Cleaning Guide

Treat spills and stains as soon as possible. Test on hidden area to ensure fabric and colour are not removed. Gently scrape any soil or mop any liquid from the surface of the fabric. Use of soap or detergent with water should be approached with caution since overzealous rinsing to remove soap residue may result in over-wetting, water marking and possible wetting of substructure (this may create other stains or damage products).

1. For non-oil-based stains Use warm water and non-toilet soaps which do not contain optical brighteners (consider Velvet soap, Lux Flakes, Softly). Mix a small amount of soap and warm water solution and apply to the stain, rubbing gently. Blot dry with a clean towel. Apply cool water (preferably filtered or distilled water) and blot dry again. Then with a hair dryer, working out from the centre of the stain, dry quickly to prevent rings forming. It is generally preferable to clean whole panels of fabric in this way rather than trying to spot clean specific areas.
2. For Oil-Based Stains Following the same basic guidelines as above, apply a proprietary brand solvent based cleaner and try to clean generally in panels rather than spot cleaning specific areas. 

Warwick Fabrics recommend that water-based ‘Fluro chemical’ type fabric protectors (such as DuPont Teflon and 3M Scotchgard ) be applied by licensed applicators only. Check your care label first to see if a mill-applied protection was incorporated during fabric manufacture. Fabric protectors do not eliminate the need for vacuuming, routine cleaning or proper care. They will, however, make spot cleaning and vacuuming quicker, easier and more efficient between professional cleans and keep your fabric looking cleaner longer, as well as extending its life. Professionals applying fabric protectors must always pre-test to qualify fabric suitability.

Professional cleaning frequency is determined by the furniture use, your own maintenance, upkeep and environmental conditions. As a good 'rule of thumb' overall cleaning is recommended every 12 months for most family room lounges.

Extreme caution should be taken if considering treatment of velvets and pocket weaves with stain repellent products. Some high pile velvet and pocket weave jacquards may change in surface character if stain repellent treatments are incorrectly applied. Extra care should be taken to pre-test for these fabrics.

Curtaining velvet needs care in handling and use. Window fittings coming in contact with the curtain should be avoided. Stiff brushing or strong vacuum cleaning on the reverse side of velvet can also pull at the pile. Draw cords or other methods of drawing without handling the curtain itself are recommended, as grasping, particularly with fingernails, can cause crushing and other damage. Velvet curtains should be dry cleaned.

Pilling can occur occasionally as a result of normal daily wear and should not be considered as a fault. There are many variables which can trigger pilling, including climatic conditions, atmospheric purity, and user environment. Even specific clothing types (fleecy tracksuits etc) can transfer pills from the clothing to the furniture fabric. As the fabric surface is rubbed, a single or small group of loose fibres on the surface begins to twist upon itself, forming tiny balls or ‘pills. Often the catalyst that starts this process is a foreign fibre or speck of dirt. Pilling can be successfully removed with battery operated pilling tools available from most haberdashery stores. ‘De-pilling’ only removes unsightly loose surface fibres and does not affect fabric performance.

Download the Warwick Cleaning Guide