Whether you sprung a clean this year or you have taken advantage of reopening offers from furniture retailers, you will want to keep your homely goods in excellent condition. For the most part, this means keeping your furniture clean. But as with anything these days, life finds a way of dragging your goods down.
Whether it’s muddy handprints, spilled red wine, or a new home for dust bunnies, it can feel like there’s no end to the task of cleaning chairs, tables, and sofas. Unfortunately, wiping down is an excellent temporary solution, and machine washing becomes tedious. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways you can look after your stuff. Alone, they are handy. Combined, they are powerful.
Revolutionary Materials
Horrific stains such as red wine, mud, and sauces are known as some of the most nightmarish things that can occur on your furniture. Unfortunately, fabrics such as cotton and linen are challenging to recover from such accidents. Some simply don’t make it out of the situation alive. This can be disastrous for a matching set as you may be forced to replace expensive items.
One solution is to use performance fabric. What is performance fabric? You might ask. Performance fabric usage is fabrics that have been developed to withstand wear and tear. These are especially useful for outdoor furniture or furniture in high traffic areas and the children’s rooms. These materials are usually treated to withstand staining as well.
Full Steam Ahead
Using steam for cleaning isn’t exactly a new and revolutionary idea. But advancements in steam cleaning technology mean devices that can do this are no longer used only in professional establishments. They are also safe when used correctly and don’t cost the earth. In addition, steam cleaners are now mobile, easy to use at home, and come with an array of valuable features.
The design of domestic steam cleaners is usually adaptable for many situations. For example, a combination of upright and removable handheld devices makes them great for hard surface flooring. Many portable steamers also come with hard and soft attachments for cleaning bathroom and kitchen appliances, curtains, sofas, and bed linens.
A Little TLC
If you don’t use performance fabric, or even if you do, for that matter, you can help prevent issues with some chemical application. For example, stain guards effectively reduce the noticeable effects of food drops, drink spills, and dirt on couches. You could also consider specialized treatments for delicate materials like suede and leather.
Suede and leather are very susceptible to scuffing and scratching, which reduces the visible appeal of such materials. Stain guards and treatments are best applied to your furniture regularly to prevent the unwanted results of an accidental spill or dirt. Some of the best form a protective barrier between your materials and the offending incoming stain. This makes stain removal significantly more straightforward.
Shoes in the Rack
Muddy shoes are one of the worst offenders for tracking dirt into your home. Most dir you cannot even see, and it gets compressed into your hard flooring and carpets along with bacteria. Vacuuming is an excellent method of removing this type of dirt, yet the effectiveness only goes so far. Carpet shampooing is perfect for carpets, and steam cleaners work well on wood and laminate.
However, a trendy thing to do these days is to follow the Japanese tradition of leaving shoes in the hallway to minimize the amount of outside dirt being brought inside. Traversing the home in bare feet or socks isn’t for everyone, so it would be helpful to purchase shoes worn only indoors, such as slippers.
The Dog Stays on the Floor
If you have a dog, then you have almost certainly done it. You have given in to the puppy eyes. Your poochy best friend gives you the best “doggy in the window” look to get on the new couch with you for a bit of cuddle. While this is of great comfort in times of need, the fact remains that dogs are dirty. Even the cleanest dog will ruin your furniture if you aren’t extremely careful.
Aside from the invisible microscopic dirt, the dog will track into your home, pet dander, and hairs fall from dogs all the time. And these accumulate in the recesses of your furniture. Additionally, you should be careful of a dog’s nails scratching your leather or suede. The best advice is to keep the dog off the furniture, but this sometimes cannot be helped. In this case, place down blankets whenever you let the dog up to reduce any damage to your expensive materials.
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