Most upholstered furniture sold in the United States carries a small tag with one of four letters on it. It is usually sewn out of sight, so most owners have never seen it. When you book an upholstery clean we ask for that letter, and we test the fabric before starting in either case.
Where the tag is
The tag is rarely in an obvious place. Start by lifting a seat cushion and looking at the deck, the flat platform the cushion sits on. That is where most of them are.
- On the deck, under a seat cushion
- Sewn into the zipper flap of the cushion cover itself
- Under the skirt, along the bottom edge of the frame
- On the back panel, the side that faces the wall
- Stapled to the underside of the frame, which means tipping the piece over
On a sectional, one section usually carries the tag for the whole run. On a recliner it sits near the footrest mechanism, and on dining chairs it is stapled under the seat pad. If you find one tag on a matching set, say so, because a matching set is not always the same fabric throughout.
What each letter means
| Code | What the maker approved | What it means for the visit |
|---|---|---|
| W | Water based cleaning agents | A water based solution, extracted, at low moisture so the foam never soaks |
| S | Solvent based agents only, no water | A dry solvent product instead, with the room ventilated while we work |
| WS or SW | Either water based or solvent based | We select one, based on the fabric, the soil and the test patch result |
| X | Vacuuming and light brushing only | No liquid on the face fabric. We vacuum, clear the crevices, clean the deck |
The code comes from the manufacturer testing that fabric when it was new. It says which family of cleaning agent it tolerated, and nothing else.
Why the tag is a starting point and not a guarantee
We treat the code as useful information and then verify it. Four things can make a tag wrong about the sofa in front of us.
- The piece was reupholstered. The frame kept its original tag, and the fabric on it now was never tested.
- Cushion covers move around. A cover from another piece, or a replacement ordered years later, can carry a code that does not match the frame it sits on.
- The code was set when the fabric was new. Sun on one arm, years of body oil on two cushions and a spill treated with a household product all change how the fabric behaves.
- The code covers the face fabric only. The stitching thread, the piping cord, the buttons and the backing are not part of it, and any of those can move color into the fabric beside them once it is damp.
There is also a group of fabrics a W code does not protect you from. Some silks, some viscose blends and older linens mark with plain water, before any cleaning product is involved. The result is a ring where the wet area met the dry area. The code describes the chemistry of the cleaner. Water marking is a property of the fiber and the drying edge, which is a separate problem.
What low moisture cleaning means on a W or WS sofa
A carpet is one fiber on one backing, laid flat, and it tolerates a lot of water. A sofa is four materials at once, and each of them responds to moisture differently.
- The face fabric, where body oil and hair product sit
- The deck and the seams, which hold crumbs, coins and most of the pet hair
- The foam core, which holds odor and stays wet for days
- The frame, wooden in most cases, which can mark the fabric from below if it gets wet
Carpet volumes of water leave the padding wet long after the surface feels dry. A W or WS piece is given enough solution to break the bond between the soil and the fiber, extracted immediately, with the foam underneath left unsaturated. It takes longer per square foot than carpet does.
Fabric sofas are usually dry in 4 to 8 hours, longer in cold or humid weather, and leather is usually faster because so little moisture goes in. If the sofa is the only seating for that evening, say so when you book and we bring air movers. Our article on how long carpet takes to dry covers drying times in more detail.
What an S code changes
An S tag means the manufacturer approved solvent based cleaning agents rather than water. The visit is much the same, with a different product in the machine and more attention to ventilation, with windows open and air moving through the room. Less moisture goes into an S piece than into a W piece.
What an X code rules out
X means vacuuming and light brushing, with no liquid cleaning at all. A fabric is given an X when the manufacturer does not expect it to survive wet cleaning or solvent cleaning.
There is still work we can do on an X piece. The cushions come out, the crevices and the deck are cleared and vacuumed, and the pet hair is removed. We do not put water or solvent on the face fabric. A cleaner who offers to wet clean an X labeled piece is working against the manufacturer's own instruction.
Where the soil sits
Whatever letter is on the tag, the soil is never spread evenly. On a three seat sofa the pattern is consistent. Two of the three cushions are darker than the third. One arm is worse than the other, usually the arm nearest the television. There is a darker area high on the back where a head rests.
That is body oil, hair product and daily skin contact, and it is a different soil from the crumbs and dust in the crevices. It is pre-treated before the general clean. Without that step the sofa comes out clean where nobody sits and still grey where the family sits. Under the cushions is separate work: coins, hair, food and most of the pet hair, cleared and cleaned before the cushion faces are touched.
When the tag is missing or unreadable
Many pieces have no tag left, or one that has faded after twenty years under a cushion. The work still goes ahead. The test patch then decides the method.
We work from the fabric itself: how it feels, how it takes a small amount of the intended solution in a hidden spot, whether any color transfers to a white cloth, and how the damp patch dries at its edge. The least aggressive method that will do the work is used first. You receive a written estimate before work starts, and anything the test shows is reported to you at that point.
When to call us
A sofa, sectional, recliner or set of dining chairs is cleaned in the home under our upholstery cleaning service. All services are performed at your home or business, anywhere across the eight counties in North Jersey and Central Jersey we cover, including Bergen County and Union County. Booking is by appointment, 24 hours a day, on (908) 545-9387. Find the letter on your tag first if you can, and tell us if you cannot, so we look for it when we arrive.
