchairs and armchair covers
- Leather sofas and leather armchairs
- Duvet covers and mattresses
- Carpets and carpeting
Proper cleaning of upholstered furniture in two steps
The first step is to use a vacuum cleaner to clean the surface of your sofa . The reason: A particularly large number of germs form in the superficial dirt on the upholstery cover. If vacuuming isn’t enough, use a cleaning cloth and warm water to help. You should distil or boil this beforehand to avoid limescale stains. If the dirt turns out to be particularly stubborn, upholstery foam helps to clean the upholstered furniture.
You should then apply a hygiene spray to the fabric that is suitable for textile care. This disinfects the textiles and counteracts the spread of germs. As a precaution, test the spray on an inconspicuous area first to make sure it doesn’t discolor or otherwise damage the surface. After spraying, the spray must dry thoroughly. Support this process by ventilating the room well.
Alternatively, you can also clean the textiles with a steam cleaner – this will also disinfect your sofa. In any case, find out in advance whether the covers and upholstery of your sofa can withstand high temperatures. Fill the steam cleaner with distilled water, otherwise unsightly limescale stains will appear. Steam cleaning textiles is a gentle, chemical-free method, but tends to be less effective than a hygiene spray.
However, sometimes it is not enough to just clean the textiles. Then there are other handy tips to help you remove stains and odors .
Clean and disinfect leather furniture without stains
Even when it comes to cleaning your leather armchair or leather sofa, you should first remove dust, crumbs and other everyday dirt. These can be easily wiped off a smooth leather sofa with a dry duster. A suede sofa can be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner or furniture brush.
Then clean the leather sofa with a damp cloth. But be careful, not every leather can be washed off with water! If the water soaks into the leather, you should completely avoid this cleaning method. If, on the other hand, the water forms small droplets on the surface, you can basically wipe with a damp cloth. However, dry the surface with a cloth immediately afterwards, as leather can be permanently damaged if completely soaked.
A very thorough way to clean your leather furniture is with a gentle sanitizer. Caution is also required here, as commercially available disinfectants with a high proportion of solvents can remove the leather color. In addition, the alcohol contained (ethanol, 1-propanol) can make the material drier and stiffer. Make sure that the product is not labeled “Not suitable for leather”. In any case, you should use such cleaners sparingly. Finally, you are welcome to use a leather oil or leather milk so that the material does not become too dry. Because for a long service life it is important to care for leather furniture properly .
By the way: With these tips you can not only clean your leather furniture, but also your car steering wheel or your gear knob – if they are covered with leather.
How to clean carpets and carpets
For a hygienic apartment, you should not only clean leather and upholstered furniture, but also clean your carpets regularly. With a simple carpet cleaner, you can remove unpleasant odors, bacteria and mold. However, a commercially available cleaner is not enough for deep-seated and heavy soiling – then a vacuum cleaner or a special carpet cleaning machine has to do it. These work with the so-called “spray extraction process”, in which a mixture of water and cleaning agent is sprayed onto the carpet and immediately vacuumed off again.
As with cleaning upholstered furniture, carpet cleaning also requires a disinfectant and hygiene spray. This removes bacteria, fungi and viruses that cleaning alone could not eliminate. You can use the same spray you used to disinfect your upholstered furniture.
Tip: Apply the hygiene spray to your shoe soles as soon as you enter your home. This way you don’t bring bacteria and viruses into your home.
Clean mattresses, bedding and similar textiles
Bacteria, mites and viruses also like to nest in the bedroom – especially in mattresses. In addition, the textiles regularly absorb night sweat, which also releases bacteria. You should therefore clean the textiles at least every two weeks. To do this, put the bed linen and mattress cover in the washing machine at 60 °C. You should also vacuum the mattress with a vacuum cleaner with an upholstery attachment.
To keep unwanted residents away from your mattress as much as possible, you should spray it with mite spray and/or a hygiene spray.
Stains on the mattress can be removed with an enzyme stain remover. Many people also swear by the home remedy baking soda. This is spread on the surface where it acts for up to six hours. It can then be removed with a vacuum cleaner. Now you can sleep calmly and, above all, hygienically in your bed .
We wish you every success in cleaning your textiles, leather and upholstered furniture.
