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Furniture Care 101: Maintenance Tips For Basic Materials

Whenever you purchase a furniture, it can get dirty or messy over time. To ensure that your furniture stays in the best shape possible, you need to know the right steps to take to prolong your furniture use. Not only can these tips be applied to various furniture materials in your house, but with regular cleaning, you can potentially keep your furniture looking like new.

Here are a few tips to get you started on cleaning and maintaining the furniture around your house.

1. Fabrics

The best way to clean your fabric is to regularly vacuum the upholstery with the crevice attachment and the furniture nozzle. This can help to prevent fabric fibres and remove dust in the process. If you have any spills on the fabric, you can remove them by using a dry cloth immediately. An essential tip in maintaining the upholstery fabric is to keep water to a minimum.

2. Leather

The most crucial step in cleaning leather is to ensure that your furnishings are cleaned as much as possible. This means cleaning them weekly through vacuuming or with a soft dry cloth. In the case of spillage, it is best not to use soap and excessive water in cleaning the leather furniture. Unless otherwise stated by the leather manufacturer, a cotton cloth damp with mildly warm water and neutral soap can be used over the surface of the leather for efficient cleaning towards spillage.

3. Hard Leather

When dealing with hard leather, water may not be advised due to marks that could be left behind. Check with the cleaning steps by the manufacturer of the furniture, and ensure that the best quality cleaning products are used for hard leather. To test out your cleaning products, you can apply a small area that is out of view and check after 24 hours for a possible result.

4. Faux Leather

Cleaning faux leather can be rather simple. When cleaning a faux leather furnishing, a soft cloth damped with lukewarm water can be used.

5. Wood

Maintaining any wood material furniture  can be cleaned with a soft cloth that is wet with tepid water. If the coating is too dirty, you can apply a small amount of detergent into the water, leaving it to dry with a soft dry cloth. It is not advised to utilise wax to maintain the wood as it could create residues that are built-up on the surface. This can attract dirt and dust, making the furniture dirtier.

In the case of solid wood furniture, it is best to avoid alcohol acetone and water on the surface as it can create stains. Hot objects are not advised as well. While cleaning, steam cleaners, fat-dissolving agents and microfiber cloths are not to be used. Instead, specific natural vegetable oil is ideal for cleaning wood furniture.

6. Glass

As glass has a shiny surface, it has to be cleaned regularly to maintain its appeal. It is best to remember that glass table tops are fragile, despite being simple to maintain and clean. To get started cleaning glass, an approved cleaning agent or a damp cloth will work best.

7. Polypropylene or polyethylene

To tackle the maintenance of polypropylene or polyethylene furniture, a soft cloth that is damp or a sponge soaked in mild water is ideal.

8. Stainless Steel

Stainless steel can be rather challenging to clean as it is one of the most resilient materials you can find in your house. They can be maintained with special cleaning products or a soft damp cloth and cleaned regularly It is not advised to clean such steel surface furniture with metal brushes, steel pads, powder or abrasive detergents as they could cause potential damage to the polished surface, making scratches that are difficult to repair. Acid vapours are also not advised as they could cause oxidation and corrode stainless steel.

Conclusion

Keeping your home clean and furnished in the best way possible is not difficult at all. Rather than looking for a kitchen renovation in cleaning, you can take the steps above and maintain your furniture well. Regular cleaning is not only the best way to keep your furnishings clean and dirt-free, but they are the best way to utilise any luxury interior design that you might have and enhance their pristine look.