Busting Sofa Cleaning Myths
Messes. They are bound to happen. No one is immune- and certainly not the furniture. Kids, guests during parties, pets- they can all transform an elegant sofa set into a complete total mess. All it takes is a simple spill, be it coffee, tea, or that wine glass that tilted slightly while in the hand, for stains to form. Inkblots, nail polish that winds up on the sofa arm during the morning preparations as you get ready for work, the soft drinks and fruit juice that your kids are enjoying that wind up getting spilled as they play around, chocolate that melts onto the cushions, mayonnaise, spaghetti, yoghurt and milk stains- they can mess up your unit. With pets, urine stains are a concern. These are not only unsightly, but they also reek up the place due to the chemical decomposition of the urine into its constituent elements. The urea and uric acid cause the odours to last for long, actually getting worse with time. Professional sofa cleaning services come into reverse the situation. However, it is common to find people putting off the cleaning due to statements they heard, or read somewhere online. From half-truths to blatant lies, here are common myths about sofa cleaning that are doing rounds:
- Upholstery cleaning causes it to get deteriorated
This misconception was bred by cases of the wrong cleaning methods being used. For instance, when scrubbing with hard-bristled brushes, the fabric frays. Using harsh chemicals can weaken the fibres. These are mistakes that are common with the DIY sofa cleaning processes. However, when you bring a professional company on board, you wouldn’t have to worry about such blunders occurring. With a crew that is well-versed with the different types of upholsteries and how to clean them, abrasives and harsh agents are not employed. The processes used will be safe for the sofa. In fact, when done regularly, it actually protects the units, enabling you to enjoy it for longer in your home or business premises.
It’s not just about the aesthetics. There is plenty of more grime hiding within the soda, including dander, allergens like mould spores, plus the dust mites and germs that are crawling your furniture their home. This is also why you shouldn’t wait until the sofa has changed colour for you to schedule a cleaning session. In order to ensure that the upholstery is truly clean, the products and machinery that are used get to the gunk buried deep within the material, freshening up your unit, and prolonging its life.
- DIY sofa cleaning will get you the same results as a professional cleaning
While plausible, it is highly unlikely. When working with the rental equipment and store-bought chemicals, or the homemade solutions that are popular amongst the DIY enthusiasts, chances of producing the same quality of results as the professional sofa cleaning team are low. First, there is the capacity of the equipment that is rented. This machinery is not at the same level as the industrial-grade equipment that the professionals rely on. In order to make them light to move around, and more affordable be rented out, aspects such as the sizes of the motors, and pumps are reduced. This affects the power that is delivered during the DIY cleaning process. As such, you end up spending much more time on the process, and not achieving a deep clean. This even compromises issues such as the wet vacuuming that is required at the end of the process when suctioning out the water, which leaves behind too much moisture, thus resulting in prolonged drying time. Then there is the experience involved. The professionals have been dealing with a wide range of fabric and leather upholsteries over the years, removing both water-based and oil-based stains, those heavy build-ups of soiling, and dealing with the odours. What’s more, they are regularly trained on the developments within the industry. This places them in the optimal position to determine the appropriate approach to handle your particular sofa cleaning. Going the DIY route, however, puts you at risk of working with the improper solution, which can lead to anything from unsatisfying results that force you to repeat the process, all through to causing damage to your unit.
- Cleaning companies are equal
This couldn’t be any further from the truth. Just as happens with every other industry, when it comes to cleaning, companies are different, offering varying levels of services and customer support. As such, when selecting the company that will take care of your particular situation, there’s more to look at than just the price tag. In fact, simply going for the cheapest services will end up being a costly affair for you. This is because there are bound to have been compromises made in a bid to offer the rock-bottom prices. It can be anything from the company relying on poorly trained personnel, low capacity machinery being used- which ends up drawing out the sofa cleaning process, making it more inconvenient for you, all through to the company not being insured- which means that in case of any unfortunate incidence, you will find yourself footing the bill for liabilities out of your own pocket. The duration in which the company has been in business also comes into focus. Yes, everyone has to start somewhere so short time lengths are not necessarily a disqualification. However, you don’t want to deal with a company that will clean your sofa today and then close up shop next week: a fly-by-night type. When going through the different options, assessing the experience that the sofa cleaning company has in the industry is key, which will also involve going through their online reviews and testimonials. Going back to the insurance, no matter how good a company is, none is immune to accidents. As such, when you’re having the work done in your home or business premises, you want to deal with a company that has been bonded and insured, which will give you peace of mind.
Cleaning the different types of fabric and leather sofas
The upholsteries come in different materials. Take the natural upholsteries for instance. These range from cotton that comes with a good resistant to fading and wear, and is usually blended with other fibre materials in order to increase its resistance to wrinkling- in addition, the unit come in different weaves and finishes, such as the casual canvas or the formal Damask weaving; linen that is best suited for the formal rooms or the adult areas due to its nature of soiling and wrinkling easily- hence won’t do well with kids running about and making a mess; silk, which is a delicate fabric that is only ideal for the adult areas; plus the sturdy and durable wool, which is resistant to fading and pilling, but is usually blended with other materials in order to make the cleaning easier and also reduce the risk of felting- where the fibres tend to bond together and resemble felt.
Then there are the synthetic fabrics. These are the likes of polyester which is rarely used alone, but rather blended with other fibres in order to reduce fading, prevent the napped fabrics from crushing, and also add to the material’s wrinkle resistance; microfiber which is growing in popularity; nylon that is a resilient material and is usually used in blends with other upholsteries in order to increase their strength; acetate which is an imitation of silk and has a high resistance to shrinking and pilling; acrylic that has been developed to imitate wool and can withstand wrinkling and fading, though for the areas that will receive high levels of abrasion there may be pilling; olefin that is ideal for the future that will be exposed to heavy wear; and polypropylene or even rayon.
Even leather itself comes in various kinds, such as the top-grain, and split-grain sets. Leather is particularly popular because of its luxurious look and feel, plus the fact that it actually gets better as it ages, developing a characteristic charm. However, for you to realise these benefits, it needs to be properly taken care of, which includes the routine leather sofa cleaning and conditioning. This material comes with strict cleaning requirements. For instance the conventional cleaning detergents, silicones, waxes and even saddle soaps should not be used on it, since they damage the leather.
There are also those who go for faux leather, which is a synthetic material that has been developed to mimic leather, but cost less. It’s also a favourite for homeowners who want the leather look but whose causes on championing for animal rights puts them at a clashing course when purchasing upholstery sourced from animal hide. To each his own, right? Whichever the case, the sofas need to be cleaning, and our personnel have the skills needed to work on your particular type of upholstery, applying the required products and processes that will get rid of the dirt and grime without putting the structural integrity of the unit at risk.
Invest In Professional Sofa Cleaning Services
Routine sofa cleaning is needed to maintain the health standards in the premises. For starters, the furniture hoards loads of allergens, with the particles from the environment landing on it. These range from dust, pet dander, all through to mould spores, which reduce the air quality in the room, and also cause reactions to persons who will be using the furniture. Those bouts of coughing and sneezing when you take a seat are most probably due to the allergens that get released into the immediate air space when the cushions of the sofa are disturbed. The allergens can also trigger asthma attacks for affected persons, and worsen respiratory conditions such as bronchitis. There are also colonies of gems that are residing within the upholstery. The decaying organic matter sustains germs, putting the persons using the sofa at risk. Has there been a person who is ill in the household? The go-to set to rest and recuperate is the sofa, which in means that there will be pathogens that have been coughed and sneezed onto the material, still retaining their potency and infecting the others who will use the sofa. For instance, the Norovirus can survive within the warm conditions of the sofa for a month, while still being able to cause an infection. There are also pathogens that are brought onto the upholstery by pests like cockroaches and even rodents that come to feed on the food crumbs that are strewn all over. The sofa cleaning comes in to remove the source of the problem- the gunk that is attracting the pests, and also enhances the sanitation standards by destroying the colonies of germs residing within the unit. This goes a long way in protecting your loved ones at home, and the clients and staff in business establishment.
The various types of furniture are attended to by our sofa cleaning team. These include the loveseat that usually comes as a matching piece to different sets and is popularly known as being a sofa for two; sectional sofas that can be set up in different configurations, giving the property owner more flexibility with regards to the furniture arrangement in the living room; futons and sofa beds which are ideal for the small spaces since they can be folded out into full-size beds, thus providing both sleeping and sitting space; the round arm sofa that has been around for so long that it’s fondly referred to as grandma’s sofa; the retro square arm sofa, named so for its look; to the rounded wedge arm sofa with its arms angling outwards and the set exuding a contemporary vibe; all through to the modern sofas that don’t have any arms and are usually low-lying, ideal for minimalist living. Looking at their backs, there are different construction such as the tuxedo sofas where the backrest has been flushed with the armrests, making them level; the high back sofas where the armrests are lower; camelback sofas with their famous archs resembling the animal after which they have been named; wingback sofas that are a symbol of luxury, making one feel as though they are sitting in a throne; the barrelback sofas where the curvature of the back goes extending to the arms, resulting in a shape like a barrel, plus the rollback sofas that may feature rounded arms as well. Regardless of the type of construction, our sofa cleaning crew will be sure to give your set a thorough wash.
Great article
Very informative