Furniture is where the difference between materials matters most, because the same treatment that cleans one destroys another.
Know the material before anything else
- Leather wants a damp cloth and a proper leather cleaner. Not saddle soap on modern
finished leather, not baby wipes, and nothing with alcohol.
- Suede and nubuck want a brush and a suede eraser, kept dry. Water marks them.
- Cotton and linen upholstery can usually take a mild detergent solution, tested first.
- Velvet wants brushing in one direction and almost nothing wet.
- Wood depends entirely on the finish: wax, oil, lacquer and varnish all behave
differently, and the wrong product strips rather than cleans.
Upholstery usually carries a cleaning code on a label under a cushion: W water-based, S solvent only, WS either, X vacuum only. Two minutes finding it saves a sofa.
Mattresses
Strip it, vacuum it thoroughly including the sides, treat any stain with as little moisture as possible, and let it dry completely before anything goes back on. A mattress that is put back damp grows mould inside where you cannot see it. Rotate or flip every few months, and use a washable protector, which is the single thing that makes all of this unnecessary.
Wood scratches
A shallow scratch in a finish can often be disguised rather than repaired: a wax stick in a matching shade, or a walnut rubbed along the grain. Anything through to bare wood needs filling and refinishing, and that is a different job from cleaning.