A two-seater sofa is £57. Every seat after that is another £26, which makes a three-seater £83. Armchairs are £33. Dining chairs cost £13 each and office chairs £11. Those prices cover the whole piece, the arms and back as well as both sides of every cushion.
The label under the cushion
Every sofa job starts with the care tag, usually stitched under a seat cushion or along the bottom of the frame. A W on the tag says water is safe. An S says solvent only, and we tell you straight away if that rules us out. WS allows either. X means vacuum only, and we leave those alone. Where the tag has been cut off, we dampen a hidden patch at the back and watch what the fabric does.
Cotton and linen are the fabrics to watch. They can shrink, and they can brown as they dry, a yellowish tide that rises out of the filling. On those we use less water and a slightly acid rinse, which stops most browning, then dry them fast. Velvet gets brushed with the pile once it is clean, or it dries with crushed patches.
Cleaning it
We vacuum first, with a crevice tool down the back and sides where the crumbs and coins collect, and a rubber brush if there is pet hair. A pre-spray then goes onto the arms and headrests, where skin oil builds up and darkens the fabric. The clean itself uses a small upholstery tool on the same machine we bring for carpets, at lower pressure and with strong suction so the foam inside doesn’t soak.
We clean the sofa where it stands. If it lives against a wall we pull it out far enough to reach the back, and the carpet underneath can be done on the same visit. Loose covers are cleaned on the sofa too. Taking them off to wash risks shrinkage, and a cover that shrinks even slightly may never go back on.
You can usually sit on it that evening. The cushions are left upright on their edges so air reaches both sides.
Fulham sofas
Pale linen and cotton sofas are common in SW6 period houses. Linen shows body oil at the arms within months, and it is also the fabric most likely to brown, so it gets the careful treatment above. In a lower ground floor room with only a lightwell for daylight, drying is slower: leave a window on the latch and the heating on. If you want the fabric protected afterwards, Scotchgard is £13 a seat.
Leather needs its own cleaners and conditioners, so we leave it to firms that specialise in it.
Prices
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Two-seat settee | £57 |
| Armchair | £33 |
| Mattress | £35 |
| Dining chair (seat) | £13 |
| Curtains, short drop | £35 |
| Long curtains | £42 |
A corner sofa is priced by seats: five seats is £57 plus three extra at £26, which makes £135. Mattresses have their own page, and curtains are covered under curtain cleaning. If we are doing your carpets on that visit as well, the carpet page explains room pricing.
Questions we get asked
The sofa’s label says S. Is that the end of it?
For a wet clean, yes. S fabrics are made for solvent, and water can leave rings or shrink them. We will tell you so on the phone and suggest an upholstery specialist who works with solvent, which saves you booking a visit that can’t help.
Can you get cat hair and smell out of the sofa?
The hair, yes: a rubber brush and a slow vacuum lift most of it before any water goes on. The smell depends on where it has got to. If it is in the fabric, a clean shifts most of it. If it has soaked into the foam, cleaning the cover helps but won’t reach all of it, and we will say which on the day.
How long does a sofa take to dry in a Fulham flat?
Usually three or four hours, given a warm room and an open window. Linen and thick cushions take longer, and a sofa in a basement room can take into the evening. Leave the cushions standing on edge, as we leave them, and turn them once.
Do you clean the dining chairs as well?
Yes, fabric seats at £13 a chair and office chairs at £11. A set of six dining chairs comes to £78, which clears the £67 minimum on its own. Wooden frames get a wipe so no cleaning solution dries on them.