Dark spots on sofa arms and headrests are a common problem that many homeowners eventually notice. Most people realize that these dark areas are often caused by body oils and everyday soil, but after more than 55 years in the carpet and upholstery cleaning industry, I can tell you there is often much more going on beneath the surface.
The Arms: More Than Just Body Oils and Soil
The arms of a sofa or chair typically receive a combination of body oils, soil, perspiration, and other contaminants that are gradually transferred from our hands and arms to the fabric.
But there is another source of discoloration that many homeowners never consider: newspaper ink.
We are creatures of habit. Every morning or every evening, many people sit in the same favorite spot on the sofa or chair and read the day’s news. Over time, small amounts of ink can transfer from the newspaper to your hands—and eventually from your hands to the upholstery.
This transfer happens slowly and gradually, so most people never realize it is occurring.
By the time the arms of the furniture begin looking noticeably darker, the fabric may contain a combination of body oils, ordinary soil, perspiration, and transferred ink.
The good news is that this type of discoloration can often be improved with professional cleaning. However, I would strongly recommend leaving this type of work to someone who truly understands upholstery cleaning.
Upholstery Cleaning Is Not the Same as Carpet Cleaning
Many cleaning companies do an excellent job cleaning carpet but have limited experience with upholstery. Upholstery can involve a tremendous variety of fibers, dyes, weaves, backing materials, and construction methods. What works safely on one fabric can cause problems on another.
In my opinion, it takes years of experience cleaning many different types of upholstery under many different conditions before someone becomes truly proficient at upholstery cleaning. And becoming an expert requires even more experience.
That experience matters because upholstery cleaning is not simply a matter of applying a cleaning solution and using a machine. You need to understand the fabric, the type of soil, the dyes, how the furniture is constructed, and what risks may be involved before deciding how aggressively the fabric can be cleaned.
Why Headrests Can Be a Different Problem
Headrests on sofas, chairs, and upholstered beds often become dark for a different reason.
Yes, soil is attracted to body oils and perspiration, and over time the fabric begins to look darker. I see this particularly often on fabric headboards.
Interestingly, the discoloration is frequently worse on the side of the bed where the man sleeps—or more accurately, where he sits up to read or watch television.
One possible reason is hair. Women with longer or thicker hair may have something of a buffer between the skin on the neck and the upholstery. Men often have shorter hair around the neck, allowing more direct contact between the skin and the fabric.
But the real concern isn’t simply the visible soil.
Perspiration Can Cause Long-Term Damage to Natural Fibers
The arms of furniture often become dirty faster because our hands repeatedly transfer soil to the fabric. Headrest areas, however, may accumulate something different over time: body oils and perspiration.
Perspiration contains salts. Over many years, those salts—combined with body oils—can weaken certain natural fibers, particularly cotton.
This creates a difficult situation when the furniture is finally cleaned.
After the surface soil is removed, the area may initially look lighter. But sometimes the underlying oils and long-term chemical changes to the fabric become more visible, leaving the fabric with a yellowish or discolored appearance.
Unfortunately, continued attempts to aggressively remove that discoloration can create an even bigger problem.
If the fibers have already been weakened by years of exposure to perspiration salts and oils, excessive cleaning or agitation can cause the fabric to split or tear.
That means there can be very real limitations to what can safely be corrected.
Sometimes the Best Solution Is Prevention
Over the years, I have often suggested a simple idea to clients and to interior designers I have worked closely with: when having a chair or fabric headboard made, consider purchasing some additional matching fabric.
That extra fabric can be used to create a protective panel for areas that receive the most contact.
For example, with a fabric headboard, a matching piece could be attached discreetly to the back of the headboard using Velcro or another method. When needed, it could be flipped over the front of the headboard to protect the original upholstery from body oils, perspiration, and everyday wear.
The protective piece takes the abuse while the original fabric underneath remains protected.
If the protective fabric eventually becomes badly soiled or worn, replacing that smaller piece is far easier and less expensive than replacing or reupholstering the entire headboard.
The same idea can sometimes be adapted to favorite chairs or other pieces of upholstered furniture where the same person regularly sits in the same location.
My Advice
Dark areas on the arms and headrests of upholstered furniture are not always just simple surface dirt. Over time, the fabric may accumulate body oils, perspiration, salts, transferred dyes or inks, and ordinary household soil.
The longer those materials remain in the fabric, the more complicated the cleaning can become.
My advice is to have heavily used upholstery professionally cleaned before the discoloration becomes severe—and make sure the person cleaning it has substantial experience working with upholstery.
After more than 55 years in the carpet and upholstery cleaning industry, I have learned that upholstery cleaning is often far more complicated than people realize. Sometimes you can achieve dramatic results. Other times, experience tells you when attempting to remove every trace of discoloration could cause more damage than leaving some of it behind.
If you have a question about a particular upholstery problem, I’m always happy to help. Contact Alec’s Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning at 781-871-1415 or visit our Contact Us page to discuss your upholstery cleaning needs.