Almost every upholstery problem we are asked to fix was caused by cleaning. Usually by a vacuum beater bar, occasionally by a wet cloth and enthusiasm. Here is what each of the three main weaves actually needs.
Throw away the beater bar
The rotating brush head on a domestic vacuum is designed to agitate carpet pile. On upholstery it drags loops out of bouclé, flattens velvet permanently and pulls slubs proud on linen. Use the flat upholstery head, on the lowest suction setting, once a week. That is the single most useful sentence in this article.
Linen
Washed linen creases and that is the point of it. Do not fight it. Vacuum weekly, plump the cushions daily, and accept that the seat will read as lived in by about week three. Spills need blotting immediately with a dry white cloth, working inward, never rubbing — linen wicks, and rubbing spreads a small problem across a hand’s width. It carries a stain grade of two, which means something will always show slightly. Buy it knowing that.
Velvet
Cotton pile shades. Sit on it and the pile lies differently where you sat, catching light at a new angle, and that patch looks darker or lighter than the rest. This is not wear and it is not a fault — it is how velvet has behaved for four hundred years. A soft clothes brush, drawn one way down the nap, resets the whole seat in about thirty seconds. Never wet clean it; water leaves a ring where the pile dries in a different direction.
Bouclé
Bouclé is a loop, and a loop can be pulled. Keep cats off it, keep zips and belt buckles off it, and if a loop does come proud never cut it — push it back through from the underside with a blunt needle. Otherwise it is the most forgiving cloth we sell: the dry, papery hand hides marks that would show plainly on a flat weave.
Cushion fills
Feather and down needs a genuine daily shake, not a token pat, and an airing by an open window once a month. Foam-cored cushions in a down jacket need it twice a week. Plain high-resilience foam needs nothing at all, which is exactly why we specify it on dining and occasional pieces.
When to call us
Before you try anything from the internet. Cloth is easier to save than to replace, and we would rather spend ten minutes on the telephone than re-cover a seat.
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