Regular Upholstery Cleaning for Health

Junior just spilled his grape soda on the couch and you're wondering why on earth you didn't go with the multi-colored upholstery that looked enough like that spill that no one could tell that it was there. Or, perhaps, you're realizing that your crazy aunt was right to put plastic over everything. Don't worry. Upholstery cleaning is inexpensive and an often neglected part of general home maintenance. It is something you should be doing with regularity, in fact, not just when there is an impossible stain.

Upholstery and Your Family: Be Clean, Be Beautiful
Every day, you and your family come in from outside and go immediately to the furniture. Often, it's snowing or raining, or your kid has come home from a sweaty soccer game or cheerleading practice, or maybe you've spent all day at the office surrounded by other people. Over time, germs, dirt, sweat?everything from ticks to swine flu?will build up on your upholstery Many people do not get their upholstery cleaned nearly enough, if at all. Basic home care should include upholstery cleaning at least once a year. It will contribute not only to the health of your home but its beauty as well.

Upholstery and Carpet Stains: Random Spills
If it isn't time for your yearly upholstery cleaning and there is a spill, you will naturally try to clean something yourself before calling in the cleaning professionals. The best method is preemptive—always ask the carpet store or furniture maker how to best clean the product while still at the store. Often you will find that you get information that is helpful but might not have been disclosed. Armed with this, you can purchase furniture that will stay cleaner longer, last longer, and you will know how to deal with problems as they arise. This also protects you from warranty problems, because some manufacturers even have specific cleaners that you can't use without discrediting any warranty or claim.

Professional Upholstery and Carpet Cleaning Services
Often, you will not be able to get a stain out. Your detergents and cleaning products might not have worked, but that does not mean that a professional cleaning service won't be able to do it for you. These companies are trained to know what chemicals work for what spills and they have the proper arsenal to deal with any situation. The most important part of any home maintenance is making it easy on yourself. Most companies allow you to schedule a yearly service. This way you know that the first week of every April (or whenever you choose), you will get a call from your cleaning service wanting to schedule an appointment. It will be easy, inexpensive, and will slide into your routine with ease. Most importantly, it will add to the life of your furniture and protect you and your family from the accumulation of germs.

Finding an Upholstery Cleaning Contractor
If you're lucky you can isolate your cleaning needs to the carpet, where professional cleaning is easy to accomplish. Furniture upholstery can present unique challenges, and although most professional cleaning companies handle furniture, rugs, drapes, and curtains, along with carpet cleaning, you may want to take the extra step in finding and choosing a contractor for your upholstery. And that's precisely what ServiceMagic offers. Each and every contractor in our database is put through a rigorous ten-step screening process. We also give you access to our quality-controlled ratings and reviews so you can see what other homeowners from your area thought about their upholstery cleaning service.

The average upholstery cleaning project costs $193 and takes about four hours to complete. However, as you can imagine, not every dusty armchair or stained sectional is the same. Recently, we've seen $75 projects that took less than an hour, and one project that took 32 hours and cost $1,000. You'll also be happy to know that upholstery and furniture cleaning, not exactly every homeowner's favorite project, still has a 91.4% satisfaction rating from homeowners who choose ServiceMagic contractors.

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