"Five Upholstery Cleaning Myths"
Cleanfax (05/19) Vol. 25, No. 5, Pemberton, Jim

Cleaning specialists should be aware of five myths about upholstery cleaning so that they can educate customers about appropriate cleaning strategies. The first myth is that dry cleaning is safest when dealing with upholstery, but while dry cleaning solvents are less likely than water-based solutions to damage delicate fabrics, experts say they can cause colors to bleed and require colorfast tests for all cleaning and spotting products. The second myth is that the hottest water possible should be used to clean upholstery, but hot water may actually cause non-colorfast fabrics to bleed and synthetic fiber velvets to distort. The third myth is that fiber content and cleaning code tags are accurate, but cleaning specialists should understand that they do not guarantee cleanability. The fourth myth claims that fiber identification tests are not helpful due to the fact that fibers often are blended. However, experts say using a burn test to determine at the very least whether natural fibers, synthetic fibers, or both are present will help them choose a cleaning method appropriate for that fiber family. Finally, the fifth myth is that synthetics cause less cleaning problems than natural fibers, but cleaning specialists must take care to avoid heat damage or color bleeding when dealing with synthetic fibers.

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