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Question: I am trying to find some definitive guidelines/standards for cleaning upholstered cushions.  I have a potential client who is requesting the stuffing be removed from each cushion prior to cleaning.  I know from experience that the down is helping the cushion keep its shape.  I searched the IICRC S300 for professional upholstery cleaning, and was unable to locate a given standard or guideline that focuses on cushion cleaning (low moisture HWE).  I am reluctant to take this job if indeed I perform the cleaning as requested.

 

Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks.

 

Answer from SCRT Technical Director, Jeff Bishop:

 

For the last 40+ years I’ve been involved full-time in professional cleaning, and even for another 10 years part time, the question has been raised about whether or not upholstered fabric should be cleaned on or off a cushion has been raised.  Before the days when the Federal Trade Commission mandated that upholstery fabric be pre-shrunken or “Sanforized,” shrinkage was disastrous.  After the FTC mandate, shrinkage was minimized, but not eliminated.  Depending on the fabric’s fiber type and weave, some shrinkage always is a possibility. 

 

I served as the primary author and editor of the IICRC S300, and in my search of that document, I am unable to locate specific information pertaining to your question.  Indeed, the presence of zippers on the back of most cushion covering materials would suggest that the material should be cleaned off the cushion support material.  However, most upholstered furniture manufacturers use zippers only as an efficient way in which to insert cushions, and not as a means for removing them for cleaning.

 

Shrinkage potential aside, there are other reasons why fabric covers should be hand-cleaned on the cushion materials: 

  1. 1.Foremost, they are much easier to hand-clean if there is a foundation on which the material is supported during
  2. 2.Second, if the customer’s plan is to clean cushion covers in a home or even commercial washer, it is likely that there will be uneven appearance or apparent texture change, when compared to material that is hand-cleaned on the body of the furniture, where hand-cleaning is the only
  3. 3.Third, if cushions are cleaned separately in a washing machine, there is a distinct possibility that latex backcoats will be abraded away, causing the fabric to separate or lose dimensionalFraying of upholstery materials at edges and separation at seams is also a possibility when machine washing. 
  4. 4.Fourth, consider that cushion support material usually is made of only a few materials: goose down, cotton, polyester fiber or urethaneNone of these materials is harmed by water in the process of cleaning by a professional technician.
  5. 5.Finally, consider that, after cleaning, it may be quite difficult to get foam cushion support material back into the

 

In summary, cleaning fabric off the cushion is less efficient and fraught with many potential problems.  Hand cleaning on the cushion support material is the most reasonable and safest alternative. 

 

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