Upholstery cleaning matched to the fabric, not to a routine

Every piece of upholstered furniture carries a cleaning code on its tag, usually under a cushion: W for water-based, S for solvent, WS for either, X for vacuum only. It's the first thing we check, and it's the thing most damage traces back to when someone has tried a rental machine on an S-coded fabric.

The fabrics we see most in South Florida

• Performance fabrics — increasingly common in Miami because of the humidity, and generally forgiving. Cleans up well.
• Microfibre and suede-look — cleans beautifully, but watermarks easily if it dries unevenly, which is why we work the whole panel rather than spot-treating.
• Linen and linen blends — popular in coastal interiors, prone to shrinking and browning if over-wetted. These need a controlled-moisture approach.
• Leather — cleaned and conditioned, not extracted. Miami sun through a big window is hard on it; conditioning is what keeps it from cracking.

Body oil is usually the real problem

The headrest and arms of a sofa go dark before the rest of it does, and that isn't dirt in the ordinary sense — it's skin oil and hair product, and it needs a different chemistry from what you'd use on a spill. It also attracts soil, which is why those areas then get grubby faster and faster. Treating the oil is what actually resets the piece.

Dining chairs, headboards, and the things people forget

We clean upholstered dining chairs (the seat backs take more abuse than people expect), fabric headboards, ottomans, and office chairs. If you're already having the carpet done, adding the sofa to the same visit costs less than booking it separately.