An upholstered bed head is very appealing, they look great and they feel amazing, but compared to a wooden or metal bed head, upholstered bed heads require your time, you need to keep them clean. Yes, you should put a little time and effort into keeping them looking good. For this reason, it’s not suggested to use an upholstered bed head in a child’s room.
Just like you wash your sheets and pillowcases every week if you give your upholstered bed head a little bit of TLC you’ll keep it looking and feeling good for a long time.
The main items that *attack* headboards are the oils and lotions and other products you use on your hair. Headboards can also be *magnets* for germs and bacteria especially during the cold and flu season. You really don’t want to keep your lovely headboard wrapped in plastic, but you do want to keep it clean…. to achieve this, you need to add a new routine to your *to do list* and ensure that caring for and cleaning your upholstered bed head becomes part of your weekly cleaning routine.
Vacuum weekly
It’s quite easy, just use the upholstery attachment on your vacuum cleaner this is the best, fastest, and easiest way to remove the dust that has come to rest on the top of the bed head. If your bed head has pleats or is tufted you will need to use your vacuum on those areas too. Removing dust reduces the presence of allergens and helps maintain the quality of your fabric.
Disinfect weekly
Common household sprays such as Glen 20 or Pine-O-Clean make it easy to treat the surface of the fabric to prevent the spreading of viruses and mildew – yes – mildew. This can happen if you go to bed with wet or damp hair. If you are unwell, or it’s during cold and flu season a daily spray will help keep your loved one safe from germs and viruses.
Consider once a month – making your bed head smell good
Your sheets and pillow cases always smell good because you wash them every week. You probably wash and change your doona cover regularly too. Your upholstered headboard can also be *revived* to smell clean and fresh as well, it just takes a little upkeep. You can find a range of cleaners/fresheners at your local supermarket, that are suited to all types of materials from fabric to leather. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions fully, leave on for the recommended time, and remove all the product completely – you don’t want to start a build-up of cleaning products. Give it a few hours, walk into your bedroom and you’d be amazed how clean and fresh the room – and your bed head smells. If you are a smoker, you may want to consider cleaning your bed head every two weeks to keep it fresh.
Quarterly cleaning
Oils from your hair, hair spray residue, and other hair care products and skin easily rub off and onto your upholstered bed head, and if you don’t clean your bed head regularly you’ll soon begin to see where you or your partner rests their head while they are sitting in bed reading or watching TV. Before you decide to attack a stain always see if the manufacturer of your bed head has any cleaning advice based on the material. Generally, for a simple cleaning solution, some soapy warm water applied with a clean damp cloth can do the trick. Clean the whole bed head, not just the part that is dirty/staining – this will ensure a nice even clean all over. Be careful and don’t scrub, or use a brush on the material, you could cause the material to pill or to wear unevenly. If soap isn’t working, again, check for your manufacturer’s instructions, a damp cloth with vinegar can also be used. Gently blot at any oils and stains on the bed head to clean the area.
It’s very unlikely that you’d need to use a heavy-duty solvent to clean the bed head, but you may need something stronger to clean a tough spot.
If you start cleaning your bed head regularly from the day you get it, you’ll avoid any hair products etc forming stains in the first place.
