Upholstery Care Guide
This is the guide to read before any of the others. Whatever your sofa is covered in, the same few rules decide whether a clean helps or does permanent damage: find the cleaning code, test before you commit, and never use more moisture than you need. Get those right and almost every everyday mark comes out. Get them wrong — the wrong solvent, a soaked cushion, a scrub instead of a blot — and you can set a stain or strip a finish in seconds. Here you will find the cleaning codes in full, a safe method that works on any upholstery, the problems that are about the sofa's structure rather than its cover, and the habits that add years to any suite.
Almost every sofa carries a code on a label under a seat cushion or beneath the frame. It is the single most important thing to find before you clean anything.
| Code | What it means | Safe to use | Never use |
|---|---|---|---|
| W | Water-based cleaning only. The most common code on fabric sofas. | Water, foam from mild washing-up liquid, water-based upholstery cleaner. | Solvents, dry-cleaning fluid, alcohol. |
| S | Solvent cleaning only. Water will mark or shrink this fabric. | A dry-cleaning solvent, applied sparingly in a ventilated room. | Water of any kind, including a damp cloth. |
| SW | Either water-based or solvent cleaners are safe. | Both, though water-based is gentler — start there. | Bleach and abrasive products. |
| X | Vacuum only. No liquid cleaning at all, at home or otherwise. | A soft-brush vacuum attachment, and nothing else. | Water, solvents, foam, steam — everything. |
No code on the label?
Treat it as X until you know: vacuum only, and contact us with your order details before using any liquid. Guessing costs a great deal more than asking.
Six steps that apply to any upholstery, in this order. Skipping the test is the mistake we see most often.
Find the label.
Look under a seat cushion, along the base of the frame, or inside a removable cover. This is where the cleaning code lives.
Vacuum first, always.
Cleaning over grit grinds it into the fibres or the surface. Take the soft-brush attachment over everything, crevices included.
Test on a hidden area.
The back panel or under a cushion. Apply your cleaner, wait ten minutes, blot with a white cloth and check for colour transfer or any change in texture.
Work from the outside in.
Start at the edge of a mark and move towards its centre. Working outwards spreads it and leaves a ring.
Blot, never rub.
Press and lift with a clean white cloth. Rubbing pushes the mark deeper and can felt or fray the surface.
Dry fast and evenly.
Open windows or run a fan. Damp left in upholstery for more than a day is how mildew and musty smells start.
Use a white cloth every time
A coloured cloth can transfer its own dye into damp upholstery, and it hides whether the mark is actually lifting.
Not every problem is a stain. These are the structural and surface issues we are asked about most, across every material we sell.
What to do
Rotate and flip them weekly and plump the filling by hand. Fibre and foam both recover far better with regular reshaping.
Avoid
Only ever sitting in the same seat; storing heavy items on the cushions.
What to do
Check every visible bolt and fixing is hand-tight and that all feet sit flat on the floor.
Avoid
Over-tightening a fixing; ignoring a squeak that is getting worse.
What to do
Ease the fabric back into place from the centre outwards after vacuuming, then re-tuck it into the frame.
Avoid
Pulling hard at a corner or along a seam.
What to do
Hand-tighten it; most sofa feet screw into a threaded plate in the frame.
Avoid
Using tools that over-tighten and strip the thread.
What to do
Keep the teeth clear of fluff and refit covers gently while the fabric is relaxed.
Avoid
Forcing a zip closed over a bulging cushion.
What to do
Ventilate the room, vacuum thoroughly, and on fabric use bicarbonate of soda — sprinkle, leave two to three hours, vacuum off.
Avoid
Masking it with spray; leaving upholstery damp after cleaning.
What to do
Rotate cushions regularly and shade the sofa from direct sun with blinds or curtains.
Avoid
Moving a faded cushion into a sunnier spot to even it out.
What to do
Remove it gently with a fabric shaver or de-bobbler. It is a normal early characteristic, not a defect.
Avoid
Picking at it, or cutting it with scissors.
When to stop and call us
For structural movement, a broken frame or fixing, anything electrical, or a stain on an S or X coded cover, stop and contact us on 02476 705 600. Attempting a repair yourself can affect your warranty.
These habits are material-agnostic — they add years to a fabric suite, a leather one and everything in between. Tap each to expand.
UV is the one form of damage that reaches every upholstery equally: fabric fades, leather dries, and leather-look surfaces degrade from the top down. Blinds, curtains or UV-reflective film in bright rooms and conservatories.
Radiators, fires, wood burners and underfloor heating dry out natural fibres and hides and stiffen synthetic surfaces. Fifty centimetres of clearance is a sound working minimum.
This is the highest-value five minutes in sofa care. Grit is abrasive, and left in the weave or the seams it wears the surface from the inside out long before anything looks dirty.
We all sit in the same seat. Rotating and flipping reversible cushions and reshaping the filling spreads compression, wear and light exposure so the whole suite ages together.
The single biggest factor in whether a stain comes out is how quickly you reached it. Blot immediately with a dry white cloth, then treat according to the material.
Dragging a sofa puts the whole load through the legs and the joints where they meet the frame. It is the most common cause of a wobble or a squeak that appears for no apparent reason.
Dark denim, new cushions, throws and newsprint all migrate colour into light upholstery, and it is far harder to remove than a spill. Check light-coloured seats after heavy use.
Quick pointers not already covered above.
Look on the label under a seat cushion, along the bottom edge of the frame, or inside a removable cover. It will show W, S, SW or X. If you cannot find one, treat the sofa as X — vacuum only — and contact us with your order details before using any liquid.
W means water-based cleaners only. S means solvent only, and water will mark or shrink the fabric. SW means either is safe. X means vacuum only, with no liquid cleaning of any kind. Using the wrong one can set a stain or strip a finish permanently.
Once a week, every week. It is the most effective single thing you can do. Grit trapped in the weave or the seams acts like sandpaper every time someone sits down, and it causes far more wear than the occasional spill.
No. Steam is only safe on W or SW upholstery, and even then only after testing a hidden area. It can watermark some fabrics, crush velvet pile permanently, and should never go near leather, Leather Aire or faux leather.
Every couple of years is sensible in a busy household, and it is the right call whenever a stain is deep, old or spreading, or the cover is S or X coded. Use a firm that asks about your cleaning code before quoting — if they do not ask, look elsewhere.
Almost always because it was not dried quickly enough. Upholstery left damp for more than about a day grows mildew. Ventilate while you clean, use as little moisture as the job needs, and finish with a fan or open windows.
Some settling noise in the first few weeks is normal as the frame and joints bed in. A creak that grows louder, or movement you can feel, is not. Check the feet and visible fixings are hand-tight, and contact us if it continues.
Only if that specific cover's label says so — many that look removable are spot-clean or dry-clean only. Foam and fibre inners should never be machine washed, as the structure breaks down and does not recover.
It depends far more on care than on price. As a guide, a well-maintained fabric sofa gives around 7–10 years, a Leather Aire suite comfortably longer, and genuine leather 15–20 years or more. Weekly vacuuming and prompt spill treatment are what move a sofa to the top of its range.
Contains everything you need for optimum fabric care.
Keep 100% real leather at its best with this handy kit.