Upholstery cleaning tips

There's nothing like new upholstery to freshen up your fave soft furnishing for spring. A few yards of fun and flirty fabric can certainly breathe new life into a timeworn treasure, but how long it remains looking crisp and clean is entirely up to you. Follow our three-prong strategy to keeping soft furnishings looking fab year-round.

Step one: Preventative measures
• Vacuums ain't just for floors and those intimidating attachments they come with can actually prolong the life of your furniture. Use the upholstery attachment to vacuum soft furnishings on a weekly basis. The angle-tipped crevice tool is great for reaching sneaky areas where the evidence of daily use - dirt and oils - like to set up shop: namely, creases, fabric folds and tufted areas.

• Once a month, take cushions outside and beat them by hand. This will help prevent dust from settling into the fibres. When replacing cushions, rotate and flip them as you would a mattress to ensure even wear.

• Granny was on to something with the "no eating the living room" rule. If you've the stamina to enforce a ban on food, drink and pets on the furniture, you'll avoid worry - and work - down the road. Take care with other less obvious sources of stains, too: even newsprint inks can bleed easily onto fabric.

Step two: First-aid for stains
• The first rule of tending to a spill? Get to it quickly before it has time to set. Use a blotting motion with either a paper towel or clean white cloth. Rubbing can smudge the spill into a larger stain - an effect that upholstery cleaning pros call "blossoming". Work from the outside of the spot towards the centre. Blot dry.

• If blotting hasn't done the trick and a cleaning solution is required, take a moment to examine the manufacturer's care label, usually located under the chair seat or inside a cushion cover. Here, you'll find instructions as to which types of products can be used in the cleaning of the fabric: W for water-based cleaners, S for solvents, WS for either, and X for none of the above - in which case, vacuuming is your only option. Note that many grease or oil-based stains (gravy, butter, cosmetics) are only treatable with dry cleaning solvents.