How to Get Started
Life as an Upholsterer
Cleaning New or Used Upholstery
One thing I love to recommend to people who are getting their furniture reupholstered or even buying new, is to request a small sample of the fabric to take and keep at home to TEST ON instead of testing out a new cleaner on your whole couch. You really never know what cleaner is going to remove the color or stain your piece darker until after you've sprayed it on.
It's much easier and cheaper to spray or even test fabric brushes on a piece of fabric that isn't connected to your $$$ couch. Once you start messing with the upholstery, the upholstery tends to start messing with you. Your once worthy investment could turn into a devastating mistake with one spray from the wrong bottle. You have been warned.
Let's first talk about how to remove the day to day lint, dog hair, fuzzy bunnies, whatever surface area nucances you may have.
There are quite a few avenues to venture down here. I will share some of the basics and then my all time favorite fabric brush.
Some of the most common ways to remove surface area dirt is to vacuum, lint roll or blow off with an air compressor. None of these are bad by any means, and one might be the perfect solution for you.
However, I know that not all homes have an air compressor or a vaccum laying around waiting to clean your couch.
If you are one of these house holds you might look into a lint roll brush. Don't fall for the scam of the sticky sheet rollers. These are not worth your time or money. They fill up after one pass and you constantly have to buy more.
This is where my SECRET WEAPON comes into play. I have been using this specific brush for over three years now and haven't looked back. This brush cleans dog hair, fuzzy bunnies, etc off of almost anything. Its good on wool, woven fiber, velvet and mohair. I even have one to clean any animal hairs that might be on my clothes. They are cheap, effective and last forever. I get mine at the Ace Hardware near me. I will include a link here for you to check them out. You seriously won't regret it.
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/home-and-decor/health-and-beauty/lint-rollers/10503
Stain Removers
Now here is the tricky part. The first step to getting stains out of your fabrics is knowing WHAT fabric you have. And keep in mind that it isn't always possible to remove stains. Sometimes nothing will work. It all depends on what materials you have and how porous they are.
Leather
Lets say first up you have a beautiful leather sofa. Your dream sofa. The piece you finally splurged on. But, you have young children. One of your kiddos used the side of the leather sofa as a drawing room.
How do we get the stains out?
That depends on a variety of factors. One will be what is the stain made out of? Sharpie? Well the only thing that will work there is rubbing alcohol, which is why I recommend you get a fabric sample before going at the stain on the couch. The rubbing alcohol will most likely strip whatever finish was on the leather straight out. Leaving you with a rather large bald spot. Which depending on the color may be way more noticeable than the sharpie.
If you have a sample of the leather, I would replicate the sharpie, remove it and try re-staining the leather in a leather finish that is as close to your leather color as possible. If you have a hard time finding a leather stain close to your finish, try contacting a leather supply store or a local saddle maker. These are people who are EXPERTS in leather and will be the best at helping you find a solution.
If you are trying to get simple scratches, surface stains out of leather I would try using Leather Honey first. This can be found on Amazon. There is a leather cleaner and conditioner, both of which are best used with a clean microfiber rag.
This product is FANTASTIC when used on a finished leather. Some leathers, depending on the finish may become significantly darker when using this product. Which may be the look you're looking for. Again, this is something you should TEST on a small portion of your furniture that is less visible at first to make sure it doesn't alter the color past what your preferences are.
Leather Honey
The perk of using Leather Honey is that it will clean, condition and protect your leather so it lasts for a long long time.
This product is another one that is great to keep around to use on your boots, leather hand bags, dog leashes, etc.
Fabrics
Next up we have more of your standard upholstery fabrics. These are in some ways the easiest to clean. Some have protection built into them to help reduce the likelihood of stains. This is where you can try the spray cleaners or at home remedies.
Most of the time some hot hot water on a microfiber rag will be enough to gently dab the stain out.
If you cannot get the stain out with regular old hot water, I recommend using an upholstery or fabric cleaner. 9/10 they do the trick.
With fabric, if there are any hairs, say like in a velvet or mohair. Try to pay attention to the direction the hairs are going. Do not press or scrub too hard or go against the fabric direction. This may actually damage your piece even more.
When all else fails, call a professional. And be understanding that getting your stain out may not be possible. If you have any questions that were not answered above please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you find a solution to your lint or stain needs.