Be Careful Using Plain Water To Clean Your Furniture

The kids have been home and they've had friends in and out all summer. Maybe you've had guests staying a few days here and there as well. With that going on, the chances of something getting spilled on a chair or your sofa is pretty high. If you attempted to clean it up with plain water, you may have just made it worse.

A popular fabric on furniture right now is Viscose, or you may know it as Rayon. It is manmade from natural materials that include wood pulp, which is similar to cotton. It is nearly pure cellulose and has been around for what seems like forever. Viscose gives furniture a high sheen pile fabric that feels good and looks good.

The downside to viscose is that when it comes in contact with any form of water, drinks, wet hands, etc., the fibers of the fabric swell and stay swollen. The spot becomes even more visible because Viscose fibers that have been in contact with water remain swollen because they reflect light. This will make the spot stand out massively more so than the rest of the furniture that didn't get wet. That spot now looks a different color permanently and when viscose fibers become wet, they become 40% weaker as well.

So what do you do to clean this type of furniture? A steam cleaner can be your best friend when you own furniture with viscose fabric. The main purpose of these machines is to clean floors, but some come with attachments for cleaning upholstery too. However, steam is made of water and if not done properly can make the matter even worse. You could even ruin your furniture completely if not careful.

Depending on how old your furniture is, how long you plan to keep your furniture, and how bad the wet spots are, it may be in your best interest to call a professional service such as American Cleaning and Restoration. We not only have the experience, knowledge, and skills to clean your viscose furniture, but we also have the proper equipment.