Cleaning Micro suede
- Thread starter yadreamin
- Start date
Whats been your best cleaning method Perp?.
My chairs just have the grubby fingermarks on the highback, but it looks soooo bad, its just one big dark smudge right across the top.
I checked out the local supermarket today for Suede cleaner but none there.
I have to say l am quite hesitatant to begin this process as any stuff up is really gonna stand out.
cheers
Provided it really is micro-suede, made of polyester, rather than suede, made of cows, it's really hardy and very difficult to screw up.
I use my carpet shampoo unit with an upholstery attachment (I invested in a Hoover carpet cleaner - gosh the new ones are a lot cheaper than mine, see for example this American Hoover site). But if you don't have one, or want one, you can usually hire one from your supermarket.
I've used the soap that comes with it, a mix of vinegar and hot water (about 20% vinegar), dish detergent, wool mix - they all worked! But I'd try the simple, less soapy, vinegar and water first. The soapy ones, I've heard, make your surface get dirty again more quickly, because the same action which causes dirt to bind to the shampoo when cleaning, causes stuff to bind to the soap residues. Whether that's true or not, no idea, but it sounds logical and the vinegar and water works, so that's what I use.
PS Next time, consider decorating using a dark grey/brown neutral. That's what I did last year when renovating, and it was an inspired choice - when your furniture and carpet is dust/dirt-coloured, it never looks dirty!
That won't damage the fabric, but I'm not sure how effectively it would clean it, ie whether it'd be "enough" cleaning power. Give it a go!
Those shampoo units get the fabric pretty wet. When they say not to wet/soak it, they mean not to wet it so much that the water soaks through into the foam and makes the foam go mouldy, I'm pretty sure. And if you wet it heavily in one patch, and leave the rest entirely dry, you may get like a "water ring" around the edge, so make sure you wipe the couch so that the wet and dry areas "blend in".
