Furniture, flooring can last for years
Take care of furniture and flooring to keep it looking like new. That's the advice from the professionals.
The care and cleaning of furniture and floors has been Bill English's business for nearly 30 years.
English, owner of Bill's Interior Grooming in Butler, says routine maintenance is the most important tool.
With flooring and upholstery, English said, “it's all about taking care of things, being patient, not making mistakes.”
“Clean it or get it cleaned on a regular basis. I have carpet that is 25 years old, seafoam green, and it still looks great.”
On a daily basis, the best product to use is a good vacuum cleaner, English said.“Get one with a beater bar, preferably an upright vacuum, because the suction is closer to the carpet. You don't need to set the beater bar too low, just until it's touching the top of the carpet to vibrate it a little bit.”Probably the most important thing to do is to vacuum once or twice a week. “When you vacuum pathways or heavily traveled areas, you have to make at least seven passes over the same spot,” English said. “Carpeting will hold 80 times its weight in dry soil.”Carpeting also should be cleaned every eight to 10 months. The methods for cleaning carpet include hot water cleaning and dry cleaning. “With a hot water cleaner, you're actually rinsing the fibers, and that's OK,” English said. “Dry carpet cleaning involves encapsulating the dirt.”To maintain a carpet's warranty, some manufacturers recommend only hot water cleaning. “The water doesn't go down in; it bounces off the fibers and the vacuum catches it, but you have to keep moving. If you lifted up the carpet, the back would be dry,” he said.Technology is always improving, English noted. These days a steam-cleaned carpet should be dry in 8 to 10 hours at room temperature.“If you're doing it yourself, rent the proper equipment and follow the directions,” English said. “Professional cleaners apply a cleaning agent first to loosen dirt; then they rinse it.”Carpets should be spot-cleaned as needed. Club soda or a white vinegar solution can be used on a water-based stain, but a solvent-based product is needed for an oil-based stain, English said. “Be prepared; keep products around so you can get stains when they're fresh,” he said.
Ceramic and vinyl tile and wood floors should be cleaned much the same way, with products made specifically for the specific material, as recommended by the manufacturer.“A neutral detergent or cleaner is pH7 and is a good cleaner,” English said. “It's mainly grout people can't get clean. You can have it professionally cleaned, and you can have it sealed to help keep it clean.”
Manufacturers of upholstered furniture place a cleaning code somewhere on the piece, either on the platform or somewhere else, English said. The code indicates how the fabric should be cleaned: “w” for water-based, “s” for solvent-based, “ws” for either, and “x” for vacuum only.Most upholstery should be cleaned professionally every two to three years.“When furniture is new, have it protected, with Scotch Guard or something like that. When you clean it, you can have it reprotected. And flip the cushions and vacuum your upholstery on a regular basis,” said English.The durability of furniture, upholstered or otherwise, depends on its quality from the very beginning, said Chad Beatty of Beatty Furniture in Eau Claire.“You want to know where it's made,” said Beatty.Hardwood seat boxes, tempered steel, solid foam — these characteristics are indicative of upholstered furniture made in the United States.Leather furniture can be durable but must be cleaned with a product that moistens the surface. “(Leather) is a skin that can dry out,” Beatty noted. “A lot of times, people wait until it cracks, but it needs conditioned.”For table and chair sets, durability has to do with the wood used, Beatty said.“Rubberwood is all imported from China. It's China's pine,” he said. “There are companies that will put an oak grain on it so it looks like oak, but it's not. Solid oak lasts longer.”Often consumers can see the difference between solid wood and wood laminates by looking at the tops of tables. Look for pattern repeats, Beatty said.As with any part of a home, furniture and flooring can benefit from regular care and maintenance. And the approaching months of colder weather are a perfect time for those indoor tasks.
