By Guardsman

Cleaning products designed for upholstered furniture come in a vast assortment of sizes, types, shapes and forms. The most important thing to remember is that the cleaning product must not change the appearance or feel of the original upholstery.

From the September How 2 issue of RTO Magazine

Products designed to protect and to clean your rental furniture must be effective and easy to use. Busy store employees will use products that can be understood and applied quickly.

The key words in extending the life of your rental furniture are protection, cleaning, and maintenance.

Here are a few simple steps that you and your employees can take to ensure that the furniture in your stores remains presentable and rentable, longer.

Your rental furniture will be less susceptible to staining/ soiling and much easier to clean and maintain if it has been treated with protection products before the start of each rental contract.

Products designed to protect and to clean your rental furniture must be effective and easy to use. Busy store employees will use products that can be understood and applied quickly.

Rental furniture that has been protected can be returned to rental much more quickly and have additional rental cycles before it is worn out or is no longer presentable.

The benefits of protecting your furniture can significantly add to your bottom line by making the furniture easier to clean and longer lasting.

Leather Furniture
To extend the life of leather furniture, we suggest that you follow a few simple steps. For protection, use a Leather Protector Wipe. This type of protection for leather is easy to use and ensures that the proper amount of protector is applied. The use of wipes eliminates the possibility of over application and waste. Wipes are a hand applied operation so there is no need to purchase special tools or expensive machinery.

When choosing leather protection, ensure that the material is compatible with the leather. For example, many common household cleaning products are chemically incompatible with leather and can greatly shorten the service life and permanently damage the leather. Always pretest leather protection products by applying in an inconspicuous area first.

Cleaning leather furniture is also important. Accumulation of common soils will greatly reduce the useful life of the leather. Leather furniture should be kept dust free. Dust and other particulates can be abrasive and accelerate the wear and tear of the leather. Regular dusting with a high quality cotton cloth that is designed to attract and to hold dust is recommended.

A Leather Cleaning Wipe should then be used to remove any remaining soils from the surface of the leather. We again recommend wipes for ease of use, to ensure the proper amount is being applied, and to eliminate waste. After the leather piece has been cleaned, it should be protected to help prevent soiling. Now the piece is ready for another rental cycle.

Wood Furniture
Maintaining wood furniture also involves keeping the surface dust free. When dust is left to settle or to build up, it can inadvertently mar and scratch the surface of wood furniture. This often happens when using improper dusting techniques such as not dusting with the grain of the wood or by using an inappropriate cloth not specifically designed for dusting furniture. It is important to use a treated, high quality cotton cloth that is designed to attract and to hold dust. This will prevent dragging abrasive dust particulates across the finished surface. Most microfiber dust cloths on the market today can lose their ability to hold the dust after the first washing.

Once the wood surface is dust and soil free, an application of a non-silicone based – UV sunscreen protection polish is recommended. If the surface remains soiled, the wood’s surface should be cleaned with a Wood Cleaner prior to using furniture polish. Make sure that the cleaner you choose is specifically formulated to clean wood furniture. General household cleaners are not recommended as they can damage wood finishes.

Silicones and waxes can be found in many furniture polishes. These silicones and waxes can build up and trap soils and damage finishes. Polishes that contain no silicone or waxes are highly recommended for maintaining and protecting wood furniture.

Fabric Furniture
Furniture covered with fabric upholstery can be very difficult to maintain and keep clean. Proper application of a quality Fabric Protector can make these tasks much easier. Many furniture retailers will not sell a piece of upholstered furniture without first treating it with a fabric protector.

Unlike the oily, spray-on protectors of the past, many of today’s fabric protectors form a very thin dry film that keeps soils from bonding to the fibers of the upholstery. This thin barrier allows stains to be removed with much less effort and much more effectively than from untreated fabric. Many retailers have a designated space for applying fabric protection. The fabric is protected as an added benefit for their customers to help ensure complete customer satisfaction. Application of fabric protection is fast, effective, and very easy. Once trained; an employee should have no problem applying the proper amount of spray-on-protection to any piece of furniture. For smaller operations, or for consumer use, these protectors are also offered in easy to use aerosol cans.

Cleaning products designed for upholstered furniture come in a vast assortment of sizes, types, shapes and forms. The most important thing to remember is that the cleaning product must not change the appearance or feel of the original upholstery. Cleaning information may often be provided by the manufacturer. Carefully examine all attached labels for cleaning information. Manufacturers often use cleaning codes of W, WS, S, and X.

- a “W” cleaning code means to use Water based cleaners only
- an “S” cleaning code means to use Solvent based cleaners only
- a “WS” cleaning code means to use Water base or Solvent base cleaners
- an “X” cleaning code means vacuum or brush only

If no cleaning information is present, perform a colorfastness test to determine which type of cleaner would be suitable.

Extending the life of your investment on rental furniture is very important to your bottom line, and can be accomplished by following the simple steps of protecting, cleaning, and maintaining. To protect your investment, choose furniture maintenance products from a trusted and respected manufacturer.

Founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Guardsman has been supplying finishes to the furniture manufacturing industry since 1915. Throughout our early existence many manufacturers were asked how people could maintain the showroom look of their furniture once it was in the customers homes.

Guardsman responded to the customers’ needs by developing a consumer line of furniture care and furniture touch up products.

In 2000 Guardsman was added to the Valspar global portfolio of businesses. Today, Guardsman is rapidly approaching our one hundredth year of maintaining the beautiful look of fine furniture. As a matter of fact, Guardsman furniture polish is recommended by more manufacturers than any other.

For a complete offering of Guardsman products and services, feel free to visit us at www.Guardsman.com.