How To Clean A Velvet Sofa (Best Brushes)

Velvet sofas make a real statement in any home. They’re beautiful pieces of furniture that add a pop of colour and a touch of elegance to their surroundings. However, a velvet sofa is harder to keep clean than many other sofas due to the delicate material and need regular brushing to keep them looking fresh.

Due to this, many homeowners aren’t sure how to clean a velvet sofa and can even be put off from buying them. However, it’s easier than it seems as long as you stay informed. So, here are all of our best tips on how to clean and brush your velvet sofa, as well as our best velvet brush recommendations to keep your sofa looking good as new.

Before Brushing Or Cleaning Velvet

• Check the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions – You should always check the manufacturer’s website or any paperwork that came with your purchase for information before cleaning or brushing.
• Find out what type of velvet – Some types of velvet require different cleaning and brushing methods. Types of velvet include easy velvet, crushed velvet, fine velvet, cotton velvet, vintage velvet and Italian velvet.
• Check sofa labels – Look out for any labels that tell you how to clean your sofa. ‘P’ or ‘S’ means you’ll need to use a solvent-based, dry clean method. ‘WS’ or ‘SW’ means the material can be cleaned with water. An ‘X’ will mean that you can only use a vacuum cleaner or brush.

What Are The Best Brushes For Velvet Furniture?

In order to keep velvet furniture looking fresh and clean, you’ll need to brush it regularly in the direction of the pile. If you’re unsure where to buy a product for this purpose, don’t worry! We’ve compiled a list of some of our favourite velvet fabric brushes for you:

The Velvet Boffin Brush From World Of Clean

The Velvet Boffin Brush comes highly rated by velvet furniture owners. At 13″ with 8″ bristles, it is a large brush, suitable for larger pieces of furniture. It also comes with a curved head which helps to prevent any brush lines from appearing to ruin the clean finish of the material.

The Upholstery Brush From Auto Finesse

Auto Finesse’s upholstery brush is built to comb and clean a velvet sofa or any type of fabric upholstery, but it is soft enough to be used on a velvet sofa. Its bristles are set in resin, and it comes with a beautiful, dark wooden handle. It also comes really well-reviewed from its customers.

Propress Velvet Upholstery Brush

The Velvet Upholstery Brush from Propress is a medium-bristled brush designed for any type of velvet furniture. It’s perfect for re-aligning velvet fibres after a steam-clean or spot clean and will keep any velvet looking as good as new.

OXO Good Grips FurLifter Lint Remover

This FurLifter lint remover, whilst not a brush is an essential purchase for anyone with a velvet sofa. Velvet as a material attracts lint, dust and pet fur like no other. So, it’s very easy for the material to become dirty. Using a good lint remover makes it easy to get rid of any fluff and keep your sofa looking its best. We particularly love this model as it is self-cleaning. Simply place the lint remover back into its base to remove the dust you’ve collected in order to empty it away.

How To Brush A Velvet Sofa

Now you have an idea of which velvet brush to clean a velvet sofa, you’ll need to understand how to properly brush the fabric in order to maintain its quality:

• Use a soft brush rather than one with hard bristles to avoid damaging the fabric.
• Brush in the direction of the pile.
• Gently brush to avoid scuffing or marking the fabric.

What Is The Best Way To Clean A Velvet Sofa?

In addition to brushing your velvet sofa regularly, you’ll need to keep it clean. The best way to do this is to do any cleaning regularly rather than waiting for any dirt to build up, as this can make things much harder to tackle.

However, as a general guide to cleaning velvet sofas, you should:

Use A Vacuum

You should regularly vacuum your velvet upholstery to remove any crumbs or dust. You can also use a lint roller to achieve the same effect. This will avoid too much dirt build-up and keep your sofa in great condition.

Use A Velvet Upholstery Cleaner For Any Stains

You should clean any stains immediately before they have a chance to soak into the material or the cushions underneath. Remember, the sooner you tackle any spills, the easier it will be to get rid of them.

You’ll need to blot the stain with a dry cloth to remove as much of any liquid as possible. Then use a velvet upholstery cleaner to spot clean the affected area. Alternatively, if you don’t want to purchase a velvet upholstery cleaner, you can make your own natural cleaning solution made out of equal parts warm water and white vinegar. Use a damp cloth to pat and very gently rub any spills. Then, leave everything to air dry.

Use A Dry-Cleaning Method

If your velvet sofa has a label with an ‘S’ this means that you won’t be able to clean the material with water without causing any damage. If this is the case for you, you’ll need to use a dry clean method or a solvent-based cleaner. So, make sure to check the ingredients and descriptions of any cleaners carefully.

Steam Clean To Disinfect

Make sure to check that your velvet sofa comes with a ‘WS’ or ‘SW’ label. This tells you that you are able to use water-based cleaning methods such as steam cleaning. This is a really great way to remove stubborn stains as well as disinfecting the material.

We recommend leaving this to a professional as it’s really easy to cause some damage if you don’t have a lot of experience.

Test On An Inconspicuous Area

Before using any cleaning product, you should always spot test on an inconspicuous corner of your sofa. This will make sure you’re not using a product or a cleaning method that will cause damage or discolouration.

How To Keep Your Velvet In Great Condition

In order to keep your upholstery in great condition, you should:

• Clean any stains immediately.
• Always let your sofa air dry.
• Only use a damp cloth to clean so that the sofa never becomes too wet.
• Only ever clean velvet with a non-dyed cloth to avoid colour transference.
• Brush your velvet sofa regularly and after cleaning.
• Keep it out of direct sunlight to avoid discolouration.
• Use a velvet protector spray
• Use a velvet conditioner to restore tired-looking velvet

Conclusion

In conclusion, to clean a velvet sofa it’s best to do any cleaning and brushing little and often. As long as you regularly maintain your velvet sofa, the fabric will remain in great condition and have a long lifespan. So, always make sure to use a soft brush, brushing in the direction of the nap; use the appropriate cleaning method based on the manufacturer’s instructions as well as any cleaning labels, and keep on top of any stains or spills. This truly is a sure-fire way to keeping a beautiful, clean velvet sofa.