Fabric sofas, armchairs, headboards and dining seats are cleaned in your home, from £57 for a two-seat sofa and £33 for an armchair. Before any cleaning, the cleaner works out what the fabric is and tests it.
Upholstery means any furniture with a fabric cover over padding. The cleaner comes to you with the machine and the products, works in the room where the piece stands and leaves it there to dry. Nothing is taken away, so you are never without your sofa for a week. Please leave the water, power and heating on.
Checking the fabric before cleaning starts
Most upholstered furniture sold in the UK has a sewn-in label, usually under a seat cushion or on the base. It is there for fire safety, and many labels also list the cover fibres. The cleaner reads it first. Then comes a look at the weave, the back of the cloth and any piping, fringing or buttons, since a trim can be a different fibre from the cover it edges.
Next is a patch test somewhere nobody looks, such as the underside of a seat cushion or the inside of a skirt. A little cleaning solution goes on and a white cloth is pressed against it. If colour comes off on the cloth, or the fabric puckers or roughens, the cleaner stops and tells you before going any further. That can mean a gentler approach on that one piece, or leaving it alone.
Fabrics that need extra care
Polyester, polyester blends and most cottons clean well. Four other fabrics are worth naming on the call, so the cleaner arrives knowing what to expect:
- Velvet. The pile flattens or marks if it is rubbed hard or dries in one position. Polyester velvet usually cleans well; older cotton and viscose velvets may need a different approach.
- Linen and linen mixes, which can shrink slightly and can dry with brown edges if water sits in them too long. Less moisture and an open window help.
- Silk loses its sheen and shows water marks easily, so silk upholstery may need another method or may not be suitable for cleaning at home.
- Viscose, sometimes sold as art silk, is weak when wet and marks badly. It may not be suitable at all.
If you do not know the fabric, describe how it feels, whether it has a sheen and roughly when the furniture was bought.
Upholstery prices, including headboards and footstools
| Armchair | £33 |
| Sofa with two seats | £57 |
| Every seat after the second | £26 |
| Dining chair with a fabric seat | £13 |
| Office chair | £10 |
| Mattress | £35 |
| Headboard, footstool, ottoman or scatter cushions | Priced on the call |
Headboards and footstools vary too much for a list. A plain single headboard and a buttoned, winged one for a super king bed are very different jobs, and a footstool may have fabric on top only or all the way round. Tell us the size, whether there is buttoning and how many cushions there are, and the price is agreed before you book. Scatter cushions are cleaned with their covers on. One-off work starts at £67. Sofas have their own page at sofa cleaning in London, and so do armchairs, dining chairs and settees.
On the day of the clean
Clear throws, toys and remote controls off the furniture and move small tables back so the cleaner can walk round each piece. Pets are best kept in another room until everything is dry.
Vacuum down the sides and under the seat cushions before the visit, where crumbs and grit gather. Arms, headrests and the front edges of seats get the most time, because hands, hair and clothes rub there every day. Pile fabrics such as velvet and chenille are brushed in one direction at the end so they dry evenly.
Drying takes a few hours. Open a window (or put the heating on in the colder months) and keep everyone off until the fabric feels dry to the hand. A protector can be added at the end of the visit for £13 a seat. It holds a spill on the surface long enough for you to blot it, and that is all it is for.
Questions about upholstery cleaning
Is upholstery taken away to be cleaned?
No. Upholstery is cleaned in your home, in the room where it stands, and nothing is collected or delivered. The cleaner needs a socket, a tap and enough space to work round each piece.
Will every stain come out of fabric furniture?
That cannot be promised. Everyday grime and most food and drink spills usually come out or get much lighter. Bleach spots, dye that has run from clothing, burns and old stains that have set may be permanent, and the cleaner will point out the likely ones before starting.
Can a mattress and curtains go on the same booking?
Yes. Mattress cleaning and curtain cleaning are also done in your home, so one visit can cover them along with the sofa and chairs.
What if I do not know what my sofa is made of?
That is common with second-hand or inherited furniture. Describe it on the call and the cleaner will read the label and test a hidden patch before cleaning. If the cover turns out to be a fabric that should not get wet, you will be told there and then.