How to clean upholstered furniture, chairs and headboards

Step by step: how to clean upholstered furniture, chairs and headboards

Safety first. Solvent cleaners for S-code fabric give off fumes and many are flammable. Open windows, wear gloves, keep flames and pilot lights away, and never mix a solvent with any other cleaner.

1. 1

   Find the cleaning code

   Look under the seat, on the underside of the frame or on a sewn-in tag for W, S, WS or X. Dining chairs and headboards often have the tag stapled under the seat or on the back panel. If you cannot find one, treat the fabric as S and test before using water.

2. 2

   Vacuum every surface and seam

   Use the upholstery tool on seats, backs, arms and skirts with slow, overlapping strokes, then the crevice tool along piping, buttons and where fabric meets wood. On tufted chairs and headboards, work into each tuft. Most of the gray look on upholstery is dry soil that vacuuming removes.

3. 3

   Brush the fabric to loosen grime

   Brush the whole piece lightly with a nonmetal brush, following the direction of the pile. This lifts ground-in dust and hair and raises flattened areas, so the cleaner reaches the fibers evenly.

4. 4

   Make foam, not a wet solution

   For W or WS fabric, mix about 1/4 teaspoon of clear dish soap or the label dose of upholstery shampoo into 1 cup of distilled water. Whisk it until you have a bowl of stiff suds. The foam carries the soap; the water underneath stays in the bowl.

5. 5

   Test on a hidden spot

   Apply a little foam under the seat or on the back, wipe it off and let it dry. If color comes off on the cloth, the texture changes or a ring forms, stop and call an upholstery cleaner.

6. 6

   Clean one panel at a time

   Scoop foam onto a damp cloth or brush and work it gently over one whole panel, seam to seam: the seat, then the inside back, then each arm. Cleaning full panels avoids a bright patch with a dirty edge around it.

7. 7

   Wipe away the foam

   Wipe each panel with a clean cloth dampened in distilled water and wrung out hard, then blot with a dry cloth. Rinse cloths often. Leftover soap makes upholstery attract dirt faster.

8. 8

   Dry quickly and brush again

   Run a fan at the piece and keep people and pets off it until it is dry, usually 2 to 4 hours. Brush the pile once it is dry so it looks even.

What cleaner can you use on your upholstery?

Whatever the cleaning code allows, and nothing else. La-Z-Boy’s care guide says code W fabric should be spot cleaned only with a water-based shampoo or foam upholstery cleaner, pretested, not saturated, and cleaned from the outside of a spot toward the middle. For its W fabrics it also says hot water extraction and steam cleaning are not recommended. Code S fabric gets a water-free dry cleaning solvent only.

American Leather explains that S fabrics should never get water, which can leave rings, that WS fabrics take either type of cleaner, and that regular vacuuming keeps soil from embedding in any fabric. Our couch cleaning guide has the full code table and spot cleaning steps by code.

When you do use a solvent, ventilate. The EPA notes that many cleaning products contain organic solvents that release volatile organic compounds, and advises increasing ventilation and following the manufacturer’s directions when you use them.

How to clean upholstered chairs, ottomans and headboards

The method is the same as for a sofa; the shape changes where the dirt collects and how you keep water off the frame.

For specific fabrics, see microfiber and velvet.

How to avoid water rings and treat stains

Use as little water as possible and clean whole panels. Rings form when water carries soil or fabric finish to the edge of a wet spot and leaves it there as it dries.

• The University of Georgia Extension warns that overwetting can make the finish on upholstery fabric migrate and leave a circle in the treated area.
• Use distilled water for rinsing; it has no minerals to leave a tide line.
• If a ring forms anyway, lightly dampen the whole panel evenly with foam and dry it fast with a fan.
• For specific stains, see blood and urine, which need cold water and enzyme cleaners.

Call a professional when the whole piece is dingy, the code is X or S and you are not comfortable with solvents, or the fabric is silk, velvet or an antique. La-Z-Boy itself recommends a professional furniture cleaning service once an overall soiled condition has been reached.

Mistakes to avoid

• Spraying water or cleaner directly onto the fabric so it soaks the cushion foam.
• Using water on S-code fabric, which leaves rings that are hard to remove.
• Spot cleaning the middle of a panel, which leaves a clean patch with a dirty halo.
• Leaving soap residue behind, so the fabric soils faster than before.
• Steam cleaning or hot water extraction on fabric whose maker advises against it.
• Using a metal-bristle brush, which snags and pulls fibers.