Five Step Carpet Care of Asheville NC provides rug and carpet cleaning services at the most affordable price in Asheville NC.

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Spring Into Freshness: Spring Cleaning Tips for Upholstery

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spring cleaning upholstery

As the warmth of spring beckons, it’s the perfect time to embark on a revitalizing journey of cleaning and decluttering. While tackling the floors and windows may be on your spring cleaning checklist, don’t overlook the importance of refreshing your upholstery. Here are some expert tips to help you rejuvenate your upholstery and breathe new life into your living spaces this spring.

  1. Vacuum First. Begin your upholstery spring cleaning routine by thoroughly vacuuming all upholstered surfaces. Use a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment to remove dust, dirt, and debris from the fabric. Pay special attention to crevices, seams, and tufted areas where dirt tends to accumulate.
  2. Spot Clean Stains. Address any stains or spills on your upholstery promptly. Prepare a gentle cleaning solution using mild detergent or upholstery cleaner diluted with water. Test the solution in an inconspicuous area first to ensure compatibility with the fabric. Then, blot the stained area with a clean cloth dampened with the cleaning solution, working from the outside toward the center to prevent spreading.
  3. Deodorize naturally. To combat odors in your upholstery, opt for natural deodorizing methods. Sprinkle baking soda liberally over the fabric and allow it to sit for several hours or overnight. The baking soda will absorb odors effectively. Vacuum the upholstery thoroughly to remove the baking soda residue.
  4. Steam clean. For a deeper clean, consider steam cleaning your upholstery. Steam cleaning penetrates the fabric fibers, loosening embedded dirt and grime. Use a handheld steam cleaner or hire a professional upholstery cleaning service for optimal results. Ensure proper ventilation and allow the upholstery to dry completely before using the furniture again.
  5. Rotate cushions. Extend the lifespan of your upholstery by rotating the cushions regularly. Flipping and rotating cushions helps distribute wear and tear evenly, preventing premature sagging and flattening. Aim to rotate the cushions every few months or as needed.
  6. Protect from Sun Damage. Prolong the vibrancy of your upholstery fabric by shielding it from direct sunlight. Excessive exposure to sunlight can cause fading and deterioration of the fabric fibers over time. Consider using curtains, blinds, or UV-blocking window films to minimize sun exposure in your home.
  7. Professional Maintenance. Schedule professional upholstery cleaning at least once a year to maintain the cleanliness and condition of your furniture. Professional cleaners have the expertise and specialized equipment to deep clean and sanitize upholstery effectively, prolonging its life and freshness.

Spring cleaning is the perfect opportunity to show your upholstery some much-needed love and attention. By incorporating these tips into your cleaning routine, you can refresh and revitalize your upholstery, creating a clean and inviting living space to enjoy throughout the season and beyond.

 

Spring Cleaning Checklist

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spring cleaning checklist

Flowers are blooming and the days are growing warmer. Spring has arrived in western NC, and with it, the urge to shake off the dust of winter. It might be an ancient instinct, passed down from humanity’s cave-dwelling days, or maybe it’s just ingrained in us from an early age by culture and media. But in these early days of spring, it’s not uncommon for people to start feeling an itch to clean house. Spring cleaning is upon us!

Don’t let the prospect of spring cleaning overwhelm you. Delegate some chores to other family members—even small children can take part. Put on some music to make the time go faster, and put in a pizza order so you don’t have to deal with dinner when you’re done.

Spring cleaning can also be made simpler and more efficient with a checklist. It’s a bit more involved than your regular cleaning session, with focus placed on tasks that don’t need to be done as often and areas you might have let go over the past year. Each household’s needs will be different, but the checklist below should give you some good ideas of where to start.

  1. Decluttering. The first step to any successful spring cleaning project is to spend some time decluttering your home. This is the time to throw out broken items, gather ill-fitting clothes for donation, organize the closets, and find places for anything you’ve brought into the home recently. Out with the old and in with the new!
  2. Cobweb patrol. This is a great job for your teen or tween. They’re tall enough to reach crown molding and ceiling fans with the vacuum extender, and they’re young enough to not have back problems. So put them to work finding any cobwebs and dustbunnies that might have evaded your normal cleaning routine. (Pro tip: do this first after decluttering. Remember: always clean top to bottom to avoid having to clean things twice!)
  3. Clean appliances. Start in the kitchen by cleaning out your fridge and freezer, tossing anything that’s no longer useable. Then give your fridge a good deep clean, taking all the shelves and drawers out and washing them with warm, soapy water. Clean the interior of your oven and microwave, and last but not least, pull your refrigerator out and dust the coils. This will make your fridge more efficient and save a little money on your monthly electric bill!
  4. Replace filters. Spring is a great time to change the air filters in your home’s HVAC system, as well as cleaning or replacing the filters in space heaters and air purifyers. If you have an inline water filter from your well, now might be a good time to take a look at it, as well.
  5. Curtains, drapes, and blinds. Once a year or so, it’s a good idea to pull down your curtains and drapes to have them laundered, or dust and steam clean them in place. You probably dust your blinds more often than that, but spring cleaning is a good time to do that, as well.
  6. Porches and outdoor areas. One of the great things about spring is we get to spend a lot more time outside! Prepare for games of tag, cookouts, and other outdoor activities by paying a little attention to your porches, decks, and patios. You’ll want to clean seat cushions, wash glass table tops, beat any outdoor rugs, and sweep.
  7. Linens, mattresses, and mattress pads. In the bedroom, strip the linens off the mattress and let them air out for a couple of hours before flipping the mattress. If you have a guest bed that doesn’t get used very often, now’s the time to launder the sheets and change out the heavy winter comforter for a lighter one.
  8. Carpets, rugs, upholstery. Carpet, rug, and upholstery cleaning can be a pain in the neck if you DIY it. Since you’ve already got a lot on your spring cleaning plate, why not save yourself the hassle by hiring a professional carpet or upholstery cleaner? If you live in the Asheville area, Five Step has got your back!
  9. Cabinet Clean-out. Spring is a great time to clean out your cupboards, cabinets, and pantries. Throw out any stale foods, re-organize the canned goods, and consider whether those old rusty baking pans are worth hanging onto. Once you’ve taken everything out, but before re-organizing and replacing the items on the shelves, let the cabinets air out for an hour or so. Then, clean the shelves or replace the shelf paper before putting everything back.

 

 

What Does Spring Cleaning Have to do with Rugs and Carpets?

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spring cleaning rugs

Imagine living in New York or Wisconsin before the modern inventions of electric heat, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners. It would have been quite a different life than what we enjoy today! These hardy folks brought their whole lives inside for four to six months while the cold weather raged outside. During that time, they would have had to adjust and modify their normal, warm-weather cleaning habits. Instead of carrying all of the dirty clothes and linens outside on “wash day” to launder in a big cast iron pot over a fire, they would wash their clothes in small batches in the kitchen and hang them to dry beside the wood stove or fireplace. They would leave the sheets and blankets unwashed through most of the winter. Heating with wood meant that the floors and rugs would constantly be covered with stray wood chips and pieces of bark, and by spring, everything in the house would be coated with a fine layer of ash. And the lack of light in winter would have made it hard to see well enough to clean in a detailed way.

So as soon as the days lengthened and the weather grew warmer, families did their “spring cleaning”. They spent a few days or a week cleaning everything that had grown dirty and neglected over the long, harsh winter.

One of the most important, time consuming, and labor-intensive tasks in the spring cleaning regimen was beating the rugs. People didn’t have wall-to-wall carpets back then, but they did have large, room-sized rugs woven of wool or reeds, and smaller rugs woven of old rags. These heavy, dirt-covered rugs would be hauled outside, hung up on a line in the sunshine, and beaten with sticks until no more dust remained. Then they would be left to hang in the sunshine and air out for a day or so, before being brought back in.

Thankfully, today, we have access to miraculous appliances like vacuum cleaners and washers and dryers. Though it still gets cold and dark in the winter, we no longer have to suffer through months of dirty living conditions and poor air quality just because it’s cold outside.

But, even though we now live in a time of comparative luxury, spring cleaning is still a tradition that many people uphold. Since spring is a time of renewal, it is nice to spend a few days tidying up, getting rid of the old, and making room for the new. And it’s as good a time as any to see to those household chores that only need to be done once a year. Like cleaning behind the refrigerator, changing your air filters, and, yes, treating your rugs and carpets to a thorough, professional cleaning.

Your rugs and carpets still need occasional, detailed cleaning, but nowadays you don’t have to spend all day hauling them out to the yard and beating them with sticks. Instead, you can just give Five Step Carpet Care a call. We’ll come and clean your carpets, or even pick up your area rugs, take them to our facility and return them back to you, impeccably clean and vibrant!

If you’d like our help with your spring cleaning this year, give us a call at 828.772.1824 or get in touch via our contact form today!