Effective and Inexpensive Upholstery Preconditioning Tool

Most cleaners have applauded the explosion of microfiber upholstery in the marketplace. While microfibers have some challenges that need to be addressed in inspection, such as delaminating, for the most part this product is durable when cleaned with proper upholstery cleaning techniques.

The biggest challenge in cleaning microfibers is the tendency for it to adsorb oily soils, and the time involved in loosening these soils. Horsehair brushes, the mainstay tool of fine fabric specialists, are not always up to the task, and the alkaline preconditioning agents most suitable for oily loving polyester microfibers will felt, matt, and distort the horsehair brush until it is unusable.

Nylon scrub brushes are chemical resistant, but may damage some microfibers.

Try This Instead:

Use a white floor pad, such as is used for polishing VCT, and cut it to fit your hand. The synthetic fiber will resist being damaged by your preconditioner, but is also gentle enough not to damage microfiber fabrics, or any synthetic fiber fabric that you are cleaning. The surface area of the pad actually penetrates the heavy oil residues better than brushes can as well.

Try this out the next time you have microfiber furniture to clean, and you’ll be impressed at the time you’ll save and the results you’ll get.