Upholstery cleaning can be a tricky job. It can be scary and quite difficult at the same time. For most part, a few businessmen managed to keep their upholstery business manageable – but with care and patience. It mainly involves manual labor and concentration, especially when the upholstery object is very hard to clean.

Most carpet cleaning services do not take the risk or only choose which upholstery products to clean. If it is a man-made fiber with a 0% risk of color bleed or pile damage that is much safer to clean. However, take note that there are many types of upholstery and they are not simply cleaned with only one solution. If you still want to endeavor in this kind of business, learn the key factors on upholstery cleaning.

Research on different methods about upholstery cleaning. Like mentioned before, there are different varieties of upholstery and learn the procedures on how to clean each type. Buy a few fabrics and do some experimentation. Put those researches into good use and try which cleaning technique is better.

Don’t rely on the care label for advice. Most of the time, they are wrong. Some upholstery are mislabeled with incorrect cleaning advice, so make smart judgments before proceeding on cleaning the product. Bear in mind that manufacturers and retailers are not cleaning professionals.

Assess all the different fabrics of upholstery, especially if you come across such fabrics like cotton, velvet, and silk. These kinds of fabrics can be cleanable with a wet solution.

There are other fabrics that can be mistaken as wet-cleanable, especially acrylic piles. Do a test and look for pile damage or color bleed. After a series of tests, check if the pile does not crush nor have the “wet rat” looks, that’s the time you can use a wet cleaning technique. Other wet-clean fabrics are flat wave cotton; however, do a test color bleed again just to be certain that the dyes are stable – when they bleed, they can be cleansed with an acid rinse through an extraction.

Once testing is done for wet cleaning, thoroughly vacuum the fabric to remove loose soils. Spray the upholstery with a dry solvent and wipe it gently to dry off excess water from the extraction. Next, treat it with a mild alkaline fabric cleaner – rub it after spraying. Let it dry for a few minutes and remove any excess dirty with water. Finally, spray it with the same dry solvent to further evaporate any water left on the fabric.

For a speedy dry, use air movers. The wetting and drying technique is the most difficult task to do, so do a good job at it. Take precautions when cleaning the sofa and dry it as briefly fast as possible.

For more info see: How to start a cleaning business