“How do I clean my sofa (or chair?) is an extremely common question.
The answer depends on what type of fabric you have and whether your problem is “dirt” or a specific type of stain.
Fabric mills and upholstered furniture manufacturers often supply cleaning codes to specify a general cleaning method.
- W stands for water-based cleaners (such as upholstery shampoo)
- S is for non-water-based solvents.
- WS means either is OK.
- X means that there is no recommended cleaning method. (Silk and embroidered fabrics usually fall into this category.)
These codes were developed long ago, before the introduction of the internet, at a time when information was not as easily available.
There is now a much better way to determine how to clean upholstery.
- Go to Google (or any other search engine.)
- Search for how to clean your specific type of stain from your specific type of fabric.
For example, when I googled “What is the best way to clean vomit from a microfiber sofa?” I came up with the following responses on the first page:
- How to Remove Vomit Smell from Microfiber Upholstery
- How to Clean a Microfiber Couch | Top Cleaning Secrets
- How to remove vomit smell from
- how to get puke out of a microsuede couch – BabyCenter
- Throw Up on Microfiber | ThriftyFun
- Remove Vomit Stains from Upholstery | Spot Removal Guide
- How to Remove the Vomit Smell from Anything – Meaningful Mama
The internet will almost always provide you with excellent and specific advice on how to clean almost any combination of stain and fabric.
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