3 Tips to Maintain Upholstered Furniture

By Amy Renken

It can seem nearly impossible to keep your furniture clean with your kids running around or your pets coming in from outside, all muddy, and settling in their favorite place on the couch. It’s hard to predict what will happen to a piece of furniture when you’re only shopping for it – but with these three tips, you can extend the life of your upholstered furniture and even keep it looking “like new” the whole time!

1. Fabric

This is the best place to begin, even before you start shopping for your new couch or arm chair. Determine where the furniture will go, and based off of that research some fabrics that will hold up best depending on how high-traffic that area will be. Is this an everyday couch or is it just going to sit in the front room and occasionally sat on? For everyday use, synthetic fibers are the way to go. Although if you have pets, you may want to do some additional research on what fabrics will work best with pets.

1. Spot Clean

Usually, half of the work is already done for you when you buy the furniture because they add a protectant that will repel water. However, this is not a guarantee and you will end up having to spot treat several spots on your furniture over the years. There are several different homemade recipes for non-toxic cleaners that will not further damage your furniture, but most importantly – DO NOT RUB THE STAIN. If you are treating a spot, rubbing it will make it spread and worsen the condition of the furniture. Simply blot using whichever cleaner you prefer and vacuum once the spot is dry. There are also several professional companies (if you are worried about making it worse) that can easily spot treat your upholstered furniture for you.

1. Sunlight

If you have furniture that is sitting in a sunny area, or in direct sunlight, you may want to reconsider where it is positioned. Sunlight tends to fade the coloring from fabrics and can cause your furniture to look aged even when it’s only a couple years old. This also brings us back to our first tip, though. If you know that your furniture is going to be sitting in sunlight during the day, research which fabrics can withstand the light and are not likely to fade – you’ve already solved a problem before you even knew you had one!

As always, if you need any assistance with your upholstered furniture lake travis, never hesitate to give us a call at 1-800-880-7785. We’re always happy to help!