There are many incorrect assumptions and old wives tales that exist about cleaning. It would be impossible to cover them all in one blog. So for the purposes of this piece, we will focus on myths pertaining to upholstery cleaning. And more specifically, the most harmful myths to believe.

1. Covered Upholstery Doesn’t Need Cleaning

Many people believe that if you use a furniture cover, you can just throw that in the way rather than cleaning the upholstery itself. But unless you are covering your furniture with a latex or plastic barrier, dirts and soils are going to pass through the cover onto the upholstery.

Just as you need mattress cleaning because your bed sheets are a porous fabric allowing dead skin, sweat, and more thorough, the same is true about furniture covers. Covered upholstery will likely need to be cleaned less frequently, but you will still need regular cleaning to preserve the fabric.

2. Vacuuming Is Proper Upholstery Cleaning

Vacuuming can be very helpful to pick up dry bits of dirt and food crumbs before they are rushed down into a fine powder, which is more difficult to clean. However, vacuuming is completely ineffective when it comes to cleaning liquids and oils.

Also, people rarely vacuum their upholstery with the same frequency, vigor, and effectiveness as they do to carpets. And carpet cleaning requires much more than simple vacuuming. So it stands to reason that vacuuming your upholstery will not be enough to get the cleaning you need.

3. You Only Need To Clean Dirty Looking Upholstery

It is true that visible stains require cleaning, but upholstery should be cleaned regularly to avoid any visible discoloration. If you are waiting long enough between cleanings that your upholstery is looking haggard, then you are allowing for unnecessary damage and requiring more thorough cleaning. (Which should be kept to a minimum.)

The other thing about dirty upholstery is that it can discolor at a seemingly universal rate, so it is hard to see that the color has changed. White fabrics gray. Colored fabrics darken. And they do so almost imperceptibly. And at the point it is noticeable, you have a much larger issue.

4. You Can Trust The Back Of The Bottle

When you look on the back of a bottle of cleaning liquid such as a spot cleaner or detergent, it might say it is safe for certain fabrics. The claims made by cleaning products can be very misleading as they cannot be verified and go through no serious vetting.

The other thing you have to worry about is that even if the cleaning liquid removes the stain from the upholstery, is it going to negatively affect the cushion or what is underneath the upholstery? Absorbency can be an issue as well, so you might need a dry cleaning agent.

In Closing

Hiring a professional cleaning service is always recommended because they know the proper procedures to properly clean and avoid damage while cleaning upholstery. No amount of research you do is going to compare to the years of experience a local cleaner has.