When vacuuming your living room take the necessary time needed to vacuum your upholstery-covered furniture. This will help remove any surface soil and keep the dirt from getting embedded into the fibers.

To keep your upholstery looking new is to occasionally turn and reshuffle your cushions to lengthen the life of your furniture. This will prevent those indentations from taking place on the cushions. It also allows for even wearing away of the upholstery. Also from time to time you may want to plump up the cushions to help keep them in shape. Often the case in most households is one end of a sofa or loveseat gets the most wear so by fluffing and rearranging this prevents one particular cushion from looking older than the rest.

You may also want to rearrange your furniture from time to time to prevent it from sitting in direct sunlight. Getting to much sunlight on the upholstery can cause it to fade and become worn looking.

Cooking fumes and smoke can also damage the fabric. Proper ventilation when cooking will help to absorb some of the fumes from reaching your furniture. Do prohibit anyone, most especially children, to snack or eat on your upholstered furniture.

It's also a superb idea to not allow shoes on your couch, loveseat, and chairs. Have your family take their shoes off before entering that particular room or better yet, have them remove their shoes upon entering the house.

If you are a pet owner like me, do not allow your pets onto the furniture and upholstery that you are trying to protect.

Having a pet constantly up on your furniture also causes snags and small tears over a period of time. Most especially if you are a cat owner, as cats like to use furniture for scratching posts.

Fabric Protector

Never undervalue the power of a fabric protector for your upholstery. If it is protected this will keep many stains from becoming a problem. If your furniture is protected and someone spills liquid onto your furniture then you can simply blot or dab the stain away.

If your fabric is not protected then remember to act quickly when it comes to removing a stain. Remove as much of the liquid as you can with a clean laundered towel or rag.

Never rub a stain or the fabric as this can also cause damage to the upholstery. I recommend using a spot remover that is specifically designed for upholstery. Be sure to read all of the manufacturer's directions and test the product on a discreet area first to make sure it causes no damage or bleaching.

If you take the time to do these simple weekly cleaning jobs then you will prolong the beautiful look of all your upholstered furniture. This way you won't have to have a professional cleaner come into your home but about every two years for upholstery care and cleaning.