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Cleaning Tips For Your Living Room Furniture

Buying living room furniture is a big investment that requires a lot of search time and preparation. Daily use can have a great impact on the longevity and look of your furniture, and you want to make sure you properly care for it in order to extend its use for as long as possible. Here are some great cleaning tips to keep your furniture looking as fresh and beautiful as the day you bought it.

 
Avoid Harsh Chemicals

Stay clear of upholstery cleaners that use harsh chemicals or toxins to clean your furniture. These furniture cleaners may leave your furniture smelling and looking clean for some time, but there are risks associated with cleaning your furniture with them. For starters, these cleansers are typically full of harsh chemicals and toxins that can actually cause more harm than good to your furniture. Additionally, they are known to actually foster resoiling, resulting in more cleaning. These cleaners may also remove the protective layers of your furniture fabric, resulting in furniture that looks more worn, as well as causing harm to your upholstery.

Stay Clear of Steam

Steam cleaning initially sounds like a great idea when it comes to cleaning your furniture. However, it is important to consider what moisture can do to your furniture. Excessive moisture can cause odors, mold, and soil build-up. When steam cleaning is done the excess water must be sucked up, which can take days to fully dry. Even when the fabric appears dry on the surface, the moisture can still be present deep down. Steam cleaning may also strip your furniture’s upholstery, leaving it more prone than before to stains and soil.

Bring Out the Vacuum

Vacuuming your furniture regularly is a great way to clean debris and dirt off of your furniture before it has a chance to seep down and cause problems. Vacuuming will also allow you to prolong the need of more extensive and deep cleaning. Vacuuming should be done at least once a week. Make sure you not only do the visible parts of your furniture; you will also want to make sure you vacuum under the cushions and in the crevices of your furniture.

Spot Clean as Soon as Possible

Accidents happen frequently, and most likely your furniture will not be able to avoid them. Spills are likely to occur, and can lead to permanent stains if not taken care of quickly. Here are some ways to take care of these spills quickly and properly:

Always blot from the outside to the center of a spot. Doing so will control the spread of a spill

Test your fabric in a hidden area to make sure the color doesn not come off with the stain, or that a ring is not caused by the cleaning agent.

If the spot is liquid, use an absorbent white cloth or white paper towel to gently blot up the excess.

If the spot is solid material, remove the excess by lifting it off with a dull table knife or spoon.

Never rub, scrub, or brush a spill.

Never use strong chemicals such as bleach, solvents, or acids unless they are recommended by a specialist.

Never use sudsy detergents, as they leave a soapy residue that attracts dirt.

Avoid using tap water. Use distilled water or plain seltzer water. Minerals in common tap water can cause rings, even on treated fabrics.

Know Your Furniture Needs

There are a wide range of furniture fabrics and styles available. It is important to know which ones may or may not be best for your particular lifestyle. A leather sofa may not fair well with a home full of cats, but can work great with children because it is simple to clean and wipe spills. If you are decorating a room that will be low traffic and more for entertaining you can choose virtually any furniture fabric. You should also be aware that certain fabrics are more resistant to sunlight damage than others. If you need help finding out what fabrics fit your lifestyle, our trained associates will be happy to assist you at any store location.

The sofa and other various items that comprise the living room are often the center piece and the focal point for guests that you invite into your home. You want to make sure you are caring for them properly in order to keep them clean and increase their life. Following these tips will assure that your living room furniture is properly maintained and cared for.

Decorative concrete is in the news everywhere these days. Varieties of decorative concrete are used everywhere from private homes to public squares. Its use involves many types and styles including overlays, stamped concrete, polished concrete and the use of a variety of colors and textures.

One quaint town along the famous and well-traveled scenic Route 30 along the Gulf coast of Florida, Rosemary Beach, has literally been built around the idea of a Caribbean village with a town square. The atmosphere in this town that reflects and is inspired by the qualities of the town of St. Augustine, the West Indies and other classic Pan-Caribbean areas.

If you have never traveled to the Caribbean or to Rosemary Beach, they are both inspiring. The streets in both places are actually mainly for pedestrians. In Rosemary Beach, they are composed of bricks, cobblestone and stamped concrete, surrounded by the walls of homes and businesses that reflect the hues and the textures of the Caribbean. Each street/pedestrian path leads to the beach at one end and the public square at the other end.

The interior that surrounds the public square, frames it with concrete finished to resemble the stucco textures and colors of the Caribbean. The pillars that help create the atmosphere of an easygoing Caribbean beach town rise up and melt into graceful arches which give one an easygoing, calm feeling.

The public square is the hub of all activity for the town. With its interactive fountain, grassy areas and Dutch West Indian architecture, it is filled with shops and businesses. The square draws you into its ambience and atmosphere with its cool decorative concrete turned cool earth toned stucco shop fronts.

The design and artful West Indian atmosphere of Rosemary Beach could not have been achieved without the use of decorative concrete. By using concrete creatively, the seaside town – especially its public square – is a work of art that is both stunning and durable. What is even better about the way that the concrete was used is that when it is time to spruce things up over the years, there are many finishes that will do the job without having to destroy and rebuild or re-pour.

Rosemary Beach is a tiny, seaside town centered around a public square and built artistically to resemble the Caribbean by using various methods and forms of decorative concrete. Your project might be much larger, such as a hotel/conference center or smaller, such as a private home. Regardless of size and scope, decorative concrete can be poured, shaped, stamped, polished and molded to turn your finished project into whatever your vision is. The ideas are virtually limitless. They can be created as far as your imagination can travel.