When cleaning house, cleaning upholstery sofas and chairs are often overlooked because they seem to always look so clean. The truth of the matter is that upholstered furniture requires much more than just a gentle dusting or vacuuming if you want to keep it looking and functioning well. The reason is, that piece of upholstered furniture in your living room is like a gigantic filter for the dust and dirt in the air.

All of the floating dirt, dust that naturally enters your home will eventually come in contact with the fibers in the upholstery, and when they do, they get trapped deep into the fibers. The upholstery furniture collects much of the dust that enters your home. It may not look dirty to the naked eye but it is. To determine just how dirty it is perform the following DIY test.

To determine how much dirt and dust is in your upholstery, get out your vacuum cleaner. Remove the outermost connection from the hose, and place a clean white napkin between the hose and the fitting 'trapping' it between the two pieces. When you turn on your vacuum, all of that dirt and dust will show clearly in the napkin. The napkin will act like a filter and the filter will be able to gauge how dirty your upholstery really is.

Take a few samples from different areas of the furniture; the seat cushions, from the bottom base, the arm rests and a sample from the upper back section. Pull off the attachment from the end of the vacuum hose and look at what is there. You may be shocked. If the napkin filter is moderately to quite black with dust, a professional cleaning may be necessary.

You can clean the furniture yourself as a DIY project. Attachments for carpet cleaners are available at most carpet cleaning rental stores. The furniture can be cleaned in the same way as you would clean your carpets using the furniture attachments. This test of how dirty your upholstered furniture is should be performed at least once a year. Keeping it clean will keep it looking fresh and extend its life.

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