Upholstery cleaning?

[nzwasp]

We just bought a 1975 boler. My wife is very concerned that she needs to clean the original cushion covers asap, can we just put these on a gentle cycle in our washing machine and air dry them or do we need to take them to a dry cleaner?

There are no stains on the cushions they just smell like they could use a clean.

[glamourpets]

The person that did my cushion cleaning specialized in carpet and furniture. That would be my first choice.

[Carol H]

Due to their age dry cleaning may be the best option. But if you have a front end loader washing machine with a "Hand Wash" cycle you might get away with it and hang them to dry.

[RogerDat]

Have heard of people using a kiddie pool, add a little soap then walk on or push down on the cushions by hand. Repeat without soap to rinse. Pretty gentle, lots of water to dilute the dirt that comes out.

Cleans the foam as well as the covers. Avoids having to get the covers back on afterwards also. Air dry in a sunny location.

Planning this for my camper this season. I will probably blot or blow off any zippers so they dry faster. Don't know if they can rust or not but figure why take a chance.

[Tonia]

I did exactly as Carol mentioned above. Delicate cycle on a front load washer. Put them through twice (to be sure =)) and air dried outside.

Mine were from 1982. The backing (inside) was crumbling already due to age and it just took a little more of it off. The exterior came out fine and I felt better.

I didn't take the top bunk cover off and washed that with a carpet/upholstery cleaner hand attachment. That worked fine too.

Inside foam looked good in my case -- no stains or other mystery marks that would cause me to toss them.

[Eddie Longest]

I wash the covers with Woolite and let them air dry.
Eddie

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by RogerDat

Cleans the foam as well as the covers. Avoids having to get the covers back on afterwards also. Air dry in a sunny location.

Just a word of caution on that approach. Foam takes a long long time to dry out in the middle (up to a week) so leaving the covers on to wash will not help with that. If it doesn't dry well in the middle it will go moldy. Foam needs to be in a real sunny warm spot and flipped over and moved around and allow to dry on its edges etc. If drying inside put a heater and fan near them for a number of days while they stand on edge.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Tonia

I did exactly as Carol mentioned above. Delicate cycle on a front load washer. Put them through twice (to be sure =)) and air dried outside.

Mine were from 1982. The backing (inside) was crumbling already due to age and it just took a little more of it off. .

As mentioned if you have it the Hand Cycle would be a better choose than the Delicate cycle. Even hand washing with Woolite would be better. Old fabrics do tend to fall apart easily.

[Tonia]

:-) when I say exactly, I should read the post first huh?

[nzwasp]

Ok i have found a upholstery cleaner, but they want to know what the material of the original cushions are. Does anyone know? these are my original cushions:

[David B.]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Just a word of caution on that approach. Foam takes a long long time to dry out in the middle (up to a week) so leaving the covers on to wash will not help with that. If it doesn't dry well in the middle it will go moldy. Foam needs to be in a real sunny warm spot and flipped over and moved around and allow to dry on its edges etc. If drying inside put a heater and fan near them for a number of days while they stand on edge.

When we lived in Michigan, we purchased a used pop-up, and I tried drying the foam. We placed the foam pads on the roof of our mobile home, flipped them daily, and after a week they were still wet. We had to purchase new foam. I think it would work here in Arizona, but not humid Michigan.
Dave & Paula

[KevinPete]

We washed our covers with cold water in the "hand wash" cycle of the machine. Used Tide and Oxyclean, usually wash with homemade laundry soap. Covers came out clean and nearly dry. Hung overnight, then stuffed the next day. The dinette back cushions started to come apart at the corner, where they had been next to the window in the sun. Other than that, they came out perfectly clean and smelling nice. A couple of the metal zippers were corroded, little lube and gentle work with pliers and they're fine now.

Next time I will probably try the kiddie pool. When these fall apart I'll make my own covers. My foam was fine, no stains or mold spots. Left the foam in the sun for 3 days, turning every few hours when I had to move them to keep them in the sun.

We used to clean car interiors with a cleaner called Maalco or something. Very harsh, but would take just about any stain out, worked great to remove smoke residue from headliners and plastic too. Applied as lightly as possible, then scrubbed, then vacuumed with a big shop vac. Either parked it in the sun with the windows cracked, or left in a heated bay for a day. I did something similar to the carpet and rat fur in my Scamp.