If you have furniture that is upholstered with microfiber and you get a stain on it, you probably already know that common upholstery cleaners do not work well for cleaning microfiber. It is not your microfiber upholstery that is the problem, it is the product you are using when you are cleaning microfiber.
Most, if not all, of the upholstery cleaning products that you will find at you local grocery or discount stores are not made to clean microfiber. Why? Well, microfiber is a fairly new upholstery material and many of the everyday cleaning supply manufacturers have not got around to producing them. However, you can find the proper products you need for cleaning microfiber on the Internet. Eventually microfiber cleaning products will be made available and be stocked on the shelves of your favorite stores, but until then, you will have to search it out.
When you purchase furniture that has been upholstered with microfiber, it should come with a tag that gives important information about the microfiber. The tag will have codes on it. These will be listed as W, S, S-W, or X. Knowing what these codes represent will be the key to finding products that you can use for cleaning microfiber upholstery.
W: The W represents water. You should look for a cleaner that is water based to clean upholstery that is marked with a W.
S: The S represents solvent. You should only clean this piece of upholstery with a water free dry cleaning solvent.
S-W: If your furniture has an S-W on the tag, this means it can be cleaned with either of the two above listed cleaning products.
X: Vacuum only.
What if you have a piece of furniture and the tag was removed before you noticed what the code was? In that situation, you may want to opt for vacuum cleaning only. You may be surprised at how quickly stains can be lifted with the suction of a vacuum nozzle. Microfiber is made to repel stains. So, if the stain has not set, try vacuuming first. If this does not work, search for a product that is labeled specifically for cleaning microfiber. Do not simply use a generic or well known upholstery cleaner and apply it to your microfiber. If you do, you may damage the upholstery and make the stain worse. Do not try to clean it with water, either. Many times you will only end up with a water stain.
After you have cleaned your microfiber, you may notice that it has become a little hard. That is easily rectified. Simply brush the furniture with a soft brush. Many people like to use a toothbrush. But, if you have a large area to soften, a toothbrush may be too small to use. Most any soft scrub brush will do the job.
If your microfiber upholstery is smelly, try sprinkling baking soda powder on it. Allow it to set for a few hours then vacuum it up. If smells linger, give your furniture a light spray of Febreze. However, don’t saturate your furniture with it or you will have water stains on it.
Cleaning microfiber is not that difficult. All that it requires is a little education and the right products. With proper care your microfiber upholstery will last for years.