7 Unbelievable Benefits of Professional Upholstery Cleaning in Adelaide

Benefits of Professional Upholstery Cleaning in Adelaide

So, you had a long week and finally have some time to relax on Friday evening. As you are sipping your South Australian Shiraz or having a cup of coffee, watching your favorite program on the TV, a disaster can strike at any time. So, a glass of your favorite liquid can fall on your newly purchased sofa or armchair, leaving a dark circle on the light colored fabric of your expensive furniture.

Your panic will be even bigger if you have young kids or pets that can be prone to accidents, in that case you might not even have time to call for help. But you need to act fast and grab a towel from the kitchen to rub the stain as much as you can, but as you are rubbing the stain it starts to spread and seep deeper into the fibers of the couch.

However, there are also situations where an item has simply gone ‘bland’ and when looked at in the right lighting it can appear tired, dingy and worn even though it has not necessarily been soiled. Items such as armchairs can hold old odors even though they may have been cleaned in the past. Sometimes these smells are not even noticeable but then they are suddenly apparent after the air in the home has been cleaned. This is when the upholstery cleaning remove old odors that have been left in the fabric of the armchair.

Many houses around Adelaide feature couches that have been used to unwind after long days. In Adelaide’s scorching summers with low humidity and in its cool moist winters, it is typical for dirt to come into your house via the air. In summer, pollen from trees in the Adelaide Hills, plus fine dust off in the northern suburbs, can get into your lounge via open windows.

Once inside the pollen and fine dust settle onto surfaces. In winter the coastal air from Glenelg, or even Henley Beach, plus the increased moisture in the air from the sea, all get trapped within the fibers of the upholstery and the crevices of the couch’s foam cushioning. And this trapped dirt brings with it a host of other substances too such as pet dander, hair, and dead skin, odor causing substances, as well as a plethora of tiny allergens including dust mites and their faeces.

The lounge suite can become a haven for hidden things like allergens, dust mites, hair, dead skin, smells and much more. Most of these things are invisible to the human eye but do so much damage in the home.

You may be a cleaning fanatic and clean the floors every day and the kitchen counters daily. But be assured that a simple once over of the lounge with the standard vacuum cleaner attachment is not enough to clean your upholstery. Standard vacuum cleaner attachments are not equipped with enough suction power to pick up dirt that has penetrated deep into high-density foam and tightly woven fabrics.

Simply wiping over your dirty lounge with a damp cloth will only deposit more dirt onto the surface of your Upholstery within minutes. This type of cleaning can actually appear to Upholstery Cleaning in the short term (for a few days) but in reality is only rubbing dirt into the fibers deeper thus causing more and more wear with each sitting.

Upholstery cleaning is now not just a cosmetic exercise; it has become a matter of household necessity and health. For the above reasons, we at Gifted Hands consider expert cleaning of your couches the ultimate solution in furniture care and protection. We are here to return your valuable investment back to you in a like new condition. We can also help in returning quality air back to you and your family.

This guide is so much more than just a blog post about couch cleaning. It will reveal to you the numerous benefits to professional couch cleaning. It will delve into the reasons behind fabric cleaning and the science behind the various techniques used for Upholstery Cleaning in Adelaide. Ultimately, it will explore how Gifted Hands Cleaning can give your much loved furniture a makeover and protect your investment and your health.

The Hidden Dangers Lurking in Your Upholstery

Most people have no idea what is really going on with their upholstered furniture. To most people a couch is something to sit on to relax. Maybe to read a book. To take a nap. To watch TV. It is what it looks like and we select the color, design and style of the furniture to match our home’s interior decor. The unsavory truth of uncleaned upholstered furniture is revealed when viewed under a high-powered microscope.

The upholstery on your furniture acts as an air filter in your home. Yes that’s right, an air filter. As the fabrics on your furniture are porous they are able to capture the air borne particles that are floating around in the air in your home. These particles can include things such as dust mites, human hair, skin cells and even pollen from outside.

The furniture can also absorb gases and smells that are present in the air as well as any physical matter that falls onto the surface of the furniture. Unlike the filters in your air conditioner that can be washed and reused, the filters in your upholstered furniture are one use only and just continue to fill up with dirt, dust and other matter until they can hold no more.

The Biology of Dirty Upholstery: Part 1 – The Fungi & Other Creepies

Dust Mites: Dust Mites are small, spider-like arachnids which are invisible to the human eye. Dust Mites live in almost every home in the world and like all living things they have a preferred environment in which they thrive best. For Dust Mites this is a warm, humid and dark environment.

The deep folds of an upholstered couch, left untouched for long periods of time and warmed by the human body are the absolute perfect breeding ground for these creepy critters in an Adelaide winter. Importantly to note is that dust mites do not bite and do not directly spread disease. What they do is feed very aggressively on the dead human and animal skin cells (dander) that fall from our bodies every day.

It is the fecal matter of the dust mite and the decomposing bodies of the mites themselves that contain a highly potent protein that can trigger symptoms of asthma, cause allergic rhinitis and aggravate other severe respiratory problems. In many cases dust mite allergy affects children and the elderly the most.

Bacteria and Viruses: Whatever we come into contact with during the day gets transferred to our sofas and armchairs. That’s why it’s so easy to spread colds and flu’s. And if someone has been sick in your home and then lay on the sofa, the virus can survive on the surface of the fabric for hours and even days depending on the temperature and humidity.

Pet Dander, Saliva, and Oils: Any home with furry friends will harbor a layer of pet dander, dried saliva and oils on all furniture. Cats and dogs have natural oils in their coats that can rub off on surfaces and, when on fabric, can create a sticky residue that will draw in even more dirt and dust than a clean, non-coated surface.

Human Body Oils and Sweat: Even though we don’t have pets on the furniture at home, we all secrete natural oils from our skin as well as sweat from time to time. These can be easily seen on the headrest of a recliner or on armrests of couches and chairs, turning dark over time. These oils are part of our skin and can quickly penetrate and degrade fabric dye, also bringing in a lot of dust from the air.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Almost every home contains large amounts of airborne chemicals in the form of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are released from a wide variety of sources. In almost every home a large amount of VOCs are produced from the cooking and from cleaning products, including all sorts of gels, liquid and sprays. Aerosol deodorants and other personal care items can also create large amounts of VOCs.

Paints are another large source of VOCs and must be allowed to off-gas for extended periods of time after application in order to allow the large amount of VOCs that are produced by fresh paint to dissipate. However, even after paint has apparently fully off-gased, large amounts of VOCs can remain in the paint and in other items of furniture, absorbing into the porous surfaces of upholstered furniture over time and producing a musty odor or sensation of very poor air quality in homes where such items of furniture are present.

The Severe Impact on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

We all know the huge cloud of dust that is released from dirty upholstered furniture when it is given a good beating and suddenly released into the air – this is a massive amount of hidden filth being unleashed into the environment!

In fact, each time you lie on your sofa or sit in your armchair, the weight of your body on the cushions of your sofa causes the cushions to collapse. This collapse of the cushioning causes the air in the cushions to be forced out through the pores in the surface of the upholstery. The air that is forced out through the surface of the upholstery, along with the dust mites, human and animal dander, pollen and other allergens that have been trapped in the upholstery, forms a massive cloud of air born particles that are released into the air we breathe in our homes.

However, by allowing your upholstered furniture to continuously accumulate a vast array of passive air borne contaminants and their subsequent decomposition products, your home becomes a source of extreme air pollution. Dirt and dust are brought into the home on human contact with outside surfaces, hair, clothing, shoes etc. When these particles are deposited onto surfaces of upholstered furniture, they are drawn into the pores of the fabric where they become passive air filters.

They are slowly decomposed by the myriad of contaminating organisms present in upholstered furniture, and the decomposing matter is then released back into the air as gaseous pollutants. These pollutants can exacerbate existing respiratory problems such as asthma, cause allergy related problems such as sneezing, itchy and watery eyes, and even cause unexplained instances of chronic coughing and sore throats. All of these problems can be reduced or even eliminated with the aid of professional sofa cleaning in SA.

So, what can you do to remove these hidden contaminants from your Upholstered Furniture? Professional Sofa Cleaning in SA is the only proven method to remove deeply embedded contaminants to return your indoor environment to a healthy living space for you and your family.

Top 7 Unbelievable Benefits of Professional Upholstery Cleaning

While knowing what is hiding inside your couch is an essential first step to solving the problem and fighting it back, just vacuuming on a regular basis will not be enough to solve all the problem your furniture has.

Here are the seven amazing benefits that you will receive when Gifted Hands Cleaning book a professional Upholstery Cleaning of your furniture.

1. Dramatically Improved Indoor Air Quality and Health

Furniture acts as massive passive air filters and when these filters get clogged with all sorts of debris it ceases to act as a filter and instead becomes a pollutant, releasing back into the air the allergens it had previously trapped. These are then spread around the home by every movement of people and pets. Deep cleaning of upholstered furniture is essential to improving the quality of the indoor air we breathe.

Professional Upholstery Cleaning involves Hot Water Extraction (more commonly known as steam cleaning) of your upholstered furniture. The best equipment for deep cleaning of upholsteries would incorporate all three major components of the cleaning process, i.e. a device that contains a cleaning solution, hot water to dissolve dirt and grime and a powerful vacuum to extract all of the cleaning solution and deeply embedded dirt from the surfaces of upholsteries as well as from within upholsteries. The powerful suction is able to vacuum up all the dirt, dust, pollinating insects, pollen, fibers, human hair, etc. that have gotten into the fabric and within the cushioning and support materials of the upholstered furniture.

The filter will be emptied of all the dirt that has been lodged deep in the fabric and cushioning etc. of your upholstered furniture. Especially valuable for people with severe seasonal allergies such as asthma or those who suffer from hay fever. As deeply cleaning upholstered furniture can help those people suffering from allergies experience fewer symptoms and require less medication especially around the time of Spring in Adelaide when hay fever is at its worst.

2. Significantly Extended Lifespan of Your Furniture

In relation to point 1 above, protecting your investment in good quality furniture is a high priority for any home owner. A good quality lounge suite can cost anywhere from $2,000 up to and over $10,000. So it is important to look after it to extend its life.

Crumbs of dry dirt such as sand from the beach, and other minute particles of grit and dirt also fall into the fabric’s weave. These tiny particles of dirt act like razor blades of sandpaper every time you sit down or move about on the couch. They wear down the fibers of the couch leading to premature deterioration of your investment.

When debris is ground into fabrics it causes the most damage. The harder the fibers in the fabric the more they are affected. Eventually the fabric will start to look fuzzy as individual fibers pull away from each other, and will begin to thin. In extreme cases the fabric can even start to fray and in the worst case scenario can actually tear. Once a fabric has been torn due to debris caused fiber break down the fabric can not be returned to 100% health and will require full reupholstering or replacement.

By removing the dense layer of dirt, dirt filth, vacuumed particles, allergens and pollutants from your furniture our cleaning process stops the destructive processes happening in the fabric fibers. The abrasive materials such as sand, human hair, pet hair etc within the fiber space of the fabric are removed thereby ceasing to act as sandpaper. The powerful deep cleaning machines at Gifted Hands Cleaning use high powered suction to remove and extract the vast majority of material which has embedded itself in the fabric of your furniture. This means the risk of shrinkage, colour bleeding, staining and material damage is greatly minimized.

3. Complete Eradication of Stubborn, Embedded Odors

Over time smells can become absorbed by a couch or the upholstery of armchairs. These are houses not museums, and with life there is always going to be a smell floating around somewhere. No matter how much we try to keep them eliminated, the fact is that houses can smell. And after a while these smells can penetrate deep into a couch or into the padding of an armchair.

All sorts of smells can penetrate a couch such as cooking smells coming from the kitchen especially those containing oils. There are also smells that come from being in contact with strong spices, the smell of cigarette smoke whether it is from a cigarette or from a fireplace, smells from milk that has been spilled, smells of human sweat from workout clothes that have been left on the couch to go to the gym the next day, and even accidents that happen with kids and pets.

These smells are often so deeply embedded in couches and the upholstery of armchairs that they can be very difficult to get rid of. Unfortunately many people attempt to get rid of domestic smells from couches and the upholstery of armchairs with the use of various sprays that can be purchased from retailers. Unfortunately these type of sprays only mask smells for a short time and they don’t actually clean. And after a short time the smells return. However the worst part is that these type of domestic smell covering sprays can leave a bad smell themselves, in fact in many cases an even worse smell than the original smell.

The common practice that many homeowners use to attempt to get rid of odors on fabrics are fabric fresheners. They may smell nice when you first spray them but in reality all that they do is put a strong smelling mask on top of the odor causing bacteria. As the days go by the fragrance of the spray can often be over powered by the odor and smell worse than when you started, and to top it off the strong chemical smell of the fabric freshener can become a stronger odor then the original smell.

Our odor removal techniques, used in the cleaning of your Adelaide home, can be easily explained. First of all, we do not attempt to mask odors with very heavily scented chemical covering agents that can smell even worse as they react with the other smells in the air.

Our methods involve the use of highly specialized enzymatic cleaners which can actually go into the cellular walls of odor causing bacteria and organic materials such as urine or human faeces, and break them down from the inside out. In addition to this, we also make use of extremely advanced molecular deodorizers. These can actually destroy the molecular structure of an odor leaving your lounge or other pieces of upholstery smelling 100% fresh and clean.

4. Breathtaking Restoration of Original Beauty and Color

Minute soil like dry dirt, sand from the beach, sand & grit in general act exactly like razor blades, scratching away at the fabric fibers. Over months or years of wear & tear the gradual wear of your fabrics will cause them to look ‘fuzzy’ as fibers begin to ‘pill’ & break off from the main fabric. As time goes on this ‘pilling’ will worsen & the individual fibers will begin to weaken & start to thin dramatically which will in turn cause them to begin to ‘fray’ & ‘tear’ which as a rule can not be ‘cleaned’ and need to be ‘reupholstered’ completely.

Over time fabrics can slowly begin to loose their color, and appearance and start to look dull and grey. The dark blues of an ocean color can start to look washed out and appear to have a large amount of brown or black in them, the brights in flower and geometric patterns can start to look as though they have all blended together and lost there contrast.

The most visible solution of all: bringing your furniture back to life. As you no doubt know, every day that goes by your piece of furniture is losing some of its light, color and depth. And as every so often you still sit down on your lounge suite to watch TV or read a book, you haven’t even noticed it all deteriorating, bit by bit. That layer of dirt, dust, grit (or sand, or dirt, as the case may be) can be so fine that you would almost certainly never have even known it was there at all.

And as for the layer of grease from all of the food that you have eaten while sitting on your couch and then wiped your hands on the arm, that will be hiding there as well. All of this stuff takes light and, in fact, sucks it up into itself. That’s why your once so white couch now looks all dull and somewhat dingy grey. Why your bright, and very much once-saturated colored armchair now only look dull, tired and faded. The beautiful and intricate pattern on the surface of your couch now appear so very dull and lacking in definition as well.

But all of that can be returned to you in the form of bright, beautiful color once again. And all it takes is a single treatment of the premium deep cleaning service offered by Gifted Hands Cleaning. And then, of course, there is the fantastic “wow” factor that everyone talks about when they first see a piece of furniture that has just undergone such an impressive transformation. The amazement that they obviously can’t hide from as they slowly realize, bit by bit, that their furniture has been returned to its former glory.

5. The Cleaners Can Leave Your Lounge With No Risk Of Shrinkage, Dye Bleeding or Any Other Form Of Permanently Damage.

Most people have the misconception that “all fabric is created equal”. The truth is that there are many fabrics used for making up, all having different fiber compositions and needing very different cleaning methods. At Gifted Hands Cleaning, our fully trained cleaning staff are experts in all of the various different types of fabrics that are used on upholstery. This ensures that we are always use the best cleaning solutions for any particular type of fabric to prevent any possibility of shrinkage, color loss, or any other type of damage to the fabric of your armchairs, sofas and other upholstered furniture.

We use our expertise of many fibers to establish exactly what your sofa fibers are and what you can safely use on your couch to make sure no harm comes to it. Many people believe that because they have Upholstery Cleaning before with regular household cleaning products that they can use the same on their sofa. However this is not the case. Fabric can be very delicate and be damaged by wrong cleaning products or wrong amount of water, such as fibers shrunk down so much that covers of arms and cushions will not fit, or worst of all the dyes in the fabric can run and bleeden into other parts of the sofa.

Or if your sofa is made of natural fibers such as Cotton, linen or silk then when these get wet the fibers can release Lignin and this can leave your sofa with ugly brown water marks that can be very difficult and in some cases impossible to remove. These are just a few reasons why you should use a professional upholstery cleaning with the knowledge and expertise to safely clean all types of fabrics.

At Gifted Hands Cleaning our team of cleaning technicians are often referred to as the fabric chemists. This is due to their knowledge of a wide variety of upholstery fabrics and the skills to identify specific fabrics and to utilize the correct cleaning products and methods to achieve deep cleaning without risk of causing any damage to your furniture.

6. Enhanced Protection Against Future Spills and Accidents

Cleaning the couch removes old dirt and other problems but the problem that exists now must be treated or it could become a future problem. The ideal time to apply protection to upholstery is immediately after deep unpholstery cleaning and after the furniture has completely dried. In this state the fibers are totally exposed and able to absorb treatment thoroughly and evenly. Applying protection after deep cleaning is far better than cleaning and then allowing time for dirt to build up again.

The fabrics in your home could benefit from the highest grade of fabric protection available. These treatments are the best on the market for upholstered furniture, carpet, and leather. They are professional-grade, made by the world’s leading companies in the field of home and commercial cleaning. We have found, after many years of experience, the best formulas for each different type of fabric and use only these in our work.

This does not mean the fabric is then waterproof, like a child’s raincoat. But what it does do is alter the surface tension of the fabric fibers, enabling any spill to bead up on the fabric’s surface and then allowing time for the spill to be cleaned before it penetrates down into the individual fibers to form a difficult to remove stain.

Understanding Different Upholstery Fabrics: The Science of Cleaning

Many things can go wrong with the cleaning of your furniture. The biggest problem of all is the so-called ‘one size fits all’ approach. If you use the wrong cleaning method for your furniture, the consequences can be huge and often irreversible. Most DIY cleaning attempts and cheap ‘splash and dash’ cleaning services will ruin your furniture in the long run.

With furniture coming in all shapes and sizes, there are in fact a large variety of different fibers, whether these be natural, synthetic or a blend of both and each individual fiber will have their very own specific properties.

The Critical Importance of Identification and Cleaning Codes

It starts with a thorough inspection & assessment of your Upholstery furniture by a Master Technician from Gifted Hands Cleaning before we begin the cleaning process by looking for the manufacturers tags hidden away under seat cushions and other areas for industry specific cleaning codes. We look for the manufacturer tags hidden under the seats. Usually found on the underside of seat cushions these tags have Industry Cleaning Codes which are critical to knowing how best to clean your furniture.

• Code for Water-based cleaning solution : W – This Fabric can be cleaned with water-based shampoos or extraction.
• S (Solvent-Based): This fabric must be dry-cleaned with Solvents. Water must be avoided at all costs as it will cause irreparable damage to this type of fabric.
• WS (Water or Solvent): The fabric will allow either water-based or solvent-based cleaning products to be used on it but great care needs to be taken in order to get the best result for your Upholstery.
• X (Vacuum Only): These fabrics cannot be cleaned with any type of liquid cleaning agents and can only be spot cleaned with a vacuum.

In the absence of manufacturer’s tags our staff conduct hidden burn tests or use chemical spot tests on odd looking fibers to accurately determine the fiber to be used as a covering for your Upholstery furniture. Frequently Found Upholstery Fabrics Within Homes All Over Adelaide and What Gifted Hands Do With Them

• Microfiber / Microsuede: Currently one of the most common Upholstery Fabrics used in domestic furniture across Australia including right here in Adelaide. Initial staining on Microfiber / Microsuede is normally non-permanent due to its extreme make up being ultra fine fibers, that are normally a man made fiber consisting of a blend of polyester & nylon, that are tightly woven. 

This makes Microfiber / Microsuede a very durable fabric for its size. However the two major downfalls with this style of furniture, are the extremely visible water markings, that can appear like little white rings once water has been left to sit on the fabric for an extended period of time.

Also once this fabric has been cleaned it can often become extremely stiff & have a crunchy feel to it. This is why at Gifted Hands Cleaning we use the very latest, Low Moisture Cleaning Techniques & Methods, followed by an in-depth specialized brushing or ‘grooming’ of the fabric, once it has completely dried. This ‘Grooming’ process will ensure that the fabric will once again have a superb soft velvet like texture & feel.

The fabric of your Upholstered Furniture could be made of Cotton or Linen. These are natural fibers – cellulosic – and have a lovely high-end look and also are very breathable. Perfect for use in the hot summer months in Adelaide. These fabrics are however extremely sensitive when they get wet. Fabrics made of Cotton or Linen are prone to severe shrinkage when they get wet. Also fabrics made of Cotton or Linen are prone to develop Cellulosic browning.

This is a bad reaction that happens when the natural dyes (lignin) from the plant stem of the fiber start to migrate to the surface of the fabric when it gets wet. These brown water marks can be very difficult to remove. It is essential that Cotton or Linen Upholstered Furniture is cleaned using extremely precise, highly acidic, moisture control, and by using Forced-Air-Drying to dry as quickly as possible.

• The Third Furniture Type: 

Leather furniture forms the third of the major categories of upholstered furniture in homes. If you have a piece or several pieces of leather upholstered furniture then you will be aware that the methods for cleaning them are very distinct from those for cleaning other types of upholstered furniture. Indeed if you were to attempt to use many of the cleaning methods that are appropriate for other sorts of upholstered furniture on leather then the leather would very likely be seriously damaged. It is for this reason that it is very important to seek out the services of a professional cleaner who specializes in the cleaning of leather.

A professional cleaner will have the relevant skills and knowledge to ensure that your leather furniture is cleaned safely and to the highest possible standards. By safely cleaning your leather furniture professional cleaners are able to remove dirt from the surface of the leather, help to keep it supple and fresh, and also to apply high quality protection creams in order to protect the leather from future staining and from drying out.

• Synthetic fibers include Polyesters, Nylons and Olefins – all hard wearing, extremely resistant to abrasion, and also very resistant to water-based stains such as wine and juice. However, all of these synthetic fibers are oleophilic, meaning they have a strong attraction to oils. This means that your furniture will attract body oils, grease from pets, and cooking smoke etc. The only way to remove these stubborn stains from synthetic fibers is by using a degreasing pre-treatment that is of a high pH.

If the fabric is left to dry with the fibers flat, the fabric can be permanently damaged. The cleaning of velvet requires special care using low pressure cleaning solutions and special velvet grooming tools to brush the fibers back up into place to return them to their original stack.

• Wool: This is a natural fiber from sheep and found in high quality bespoke or custom made furniture. It is flame retardant and has a degree of water repellency. However the major factor with cleaning wool is that it is a protein fiber and that it can be dissolved by highly alkaline cleaning solutions. Therefore only the mildest of pH neutral wool-safe detergents should be used for cleaning wool.

• Professional Cleaning Techniques Explained

Based on the fabric assessment done prior to cleaning by Gifted Hands Cleaning master technicians, the cleaning to be done on your furniture will be the safest most effective technique available in the industry.

• Hot Water Extraction (HWE) – The “steam cleaning” method, generally accepted within the carpet cleaning industry as the best method for deep cleaning of all durable synthetic fibers as well as tough commercial carpet. The technique involves the injection of hot water mixed with a cleaning solution under great pressure into the fabric, and then immediate extraction using strong suction to remove all the dirt, grease and other debris that have been loosened from the fibers with the water.
• VLM (Very Low Moisture) / Encapsulation cleaning is used for sensitive fibers and for situations where carpet cleaning has to dry within one hour. Encapsulations are a variety of cleaning solutions that are mixed with water to form a cleaning solution. When this solution is applied to soiled fibers, it seeps into the soiled area and the dirt particles are surrounded and bonded by the cleaning solution. As the cleaning solution dries, the dirt particles are removed from the fiber surface. The remaining material on the fibers is a dry residue that can be brushed or vacuumed from the fibers.

• Dry Solvent Cleaning: This method is used for cleaning S coded fabrics that are very sensitive to moisture and will shrink or suffer other damages from moisture. These types of fabrics are made of natural fibers like silk or rayon in their rawest form.

The Gifted Hands Cleaning Process: How We Meticulously Revitalize Your Furniture

At Gifted Hands Cleaning Services, we don’t hire ‘amateurs’ to come to your property and provide upholstery cleaning with a wet vacuum that they hired from the supermarket. Instead, we invest significant time, money and science into each and every piece of furniture that we clean. Our technicians go to great lengths to perfect each and every step of our renowned cleaning process, all with the view to obtaining the very best results in terms of the cleanliness and sanitising of your precious investment.

From Leather, Suede & Upholstered furniture such as chairs, ottomans, seat cushions and more – ALL manufactured using a variety of natural & synthetic FIBERS, some blended too – offering large individual chemical properties and large individual potential problems whilst also delivering various strengths.

The Critical Importance of Identification and Cleaning Codes

Before any water or cleaning chemical is applied to your furniture the Gifted Hands Cleaning team master technician will perform a full pre-inspection and assess the fabrics to develop the perfect cleaning solution to restore your Upholstery, Fabric or Leather back to its original state prior to soiling. Often, we look for the manufacturer’s tags hidden under the seat cushions, which display specific industry cleaning codes:

1. W (Water-Based): The fabric can be cleaned using water-based shampoos or steam extraction. Solvents- Based materials – These fabrics are dry clean only & can be damaged by water so only the purest solvents are used specifically designed for the fabrics on your couch & these are performed by experienced personnel who use their expertise & precise methods to remove dirt, stains & odors.

2. WS (Water or Solvent): A mixture of fibers that can be cleaned with water-based shampoos or with solvent-based cleaners. The techniques and methods used to clean these types of Upholstered Furniture can be very tricky if not carried out by a very experienced technician.

3. X (Vacuum Only): This material cannot be cleaned with any liquid cleaning agents. It may be lightly brushed to remove surface dirt. While manufacturers generally clearly identify fabric types in tags attached to cushions, some tags go missing. Where possible, hidden burn tests or chemical spot tests can be conducted using a single, seemingly invisible strand removed from a seam, or from within a seam. This allows our experts to identify all types of fibers to Upholstery Cleaning to the highest standard.

The Various Fabrics Used in Upholstering Household Furniture in Adelaide.

4. Microfiber / Microsuede: These extremely durable and very popular Upholstery Fabrics are often used in Australian Homes due to their very soft Velvet-like texture and excellent stain resistance, especially when new. They are made from very fine synthetic fibers that are often a combination of Polyester and Nylon. Due to their very fine fibers, these fabrics are known to develop Watermarks very easily and can also become very stiff and crunchy if not cleaned with the correct, very low moisture cleaning solutions and methods. After cleaning, these fabrics require a lot of very specialized brushing (grooming) during the drying process to return them to their original softness and even texture.

5. Cotton and Linen: Both natural, plant derived fibers with a high-end feel and are extremely breathable, perfect for hot summer months. Both very delicate when wet, prone to severe shrinkage and suffer from cellulosic browning when over wet or left damp for extended periods. This browning is caused by the natural dyes, found within the plant stems, migrating to the surface in the form of ugly brown water rings. Professional cleaning of these materials involves the use of extremely precise, highly acidic moisture control and forced air drying in order to clean them safely and effectively.

Leather is a separate entity entirely and is best cleaned by using a variety of products that are all individually suited for different stages of the cleaning process. There are numerous different types of leather, all requiring vastly different approaches when it comes to cleaning, with some needing to be simply wiped down with a leather wipe, whilst others demand far more in-depth treatment. As an example, steam cleaning leather can result in the worst possible outcome – with the removal of natural oils from the leather, causing it to dry and contract in an attempt to prevent further moisture from entering.

As a result, the leather becomes hard and brittle, cracking severely in the process. Instead, we apply a gentle, pH-balanced cleaner that is designed to remove dirt from the leather’s pores, after which we apply a deep-penetrating conditioner to restore the leather’s essential moisture. This keeps the leather supple and soft, thereby preventing it from becoming dry and brittle, and also leaves a fantastic protective coating on the surface of the leather to guard against future spills and scuff marks.

6. Synthetic fibers include Polyester, Nylon and Olefin fibers. These fibers are normally very hard wearing and have good resistance to abrasion. They generally have good resistance to water-based stain and can be easily cleaned with a normal cleaning solution.As mentioned earlier the synthetic fibers are oleophilic meaning oil loving, which in reality causes problems such as absorbing body oils, greasy pet hair, cooking fumes, etc. Standard cleaning solutions combined with soap and water are generally unable to remove these marks from synthetic fibers. Special high-pH degreaser solutions are required to break the bond between the oil and the fibers, and then extraction cleaning can begin to clean the mark from the fiber.

7. Velvet: This fabric is often made from natural fibers including cotton or from synthetic fibers such as polyester. In either form it has a unique texture and color, the pile of velvet being the upright fibers that give the fabric its softness. Pile fabrics, including velvet, are very easily damaged when the pile is crushed and then the fabric is allowed to dry. This type of fabric must be cleaned with great care using low pressure and special brushes after cleaning velvet must be followed by grooming the pile to set the fibers upright in perfect order.

8. Wool: High quality bespoke or antique Upholstered Furniture is often covered in fabrics made of wool – natural protein fibers from sheep. It is flame retardant and has natural water repellency. However it is extremely sensitive to highly alkaline cleaning products and will be damaged if not cleaned with strictly pH neutral wool-safe detergent and moderate water temperature to prevent felting and shrinkage.

Professional Cleaning Techniques Explained

On inspection of the furniture we will come up with the best method to clean it, often the most safe method of all is dry cleaning! The steps that our highly qualified and fully uniformed technicians will take for the cleaning of your Upholstery within your Adelaide residence is outlined below. The uniformed technician arrives at your door, begins the initial inspection and provides an explanation to you as to the scope of the work. During the initial inspection we look for a variety of key things. Initially we look for pre-existing damage, concealed tears and weaknesses in the seams of your upholstery.

This is to enable us to ensure that should any damage occur during the cleaning process that repairs can be completed prior to our departing your home or place of business. We then proceed to test the dyes within the fabric to determine whether they are likely to bleed or change color during the cleaning process. Should any bleeding of color occur during the cleaning we are able to treat the affected area to ‘fix’ the color. Finally, we carry out an assessment of any stains present on the fabric, determine the make up of the stains and plan the attack on the stains accordingly.

9. Intense Dry Soil Removal (Pre-Vacuuming): We commence with an intense pre-vacuuming operation involving the dry removal of all detritus including dirt, hair and body dander from all surfaces, utilizing industry leading pre-vacuuming equipment that consists of a commercial grade vacuum cleaner fitted with super fine filters and highly effective, motorized, brushes (agitation & recovery). This process provides superior removal of dry soil, outperforming conventional vacuum cleaners by as much as 80% and alleviating the risk of further contamination by ensuring that any embedded dirt is loosen and removed prior to any addition of moisture. Attempting to clean furniture with the majority of dirt & grime still present in a dry form will serve only to create problematic mud and the associated penetration of that mud into the cushions providing a perpetual home for future soiling.

10. Using Specialized Pre-Treatment: Using the correct fabric pre-treatment on the entire Upholstery or otherwise cleaned item. This is to loosen any and all pre-existing embedded dirt, and allows for said pre-treatment to penetrate into the very fibers of the fabric, suspending any subsequent dirt to be removed in the cleaning process. All stains are then individually treated with the correct cleaning solutions to attack and remove the specific type of staining present

11. Deep Agitation: For the really dirty Upholstery Sofa, Chair, Arm Chair or Loveseat we use our Upholstery Brushes to gently work into the sofa pile and material the Pre-Cleaner that we have sprayed onto the Upholstery prior to commencing cleaning of the furniture. These special brushes are designed to gently agitate into the upholstery pile, gently working deep into every fiber to make sure that the pre-cleaning solution that we have applied is deeply penetrated throughout the fabric of the Upholstery.

12. Rinsing: High Powered Hot Water Extraction. By using a high powered Hot Water Extraction (HWE) machine (either a truck mounted unit or high end portable unit) and precise controlled hot water we remove all dirt, all allergens and all our pre-cleaning solutions from the fabric. The powerful motor of our industrial vacuum in the same pass as extraction removes the vast majority of the moisture from the cleaned fabric.

13. pH Neutralising Rinse: This is where we separate ourselves from the amateur upholstery cleaning team. Even the mildest of cleaning solutions are highly alkaline. If not all of the solution is rinsed from the fabric then it can leave behind a sticky residue on the surface of the fabric. This causes the fabric to feel stiff and crunchy to the touch and actually feels sticky. This type of residue is also known as ‘residue’ and it has a very nasty habit of attracting dirt and allowing it to penetrate much deeper into the fibers of the fabric than normal. This in turn can cause the furniture to look dirty in a very short space of time and is known as ‘rapid resoiling’. Using a special acidic neutralising rinse as part of the cleaning process to neutralize the pH of the fabric leaving it to feel soft, cool and clean.

14. Fabrics Grooming: Although the fabric has been cleaned and it is still damp slightly from washing, Fabrics Grooming is carried out using brushes with soft bristles on the upholstery. To achieve the best cleaning results and a good aesthetic after the cleaning process, the fabric pile must be set in one direction when piling up the fabric. This is particularly important for microfiber and velvet upholsteries.

We don’t like waiting for things to dry, and we know you don’t either. That’s why we use a high tech speed dryer to quickly dry items and get them back to you in a flash.! We bring in our industrial grade carpet blowers and position them strategically throughout the room. The high velocity air moves the air in the room which in turn evaporates the water from the furniture at a greatly increased rate. This enables us to complete the cleaning of your lounge quickly and get you back to using it as soon as possible. Also by drying the furniture as quickly as possible we avoid any chance of damp or musty smells.

15. Optional Application of Fabric Protector: Should you wish to protect your newly cleaned Upholstery from future stains we are able to apply a Premium Grade Protective coating to all fabrics.

16. Final Post-Inspection: We complete a final inspection with you to see that every stain that was able to be removed has been removed. We discuss the amount of time needed for your furniture to completely dry. We make sure that you are completely satisfied with the work that we have completed and show you how to care for your new cleaned and protected piece of furniture. We pack up our equipment and say thank you for the opportunity to serve you.

DIY vs. Professional Upholstery Cleaning: Why Risk Destroying Your Couch?

With the price of living going up it is great to see a lot of life hacks lately that will help save you money for example instead of hiring someone to come and clean your carpets why don’t you just go to the local Bunnings or even Woolworths and hire a carpet and upholstery cleaning machine for the day? And do it all yourself. There’s plenty of videos online that will show you how to do it. But the hidden cost to do these jobs yourself far outweigh any cost that you may have saved by doing it yourself. And as you will read on, the severity of the damage that can be caused is catastrophic.

The Catastrophic Pitfalls of Rental Machines

Rental machines are poorly designed in terms of how they handle water, having very poor quality water pumps, and far more importantly, incredibly poor quality vacuum suction (especially down into dense foam) compared to even a very cheap $4,000+ + portable carpet and upholstery cleaning machine, and especially compared to a $30,000+ truck mounted carpet and upholstery cleaning machine.

Firstly the rental machine has very poor suction, it may pick up dry cleaning dirt off of surface level upholstery but once the fibers are penetrated with moisture the vacuum power is negligible. As a result of this the machine will release huge quantities of water onto your carpet and or upholstery, and then be completely incapable of extracting it from the wet saturated fibers and padding beneath the surface of the upholstery. The end result is that your carpets and or upholstered items will be left soaked to the bone.

Over-wetting carpet and upholstery is the number one cause of carpet and upholstery damage! There are many situations in which the carpet and moisture can penetrate deep into the cushions of the furniture to cause mildew and musty odor.

Even if the surface of the furniture is allowed to dry in a short period of time (say within 24 hours), the mildew and musty odor will often have already developed deep in the affected section of the furniture. In such cases, even after the surface of the furniture has been dried, the affected section will continue to smell badly for some time (think “sour sponge” or “wet dog”). In the worst cases, mildew that has penetrated deep into the foam cushions of the furniture can even cause the furniture to become irreparably damaged and require to be replaced entirely.

Over-wetting also causes the metal staples and springs in the couch and chair frames to rust and develop ugly orange rust stains on the surface of the fabric.Rust stains can penetrate deeply into the fabric of outdoor furniture, in some cases being impossible to remove entirely. Such damage can be very costly to repair and in some circumstances it might even be more cost effective to purchase new furniture.

The Danger of Supermarket Chemicals

Most of the stain removers you find on the cleaning products aisles in supermarkets are highly aggressive, formulated as one-size-fits-all ‘nuclear’ type solutions for removing the toughest of stains from carpets and upholstery. Because they do not know the fabric type you are trying to clean, they are formulated with harsh bleaches and/or high-alkaline solvents.

And what of those “colour safe” solutions found on every supermarket shelf – are they really safe to use on any material. Who really knows the exact material that was used for the covers on your armchair? These strong detergents are capable of bleeding and ruining colored fabric instantly, or even stripping the backing from synthetic material to create unsightly bubbles and lumps in the fabric.

Some stains require special treatment, for example – using hot water on blood for example will only ever set the stain ensuring that even professional cleaners are unable to remove it. And so it goes for all such supermarket solutions that are strong enough to destroy anything, yet unable to provide any solution to a problem.

The Time is Money and Physical Labor Argument

For many people, there is an underestimation of the hidden costs that are involved when doing a DIY carpet and upholstery cleaning job. These costs can be added up and it will be seen that there are a lot of hidden costs to do a DIY job. The costs for a DIY carpet and upholstery cleaning job would be for the fuel to travel to a store, to hire a machine, to purchase any necessary cleaning solutions, to transport the machine to the home, to do the cleaning, and then to transport the machine back to the store and to return any cleaning solutions that were not used.

This physical work is exhausting in itself, in addition to hours spent in attempting to remove stains, and the hassle of waiting 48 to 72 hours for the saturated materials to dry, and also the risk of musty smells that develop during this same period of time. At the end of the job, there is the added bonus of having to return and clean the machine and transport it back to the rental store.

This contrasts with Gifted Hands Cleaning. Our polite and uniformed teams of experts arrive at your door with all the equipment required to complete your job perfectly. We allow you to get on with your life whilst we do all the hard work. We can complete a wide variety of cleaning jobs in a matter of hours allowing you to get on with more important things. Run some errands, play with the kids, watch a movie – the list is endless.

Absolute Peace of Mind and Guaranteed Results

Gifted Hands Cleaning Services is a fully registered, comprehensively insured, police-checked and trained team of handpicked experts in cleaning specialized areas of the home.

If you bleed or stain a couch or other furniture whilst trying to ‘DIY’ a clean and accidentally shrink the fabric or change the color then your home insurance will NOT be able to help pay for the cost of a new one! This could cost anywhere up to $4000 for a high quality lounge suite and that would be YOUR bill!

You will receive absolutely safe, quality work and peace of mind when you book us to clean your home, or commercial or industrial property. We take on the risk of damage to your property when we are undertaking work and can bring to bear years of formal education and on the job experience to complete the task required with care.

Commercial Upholstery Cleaning in Adelaide: Because First Impressions Matter

Yes, the professional, clean and hygienically up-holstered home is not the only beneficiary of this massive service offering. Business owners, alike in Adelaide CBD and surrounds, such as high-end office space, and café’s, restaurants, boutiques, hotels, of all sizes, and medical waiting rooms, need to protect their brand’s core values by maintaining the best seating for their clients.

Protecting Your Brand Image and Reputation

Perception is your Reality- Protect your Brand Image & Reputation. What do you think if you had a potential client come into your reception area to discuss a possible contract worth thousands of dollars. You shake hands and they say they are going to sit down and you direct them to the waiting room. But what do you see, Stains on the chairs, Dark Spots, Faint Stains & Odors coming from the chairs. In a split second you have made up your mind that this is not the company for you.

Why? Because perception is your Reality. The perception that you have of a situation is your reality for that situation. The potential client would probably think that you do not pay enough attention to the little things, that your company does not have proper hygiene, that your company is not professional enough. They would probably think that you are not detail oriented. That would be enough for them and they would walk out the door.

As for Business or Commercial upholstery it provides your clients with an impression of the high standards you work to in business, and that you take care in every detail to provide the best possible experience for your clients while in your establishment. By keeping the chairs and other furniture in your business clean, and in good repair your business will be looked upon very favorably.

Boosting Employee Health, Morale, and Productivity

Most of the time, people will sit on your furniture and then go about their day. However, when you are running a business, your employees are also going to be sitting on the furniture from time to time. Think about all of the times that your employees are going to be sitting in the ergonomic desk chairs in your office for 8 to 10 hours a day, 5 days a week. That is a long time to be sitting in one spot and it is well known that office chairs harbor a lot of bacteria and other things that can be very bad for you as well as spilled coffee and dust that has become embedded in the upholstery.

Incorporating regular commercial couch cleaning into your company’s cleaning routine will improve the indoor air quality of your offices and help remove from the environment any bacteria, dust mites, skin cells etc. that can make your employees ill, thereby reducing the number of sick days your employees take and aid in alleviating symptoms of allergies that could be exacerbated by working in an environment with poor quality of upholstery cleaning. The healthier employees will be more productive and able to work in comfort allowing them to focus fully on their tasks.

Tailored, Unobtrusive Solutions for Busy SA Businesses

At Gifted Hands Cleaning, we are familiar with the reality of commercial operations and know that there is no time to lose when there is work to be done. We realize that a busy restaurant can’t have chairs wet from cleaning when lunch time is about to start, and that a medical clinic can’t have noisy cleaning equipment competing with doctors’ discussions with patients.

We offer a flexible cleaning schedule designed specifically to meet the needs of commercial customers. If required, Gifted Hands Cleaning can complete all scheduled cleaning after hours, or even during the late night/early morning hours. Weekend cleaning appointments can also be organized. Our state-of-the-art cleaning system utilizes a low-moisture method allowing treated items to dry rapidly.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Couch Cleaning in Adelaide

Over many years servicing greater Adelaide we have come to realize that we get asked many of the same great questions from homeowners and from the managers of businesses. Below we have listed the answers to the many questions that we receive regarding the upholstery cleaning that we are able to provide for our clients.

Q: How long will my upholstery cleaning take to dry after a professional hot water extraction cleaning? A: Gifted Hands Cleaning uses commercial-grade equipment including high-such as high-suction extraction equipment that removes 90% of the moisture from the surface instantly-and high-velocity air movers to speed dry the surface.Normal dry time for completely dry upholstery is 4-6 hours. However, this can vary based on several factors including the depth of the upholstery, humidity and airflow.

Q: Can you guarantee 100% removal of all stains from my couch? We have an array of the highest quality chemistry at our fingertips to deal with most stains. But we are not perfect, and there are times when the damage to the fabric by the substance has been too great. Things such as household bleach, strong or stubborn organic matter, particular pets’ urine that has been left for prolonged periods, certain medications, strong food dyes (notably red and artificial) can cause permanent changes to the dye within the fabric and result in ‘permanently’ colored areas.At our initial visit we can usually establish if any particular stain is likely to be removed during the cleaning process.

Q: How often should upholstery be professionally cleaned? For typical households of 2 people with average usage of upholstered furniture we recommend Professional Cleaning every 12 – 18 months.. However, for households of 4 people and above, with a lot of activity and or pets (dogs and or cats) even with them being clean animals and shed excessively, families with asthmatic members and or people with allergies severe enough to cause problems with outdoor activities then deep cleaning every 6 – 9 months would be more appropriate.

Q: Are the specific cleaning products used on the upholstery safe for pets and young children? At Gifted Hands Cleaning we are totally committed to the health and safety of your family and pets by using quality Eco-friendly Biodegradable cleaning solutions. These extremely effective cleaning solutions are very aggressively hard on Dirt, Oils, Grease and Odors but 100% safe for use on Upholstery that is used by Babies, Young Children, Pregnant Women and Pets once the extremely rapid cleaning and extraction process has been completed.

Q: Can deep-set pet urine smells be removed from couch cushioning? Yes. As mentioned above, pet urine contains Ammonia and can penetrate extremely deeply into fabrics and become fixed into the foam cushioning of Upholstered Furniture. The Ammonia in urine smells horribly and is difficult to remove. Professional Upholstery Cleaning solutions are unable to penetrate below the surface of the Fabric to reach into the cushioning and remove the Ammonia in pet urine.

Gifted Hands Cleaning uses highly specialized Sub-Surface Enzymatic Extraction tools and sub-Surface Odor Neutralizing Chemicals that are injected deep into the cushioning to break down and digest the urine Salts at the root of the Odor causing them to be completely removed.The smell of urine is one of the toughest smells to remove and needs to be removed with the utmost care using patience and attention to detail in order to remove every last trace of the smell.

Q: Do I need to vacuum the couch prior to technicians arriving for cleaning? No, it is not necessary for you to vacuum prior to our technicians arriving. Our method of cleaning includes a thorough commercial pre-vacuuming of all surfaces, also including under cushions and crevices of upholstery. We will do the whole job from start to finish so you can just sit back and relax.

Protect Your Investment, Prioritize Your Health, and Reclaim Your Comfort Today

It goes far beyond making couches look good and smell nice for a short time and has a plethora of proven benefits. We went in depth in the above Guide to explain in detail how Gifted Hands expert upholstery cleaning in remove deep-down dirt, allergies and irritants and get rid of stubborn stubborn foul odor and staining, for your family’s health, and the long-term protection of your expensive piece of furniture from irreversible damage.

We specialise in the cleaning of couches that are within residential and commercial properties in Adelaide. Adelaide Upholstery Cleaning is the cleaning of the fabrics on furniture and other items. We at Gifted Hands Cleaning use the best methods and cleaning products and do a very thorough job to ensure that all residue from dirt, grime, dust, stains etc is completely removed.

We take great care to clean around any sensitive items such as buttons, studs etc. To find out more about our couch cleaning service for Adelaide homes and businesses please follow this link – http://www.giftedhandscleaning.com.au/upholstery-cleaning/.We don’t just clean. We fully restore your valuable furniture bringing life back to tired looking Upholstery and providing your home with a fresh, healthy environment for your family and loved ones to enjoy.

The more you leave a sofa uncleaned the deeper the dirt will penetrate into the fibers of the fabric and in some cases cause irreparable damage and deterioration to your sofas and furniture. Tough stains on sofas and set into the fabric over time. The deeper a stain penetrates into a fabric the harder it will be to completely remove from the material.

Don’t wait until your couch has reached the ultimate in dirty and damaged until you seek out the services of a truly professional couch cleaner for Adelaide homes. It won’t be long and the accumulation of dirt into the fibers of your couch’s fabric will cause permanent damage. The longer you leave to clean stains on your couch the deeper and harder they will set into the fabric of your couch until the stain becomes virtually impossible to remove and will be permanently left within the fibers of your couch.

So contact Gifted Hands Cleaning Services today for your FREE quote. No commitment, just a friendly team ready to give your furniture and home a well needed boost. Email us at info@giftedhandscleaning.com.au 🌐 Alternatively book online today at giftedhandscleaning.com.au for the best couch cleaning prices in Adelaide, or to learn more about our wide range of cleaning packages and specials we have available for homes and businesses across Adelaide. Free quotes available for all inquiries.