When it comes to cleaning – cleaning the house, cleaning the roof, or cleaning the furniture – time can get away from you if you’re not watching, and before you know it months or even years can go by without any cleaning at all. This is especially true when it comes to cleaning your furniture.
Regular cleaning such as sweeping, mopping, and dusting can be pretty much “in your face” to the point it is pretty much self-regulating. The furniture though isn’t quite so obvious and it can get away from you. Part of this is because, for instance, there are so many reasons to chose fabric sofas over leather, not the least of which is that fabric doesn’t show the dirt and scratches the way leather does. The darker the fabric, the easier it is to ignore or overlook the necessity of cleaning the furniture.
Signs That It Has Been Too Long
Recalcitrant Odors
We’re going to get the worst one out of the way first. The worst possible sign that it’s time to clean the living room furniture is the odor. If you find yourself spraying deodorant in the air several times a week and it just doesn’t seem to be helping, that’s because the odor is coming from somewhere that you haven’t cleaned.
Do the bloodhound thing and sniff around. Can you track down where the odor is coming from? Or does it seem to be a generalized smell coming from all sides? If so, that’s a pretty good indication that the scent is coming from the carpets (or rugs if you have them) or the furniture.
One way to test it is to slap the cushions of the sofa or easy chair. Get them some good hard wacks. If a cloud of dust puffs out from them and you can smell the odor you’re hunting for, that’s a definite sign that it’s been way too long since the last time they were cleaned.
If you see visitors delicately sniffing the air when they come into your house and trying to hide the fact they’re doing it, it’s time to set your own sniffer to work and use the method above to track down where it is coming from. Call someone to do a professional sofa cleaning right away.
Crumbly Crumbs
Another sign it’s been too long since the last cleaning is if you can brush handfuls of crumbs off the sofa and chairs onto the floor. Lift up the cushions and brush under them too. If you wind up with a small mountain of crumbs leftover from meals past, it’s time to do something about it.
Each meal you eat on your sofa or sitting in your easy chair probably doesn’t result in more than two or three crumbs landing on it. Divide the number of crumbs you brush off onto the floor and it will give you some idea of how long it has been.
Pet Hairs
Even modern furniture can’t hide pet hairs forever. If you have pets, it’s a near certainty they’ve been on the furniture, even if you’ve tried to keep them off of it. Put on some white pants and shirts then sit down on the sofa, squirm around on the easy chair, wiggle your rear end all over it. Get up and check yourself. If there are pet hairs all over your clothes, it’s past time to do a deep cleaning of the furniture. Some of the odor in the room is probably from them lying on the sofa or chairs.
If you don’t have any white clothes go get a couple of white terry cloth towels. Spread them out on the sofas and chairs for a few days. At the end of that time examine them, top and bottom. If the bottom has as much hair on it as the top (where they’ve been laying for the past few days) that means there are ground in hairs all over the fabric and deep, thorough cleaning is long overdue.
The Benefits
Cleaning the living room furniture has many benefits. Dust mites and other tiny insects can live off the debris that is embedded in the fabric. Giving it a good cleaning destroys their food supply and sucks them up as well. Proper cleaning will remove those troublesome odors and scent that have been plaguing you. With them gone, there won’t be any more of those embarrassing sniffs from your friends and family when they come to visit.
