
Proper furniture cleaning is one aspect that ensures your home will look good and well maintained even years after you move in. The process of cleaning your furniture contains many intricacies, especially when you do it yourself—the more affordable option over hiring a specialist company. In the following lines, we will explain in detail the different types of cleaning supplies: detergents and equipment, as well as the right techniques and small but super useful tips to ensure clean interiors, home comfort, and last but not least, satisfaction. Let's get started!
Cleaning your furniture by yourself?
As already mentioned, you can approach furniture cleaning either by hiring a specialist company for the purpose, or by taking on the task yourself. In this piece, the focus is on those aspects of cleaning that make you a true professional when it comes to the state of your furniture. Let's summarize the individual steps involved in cleaning home furnishings yourself.
Checking furniture surfaces: Before you start with the actual cleaning, make sure you know the exact fabric (or surface material) your furniture is made of. Its type is extremely important when buying cleaning products that will not damage the furniture.
Know the type of contamination: In case you are not just cleaning the furniture from accumulated dust, but there is specific dirt such as food stains, coloured markers, ink, or any other source, then take this into consideration. There are cleaners on the market that could help you in just such situations. We will tell you about them too.
Getting the right materials: We’re down to shopping, and you should stock up on cleaning materials: equipment, detergents, and accessories.
Planning: Cleaning may take longer than originally planned especially if you have to do it for the first time, if there is specific soiling, or if the furniture is larger.
Teamwork: An aspect to consider if you have helpers, such as your family, that you have decided to involve in the interior cleaning process. In this case, task distribution and smooth communication are really important. They would save you time leading to a satisfying result.
Know your furniture
So, having briefly illustrated the process of cleaning your interiors, we'll move on to the real answer to the mystery of how to clean your furniture by distinguishing between the main types of home furnishings. The key is to familiarize yourself with the cleaning instructions for the types of furniture provided by the manufacturer. In this regard, here is what the different designations mean:
- W: You can clean the furniture with water.
- S: Do not use water when cleaning, get a solvent-based cleaner.
- WS: You can clean the interior with both water and a solvent-based cleaner.
- X: Only vacuum cleaning is permissible.
How to clean your furniture with a fabric surface: This includes furniture pieces such as sofas, armchairs, different types of cushions, decorative blankets, fabric blinds, curtains, carpets, etc. Fabric surface is one of the least demanding. Most often, you can clean the different types of dirt with just a homemade cleaner - containing water, dish soap, baking soda and a few drops of vinegar. If the contamination is lighter and you clean directly after it occurs, you can try just a mix of water and dish soap. Another alternative is to dissolve some liquid detergent in warm water. Wet a clean dishwashing sponge and treat the stain. You can leave the dampened sponge on the stain for a few minutes. In cases where there is no specific contamination, we recommend cleaning the textile covered furniture regularly using a furniture cleaning machine, which we are going to mention.
Leather furniture: You should be particularly careful when maintaining this type of furniture since, except for being expensive, it contains colouring substances too. To clean them, mix a mild detergent, such as dish soap or liquid soap, with warm water, dampen a cloth and clean the leather. For heavier contamination, use a mixture of equal proportions of warm water and vinegar. Fortunately, many specialised cleaning tools such as leather soaps, leather wet wipes and cleaning kits are available on the market. Keep leather furniture (armchairs, sofas, etc) out of direct sunlight as this can cause the leather to crack.
Wooden furniture: For daily cleaning of wooden furniture, a damp microfibre cloth and a lint-free cloth are sufficient to dry the surface afterwards. When cleaning oily stains, mix 2 tablespoons of vinegar with 250 ml of warm water. Dampen a microfiber cloth with the mixture and test on part of the surface (possibly in the back of the furniture piece). If all is well, treat the stained surface, rinse the cloth and clean the surface again. Finish with a dry microfiber cloth and polish. As an alternative to the mentioned method, you can use a mixture of equal portions of baking soda and water. You can also polish naturally using a microfibre cloth moistened with a mixture of vinegar, olive oil and a little lemon juice. Again, test the mixture for potential damage on a hidden piece of the wooden furniture.
Plastic furniture: Plastic is a relatively easy to clean and unpretentious surface. You can maintain plastic furniture with a mixture of warm water and detergent, baking soda or white vinegar. The challenge with plastic furniture is the long-term maintenance of the colour, which tends to fade when exposed to the sun. Don't worry! There's a solution for that too: colour restoration products that you can use on plastic.
Appliances: To avoid unwanted stains, first, make sure you store items such as phones, tablets, and laptops in cases. For the daily cleaning of this type of items, there are special wet wipes and sprays available, accompanied by delicate microfiber cloths, reducing the risk of scratching.
Lighting: When cleaning luminaires, we advise disassembling them. Wear gloves to protect them from stains and scratches. Handwash the fabric parts with mild dish soap or liquid detergent mixed with warm water (you can use your bathtub) and clean the lamp holders with a mixture of warm water and baking soda. We recommend regularly removing dust with a dusting brush or wet cloth (for glass components).
Decorative (glass, ceramic, etc.) objects: The topic of cleaning your furniture also applies to decorative items. For decorative glass objects, it is sufficient to work with a gentle cloth moistened with water, while for ceramic decorations we advise wiping off dust with a dry cloth, as other methods may damage the paint on them (especially for handmade decorations).

Furniture cleaning equipment
Fortunately, specialized appliances are available today to help you find solutions on how to clean your furniture. These include:
Spot cleaners: They resemble a water vacuum cleaner, adding water and detergent to the liquid container. Among the advantages of this type of appliances are their convenient size and the ability to quickly and easily clean various textile surfaces: carpets, upholstery, curtains. No more annoying stains to scrub by hand.
Detergents: a wide variety of detergents are available on the market, targeting different types of contamination. Here are the most useful ones:
- Mold Remover Gel (recommended when cleaning a washing machine, including when moving a washing machine)
- Stain remover
- Stain and unwanted wetting protector
- Chemical and marker remover (only applicable to certain surfaces)
Cleaning your furniture: Additional cleaning supplies
What are the most useful suggestions for cleaning accessories that will save you time while making furniture maintenance easier?
Microfiber cleaning handle: This type of tool can be used effectively in daily dusting and in removing stains from rougher surfaces. Besides being affordable, it is also easy to maintain as it is easily washable.
A fur collection tool: Movers with pets know what a challenge keeping a home clean is. This includes the furniture, which is constantly covered in pet hair. Special appliances are available to make it easier to clean up both fallen fur and residue from food or bits of dirt. With their handy size, cleaning hard-to-reach places (including on cupboards, in cat houses or in the parts under the bed) would not be a problem.
Washing Machine Cleaning Brush: Designed for hard-to-reach areas of the washing machine where mold and scale build up. Thanks to it, you could extend the life of the appliance, saving unforeseen costs and protecting yourself from household accidents.
A tool for cleaning hard-to-reach spaces: Looking like a spatula with which you clean high spaces, places around the backs of sofas and chairs and hard-to-reach floor space. Among the pros of this appliance is the ease of maintenance—by washing its textile part.
Dusting wipes for different surfaces: There are different types of wet dusting wipes on the market, including for wood, ceramic tops, glass and kitchen hobs. Effective for dust only as well as for stains, they are the perfect solution for people with dynamic daily lives. We are sure that many of you have already used such wipes.
Cleaning your furniture: Recap of our major DOs and DON’T
We finish by summarising the most important rules when answering the question of how to clean your furniture.
Clean your furniture regularly: Don't let dust and unwanted dirt build up, as they deteriorate the air in your home. For those living with young children, excessive dust is particularly dangerous.
Familiarise yourself with the cleaning instructions: Do not rush to clean furniture without first learning the cleaning agents that are acceptable for the purpose. No one wants to risk ruining a fully functional piece of furniture.
Test all cleaning products: Try out both professional cleaners and those made by hand. The coverage of each piece of furniture (including the quality and durability of the paint) is strictly individual, so always test by letting the cleaner sit for a while.
Use mild detergents (unless specific contamination is present): again, considering the risk of potential damage to furniture. Strong chemical detergents are not always the best solution and repeated use can degrade the appearance of the furniture.
Do not store preparations in an easily accessible place: A measure to protect your children and animals. Also make sure you always close the cleaners properly, as inhaling them could adversely affect some people by irritating their lungs and causing coughing.
Do not make rough movements when cleaning: This protects the furniture from unwanted structural damage or staining.
We hope that this guide will help you to maintain the comfort of your home while enjoying clean and long-lasting furniture. Alternatively, if you are one of those people who have yet to move your furniture into a new home and need a relocation specialist, contact the experienced team at Movega Removals now. You can ask us your questions right now using our contact form or chatbot feature available on our website.