Seasonal Furniture Care
Your home furnishings can look and feel great for longer when you do regular furniture care. If you consider it a seasonal task, it becomes part of the routine at least 4 times a year and becomes easier to remember to do more often! Check out our top three maintenance tips to do at least seasonally.
1. Rotate your cushions on your sitting furniture
We all have a favourite spot on the sofa or sectional, and over time, it shows. Moving your cushions around to a different spot will ensure that each cushion gets the equal use. Check if your cushions have fabric on both sides. If they do, you can also flip your cushions top for bottom, as well as rotate what seat they are on for maximum lifespan.
Pillow back sofas that have attached back cushions often get saggy from pets sitting on there, people leaning on or perching on the back, or just resting your arm regularly on the top of the cushion. You can refresh that cushion with this simple trick. Start by feeling underneath for a zipper. If it has one, this will be easy! Pulling out the seat cushion will give you better access to the zipper. Once you have the cushion open, you can move the stuffing around and re-fluff everything to create a fuller top line on your cushion. If you require more stuffing, inquire with your retailer if they can get you more filler, or check with a local upholstery shop.
2. Rotate your mattress
Most mattresses are single sided, so all you have to do is spin the foot end to the head end and you are done! This is a very important to do regularly, at least 4 times per year to help reduce body impressions and even out wear on your mattress. If you have a king size mattress, it is possible to do quarter turns. It won't fit perfectly on your frame or box, but even if you can do a quarter turn for a couple of weeks it will significantly improve the wear and decrease body impressions on your king mattress. If you have the older style flippable mattress, we recommend flipping one time, and then rotating the next time to extend the lifespan of your mattress.
Turning your mattress creates a great opportunity to also inspect your bed frame and ensure that all the legs are tight, the cross members are locked in place and if you have a headboard and/or footboard, take a moment to make sure those attachments are also tight.
Last but not least, inspect your mattress protector. Mattress protectors can absorb sweat and spills, keep dander and other allergens out of your mattress and with the thicker protectors, add a bit of extra comfort if needed. It is crucial to keep your foams in your mattress from getting damp. This prevents them from compressing and disintegrating prematurely. If you don't have a protector, consider investing in one to help extend the life of your mattress and improve your health.
3. Clean and condition your leather
Leather truly can be a lifetime investment with the proper care. Cleaning is easy, and generally all that is needed on a day to day basis is a damp, soft, lint free cloth to wipe it down. At least twice a year, we do recommend a more intensive cleaning. Use a cleaner specially designed for cleaning fine leather furniture, like Guardsman Clean and Renew. It is specially formulated to get rid of lotion residue, oils from your skin and more. This is especially important after a summer of bare skin on your leather and using lotions like sunscreen and mosquito repellent.
Follow up with Guardsman Protect and Preserve to lock in just the right amount of moisture. Conditioning rejuvenates your leather and helps bring back its original lustre. Conditioning also keeps leather supple, preventing cracking as we move into the cooler, drier weather of fall. When cleaning and conditioning, it's easy to focus on the part we see, the seating areas. Make sure you remember to do, and have time for, all sides of your leather. Backs and sides of leather furniture are susceptible to drying and cracking as they are rarely exposed to body oils and are often against air vents. If you can, allocate enough time to do all of the matching leather pieces (sofa, loveseat and chair if you have them) at the same time, as they may look subtly different after their "spa day". If you like adding just a bit of moisture to your leather between deeper cleaning and conditioning sessions, the Guardsman leather wipes are a fabulous option to have at home. We like using them in our high traffic showroom to clean the leather furniture as the wipes have a two in one lighter cleaner and gentler conditioner.
With these three maintenance tasks completed, you will have lots of time to enjoy a beautiful fall walk in Saskatchewan while sipping your pumpkin spice latte!
Check back soon for another blog dealing with seasonal care for your wood furniture as we move into the cooler, drier fall and winter seasons!
If you haven't already, follow us on social media to get more great tips like these, see trending furniture and decor and so much more. We are on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Clapper, and Pintrest