5 signs your furniture needs a professional clean

Whether it’s a family heirloom or a modern statement piece straight from the showroom floor, it’s important to keep your prized possessions looking fresh.

But while it’s simple enough to keep odours and stains at bay with off-the-shelf cleaning equipment and consumables, there will likely come a point where you will need professional help.

So, when is it time to call in the cleaning cavalry? Let’s discuss.

Stains

We’ve covered how to remove one of the most common stains from fabric in an earlier blog post, but you might not always be lucky enough to catch a stain before it has time to seep into the fabric and dry.

Other stains are even harder to remove: chocolate, tomato sauce, grass, ink, etc. While supermarkets will boast new cleaning products, unfortunately, there will always be stubborn stains that just can’t be removed using traditional methods.

The rule here is simple: if you’ve tried everything, call in the experts. Of course, use common sense when it comes to cleaning solutions, as you could end up causing more damage than good. 

Smell

Another immediately obvious problem is smell. If you’re a smoker or pet owner you will know how hard it is to keep scents out of fabric, but there are plenty of other ways that your furniture could begin to smell.

If you are prone to laying on your sofa, for instance, then sweat can seep through your clothing and into the fabric, building up over time; if you spill a glass of water and ignore it then mould can develop. You get the idea.

There are air fresheners that should rid you of most bad odours, but if after using them you find the smell returns, then that is indicative of a more serious problem, like mould. At this point, it is time for a professional cleaner.

Bug bites

Here’s another problem for pet owners: fleas, ticks and lice. They can move to upholstery and, since they won’t find food there, will transfer onto anyone who is in their vicinity.

Unlike other fabric problems, insects will transfer from one item to another rapidly. This means your cleaning bill is only going to increase unless you move quickly.

There are off-the-shelf products available that can remove bugs, but if an initial treatment doesn’t work then professional cleaning is your only option.

TOP TIP: Bed Bugs are one of the most difficult household pests to get rid of, and their bites can be painful and even dangerous. If you suspect that you have them don’t wait - get an expert on the problem immediately.

Allergy symptoms

If you have been suffering from allergy symptoms, then your home furnishings could be a key contributor. Pet hairs on the fabric of your furniture can transfer allergens to your skin, and even hair in your carpets or curtains can cause problems.

Of course, your first line of defence is a good vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter. This is particularly important if you have a cat allergy: cat dander (flakes of dead skin) can float in the air for up to 30 minutes after it is disturbed by vacuuming. In fact, with most pet allergies, it’s not the hair itself that causes the problem, but these often-microscopic flakes of skin.

Allergies can be cured with a variety of approaches, but there’s no reason to suffer from the symptoms while you wait. You can get your furniture cleaned by a professional upholstery cleaner and stop sniffling right away.

Discolouration

While stains are a one-off event, discolouration happens over time, often too slowly for you to notice. It can include anything from cigarette smoke building up on curtains to sweat yellowing an armchair.

Because these stains are deep in the material of your furniture, washing them out with store-bought products often won’t do. Discolouration often means calling on the services of a professional upholstery cleaner.

Our options

Plumbs’ loose sofa covers are a quick and easy way to avoid paying for sofa deep cleaning. Measured in your home and created by our master craftspeople, loose covers can be removed and washed in your washing machine. This should rid you of almost any problem that would require professional sofa cleaning services.

For information about quick cover-up solutions, see Plumbs’ sofa covers and reupholstery selection.