Everything you ever wanted to know about Upholstery Cleaning

Upholstery is the covering that is padding, springs, webbing and fabric on a piece of furniture. The furniture in a house should be both functional and attractive. It should be well constructed and easy to maintain. The variety of furniture available for houses today is as great as the numbers of companies are manufacturing institutional furniture. Most of the furniture is combination of wood and plastics made to look like wood. Many times close examination of the facades of what looks like French provincial carved wood will reveal a molded plastic exposure. Hardwoods are scarce and expensive therefore substitutes such as plywood and pressed particle board are used extensively in the manufacture of institutional furniture. Little if any metal furniture is found these days as it is very expensive. The executive house keeper has to examine samples to ensure that furniture is well designed. Constructed with corner blocks to withstand hard and abusive use, well finished and re-finish able. Joints are major factors in the strength and durability of well made furniture. Mortise and double doweled joints are used in well made furniture. Desks, luggage racks, chests of drawers, and pieces that provide storage are known as case furniture and are primarily constructed with dovetail joints. Some metal pieces will be used in the construction of case furniture for drawer guides and luggage receivers. Drawer construction in case furniture should always have concealed dovetail joints in the front piece to ensure that constant motion of the drawer will not cause the drawer front to The upholstery fabrics are constructed of fibers, which are of two general classifications namely natural fibers and synthetic fibers. Natural fibers include cotton, wool, linen and silk. Synthetic fibers include Rayon, Acetate, Dacron, Fiber glass and Nylon etc. The natural fibers are strong, long wearing, and available in many finishes and easily dyed. They must however be treated for insects and not allowed to remain wet. Natural fibers are usually expensive when woven into fabrics for upholstery. Synthetic fabrics are less expensive, not subject to damage by insects or moisture and clean easily, but they are more likely to create static electricity and are difficult to dye. Dark color synthetics also show lint badly. Many upholstery fabrics are blends of natural and synthetic fibers. Industrial upholstery fabrics are being woven into stretch knits that are dense, full bodied and strong and into earth textures. Some are double knit and are woven into a jacquard texture others are woven into fine textured materials. Plastic fabrics have leather like finish and are used in furniture construction. They may be wiped clean with a soapy cloth or sponge. Plastic fabrics may also be found in mattress ticking and blackout drapes.

About the Author

Abagail Odalis is a home restoration specialist who currently works in the New York Carpet Cleaning Industry. Her 20 years of home restoration experience has taught her how to clean, fix and repair everthing from carpets, area rugs to wood floors and diaster clean up.