Care of Your Upholstery

• Accumulated dust accelerates wear and dulls colour, so vacuum clean your upholstery once a week.
  
  
• Most furniture is in constant use. To prevent excessive soiling and wear, cushions should be turned daily, switching positions where possible.
  
  
• Modern, soft casual designs require a regular dressing programme, which involves “plumping up” all seat, back and arm cushions on a daily basis.
  
  
• Protect upholstery from long periods of direct sunlight as this may result in the fabric fading or even rotting.
  
  
• All Velvets and Chenilles will shade, crease and show pressure marks through use. This change in appearance is a characteristic of these fabrics and does not indicate a manufacturing fault. Regular soft brushing will minimise the effects of shading.


• Leather upholstery has real character and is relatively easy to maintain. However, leather is a natural product made from animal skins. These skins are not uniform in either texture or finish. Leather upholstery can display various marks and scars. These are unique natural characteristics of leather and distinguish leather from man made substitutes such as vinyl.
  
  
• Leather Upholstery is produced with a variety of different finishes. Aniline and Semi-Aniline leathers mark more easily and will absorb fluids, including natural oils. All leather will stretch with use and show natural creasing.
  
  
• Light coloured Upholstery can be susceptible to ‘Dye Transfer’. Avoid wearing clothing which is not colourfast when using your upholstery, For example, denim garments are very often not colourfast. Soiling from non-colourfast fabrics can be difficult to remove completely.
  
  
• Modern CMHR foams used in upholstery products will soften with use and can also produce a slight odour initially; this is a character of newness and will fade over time.
  

Upholstery Cleaning

• If your upholstery has removable dry cleaning covers, send the covers to a reputable firm of dry cleaners, ensuring that they are aware of any instruction labels sewn into the cover. It is almost inevitable that, following dry cleaning, there will be a slight apparent colour variation between the removable and fixed sections of upholstery.
  
  
• Where covers are not removable for dry cleaning you should seek specialist advice. Please ask instore for details of recommended local cleaning specialists. We recommend the application of Fabric Protection which will facilitate the removal of accidental stains and provide a five-year warranty. Please ask in Store for further details.
  
  
• When dealing with spot stains be sure to try cleaning agents on an inconspicuous area to test reaction. Acrylic velvets, such as "Dralon" can be sponged lightly with warm water. Be sure not to over wet. Wet rubbing of fabrics may affect colourfastness and should be avoided. Blotting rather than rubbing will help to avoid damage to the fabric pile.
  
  
• Most leather upholstery should be cleaned using a mild, warm solution of a pure soaping agent. Repeat the process with clean warm water and dry with a soft cloth.
  
  
• Where covers are removable for Machine Washing, follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully. As a general rule covers should be washed at a maximum of 40 degrees centigrade, should be turned inside out, washed separately from other fabrics and not allowed to soak. Use Pure Soap products such as Dreft or Lux; do not use modern washing powders, as they contain whitening agents. Do not use bleach; do not tumble dry and only iron gently whilst damp. Avoid over washing - covers will fade and shrink slightly with each wash. Some scatter cushions are 'Dry Clean Only' so check the cleaning instructions separately.