At Located in Salt Lake City, Guild Hall Furniture & Interior Design, it’s our mission to provide comprehensive home furnishing products and services to all our clients. From our wide variety of fine furniture options to professional interior design experts available to assist you with themes and designs, we’ll work with you from start to finish to find the ideal home furnishings and designs for your space.
One additional area we’re happy to provide tips and expertise on for any of our furniture pieces: Cleaning. As it turns out, though, you likely won’t need too much of our assistance here – this is because, back in the 1960s, the furniture industry as a whole agreed upon a few standardized formats for fabrics and cleaning methods that are viable for them. Today’s blog will go over each of these standard furniture cleaning codes and what they mean regarding how a given piece of furniture can and should be cleaned within your home.
Code W
The W code on various pieces of furniture signals that this piece is eligible to be cleaned with water-based cleaners. Such cleaners tend to include mild detergent, non-solvent upholstery shampoo and other similar products.
Generally, these cleaners should be applied in foam format with a soft rag or brush. Move in a circular, light motion while cleaning, then vacuum the area when dry. We also recommend regular vacuuming and light brushing, which can be done at intervals to prevent dust and grime buildups from taking place.
Code S
Code S furnishings, on the other hand, can only be cleaned using dry cleaning solvent products. This is usually done in a spot cleaning format, with a water-free solvent or dry-cleaning product. This process should only be carried out in a well-ventilated room to ensure fumes do not threaten health, and you should spot-test a small section of the piece before applying the cleaner to the entire thing.
As with other pieces, regular vacuuming and light brushing are recommended to limit dust and grime buildups.
Code W-S
Also sometimes listed as code S-W, this code means both water-based or dry-cleaning solvents can be used for cleaning the furniture piece. Both products should be used in the ways described above, including testing on a smaller section before proceeding to the entire piece.
Code X
Finally, if you see the code X on a piece of furniture, this means it can only be cleaned using a vacuum or light brush – no solvent of any kind can be used. These products may lead to shrinking, staining or various distortions. For more on the cleaning codes present for various furniture pieces, or to learn about any of our fine home furnishings, speak to the staff at Guild Hall Home Furnishings today.
