swift furniture repairs
Cleaning and caring for your furniture
Fabric care and cleaning
Liquid stains like tea, coffee, milk, mud and juice should be blotted using paper towel or toilet paper straight away, just dab the area and keep using a new piece of the paper towel to absorb all the liquid. then give us a call here at swiftfurniturerepairs.co.uk and we will send a technician out to remove the stain left.
DO NOT rub side to side or in a circular motion with the paper towel or toilet paper as this will push the stain further into the weave of the fabric. making it harder to get the stain out.
If you have a cleaning kit supplied with your furniture, follow the instructions on how to use.
Ink, dyes, nail varnish, glue and paint will need specialist cleaning solutions, just carry out the procedure of blotting with a paper towel or toilet roll.
Liquid stains like soup, gravy and sauces need a slightly different treatment. first scoop most of the spillage with a spoon trying not to put force onto the fabric as this will force the liquid further into the fabric weave. once you have removed most of the liquid then carry out the same procedure as above, blotting with paper towel and then tampering (tapping with a soft brush or toothbrush) the stain remover before dabbing with a white cotton cloth. Always use a white cotton cloth so no dye transfer can come from the cloth onto the fabric.
Stains that leave a dyed mark on the fabric like red wine, blackcurrant juice, ink and dye from throws. jeans and scatter cushions will need to be treated with specialist cleaners, we carry all specialist cleaners to deal with all types of stains in our van.
Regular vacuuming of your fabric on your furniture will prolong its lifrtime, this will prevent grit from wearing the weave and causing it to go threadbare and pilling developing, though pilling can occur with new fabrics.
Mattress care and Cleaning.
Regular rotating and turning of your mattress will prolong its lifetime, giving it a vacuum will remove dust mites and grit that breaks down the fibres in the mattress cover fabric.
Always leave your bed sheets and quilts rolled down to the bottom of the bed to keep the mattress healthy and to freshen up and dry due to having warm bodies laying on it all night, which can cause moisture to build up in the mattress resulting in the foams breaking down or springs starting to rust.
Spillages and night time accidents should be blotted as soon as possible to prevent damage to the inside of the mattress and causing problems later on.
we carry specialist cleaning solutions to remove milk and urine stains ( most common stains we have encountered) removing the yellowing stains of milk and urine with the smells that go with it,
Leather care and Cleaning.
Before you carry out a clean on leather, you will need to identify which leather you have, as there are many different types and some cleaners will harm certain leathers,
Never wipe leather with a cloth or leather wipe before you vacuum the leather with a soft brush adapter, this will prevent you from scratching the leather with tiny bits of grit that stick to your clothimg through work and travelling, then come off your clothing onto your leather furniture.
Always wash newly purchased scatter cushion covers and throws that you intend to put on your leather furniture. If they cannot be washed asked the salesman regarding dye transfer at the store you purchase the scatter cushions and throws. Dye transfer can be very hard to remove, resulting in the leather top coat will need removing, leather then recolouring back to its original colour and a new leather top coat lacquer applied. This can be expensive and cost a lot more than a set of scatter cushions and a throw put together.
Wash new denim jeans. I have had lots of calls where the cream leather corner suite has pale blue or grey dye transfer.
There are several types of Leather found on furniture, Aniline, Semi Aniline, Split Leather and Bicast Leather. The first two need to be treated and cleaned with great care and with certain cleaners, the second two can be cleaned with nearly all leather cleaners on the market. We only use top quality tested cleaners on all of the leather cleans we carry out and we keep a stock of these in our vans that you can purchse at very good prices.
The best way of Cleaning leather is to use a foam amd not a liquid. This prevents the leather from getting saturated and leaving the leather looking patchy and streaky.
A soft nail brush to work the foam into the grain of the leather and seamsaround the furniture to remove the general soiling.
Once the leather has been cleaned, its a good idea to apply a leather conditioner to feed and protect the leather for future use.
Leather, if maintained correctly will last years.
wood care and cleaning.
You cannot beat a feather duster to clean your beautiful wooden or painted furniture as this will prevent you from scratching the finish. After dusting, you can use a damp cloth on nearly all furniture in your home, a mild soapy water ( again just damp) to remove sticky spillages like tomato sauce, Some surfaces may require waxing to ensure its protected and will also enrich the grain.
Felt backed table mats and coasters on the dining table and side tables will protect the surfaces from suffering from heat rings and white rings through water ingress, drinks, cups of tea and dinner plates can cause these rings to appear, These rings appear when condensation gets trapped between the wood and top lacquer.
We carry the latest wood repair kits on the market and spent many hours practicing repairing and finishing techniques to remove chips, scratches, scuffs and rings from antique, modern and painted furniture,
Oak and Pine furniture can be cleaned and brought back to life and protected for some time using the dressing procedure. where wax is applied with a very fine steel wool, which cleans the dirt and stains out of the grain and then with steel wool only cuts the wax into the wood to form a protective layer that enriches the grain. This procedure called dressing should be only carried out by competant DIY and with a knowledge of wood and its finishes, If wax is not applied correctly to your furniture then in time it can become sticky and attract more dirt and stains.
French polishing is a procedure and not a material, it is a wood finishing technique that leaves a high gloss finish, deep in colour, Shellac is the material used, dissolved in alcohol and applied in many thin coats, a rubber, which is made up of a cotton cloth with a wadding inside is soaked with shellac and this is applied to the surface with an oil like linseed oil as a lubricant. Carrying out repairs to chips and scratches take longer but well worth the time as repairs will look invisable.
Sprayed finishes are vey durable and easy to maintain, again a feather duster whilst cleaning will prevent scratches in the finish, a damp cloth to keep clean is all that is needed if maintained regularly. solid hardwood furniture can last a lifetime and can be repaired of all types of damages. Dents can be steamed out, chips and scratches can be sanded out and large chips can be filled with very good quality wood fillers that can be grained, stained and lacquered.
Veneered furniture will need to be identified before repairs are carried out, nothing worse than sanding a dent or chip out and you find you have sanded the veneer off of the furniture. Repairs do take a bit longer and great results can be achieved but may still be visible to the naked eye, Making sure the furniture is well maintained and the top finish in good condition as a liquid spill can cause the veneer to lift or bubble. If accidentally a spillage happens, always blot not wipe and use paper towel as this is very absobant. spillages from nail varnish and nail varnish remover should only be blotted as wiping will cause greater damage.