Maintaining your dining chairs: tips for cleaning and care

The dining room is the place for tasty meals, fun talks, and happy memories. As the center of your home, it should have furniture that shows your style and feels comfortable. One important part of a great dining room is the chairs. Dining chairs can get dirty easily due to spills and stains. To keep your dining area looking clean and stylish, you need to know how to take care of your dining chairs. By following a few easy tips and doing regular maintenance, you can keep your dining chairs in excellent condition for many years.

Understanding your dining chair

Before you grab the cleaning supplies, it’s important to know what your dining chairs are made of. From soft fabrics to strong wood, each material needs special care. Using the wrong cleaning method could. result in damage and thereby ruin the look and strength of your favourite chairs.

Upholstered chairs are a favourite for dining rooms because of their soft fabrics and cosy feel, and are often an ideal choice as they provide comfort and support for longer meals. However, their soft material, while beautiful, can attract crumbs, dust, spills and pet hair.

Wooden chairs have a classic charm, bringing warmth and style to any dining area. They have a durable quality and are relatively easy to care for, but their cleaning approach is different from that of upholstered chairs. Excess moisture can harm wooden chairs as it can cause warping or damage the finish. Soaking wet cloths or strong chemical cleaners can take away the wood's natural oils.

How to clean upholstered dining chairs

For a regular light clean, we recommend using a vacuum cleaner on fabric chairs, preferably once a week, which can help remove buildup of dirt and dust that could otherwise penetrate the fabric and leave a mark. Be sure to use an upholstery attachment with a soft brush and vacuum your piece with a light hand, as this could prevent pilling.

If you require a deeper clean, we recommend using professional cleaning services who can come to your home or office to clean your upholstered furniture.

Cleaning spills on fabric dining chairs

For non-fatty stains (such as ink and red wine), carefully dab the stain with a clean, lint-free soft cloth or sponge dampened with warm plain water, working on the stain from the outer edge inwards. Remember to blot, don’t rub!

For fatty stains (such as oily food spills and sauces), we suggest working with a suitable upholstery cleaner. We always recommend that you test the products on a small, inconspicuous area before applying it on the actual stain. If the stain persists and for a deeper clean, we recommend arranging for your piece to be treated at your home by professional services.

Additional maintenance tips and tricks

As with any fabric whether it’s dark or light, colours can fade with use or from being exposed to direct sunlight. To avoid colour fading from sun exposure, please remember to keep your dining chair in the shade or shielded from direct sunlight. When using a damp cloth to clean your upholstered pieces, please note that the fabric’s colour may transfer onto your cloth which is a normal occurrence.

Encounter any pilling? Worry not – this is a natural characteristic of some fabrics, and can be easily removed with a small electric lint remover.

Wood dining chair cleaning tips

For regular cleaning, we recommend using a slightly damp cloth to remove any dust.

For a deeper clean, use a dry cloth dampened with a natural soap (free of detergent, alcohol, preservatives, foaming agents, artificial dyes, synthetic fragrances, harsh chemicals and additives) and warm water mixture. Wipe along the grain of the desired surface and leave to dry.

Cleaning spills on wood dining room chairs

Accidents do happen! If you do if you encounter any of the following spills, we recommend the following for best results:

Water rings and marks

Use a damp cloth and natural soap to clean, then leave to dry.

Grease stains

• Pour salt on the area right away to absorb the oil, then wipe and repeat if needed.
• Wet the affected area using a damp cloth, which will prevent any water rings from forming.
• Scrub the stain with a mixture of one part white vinegar to twenty parts water (e.g. 1L water and 50mL vinegar)
• Wipe the area again with water.
• Sand down the affected area in the direction of wood grains if needed.

If you have purchased your dining chair from TREE and are unable to remove your stain(s), we're pleased to offer furniture aftercare services to help refurbish your piece. While, in most cases, we are able to help remove stubborn stains, please note it is not guaranteed that they will be removed completely due to the individual nature of wood.

Prevention is the best care!

To ensure your wood chairs stay looking as good as the day you brought them home, we recommend taking the following preventative measures:

• Just like us, wood needs to stay hydrated. If you use a home heating system, be sure to place a cup of water nearby to enhance the humidity. We also recommend keeping your dining chairs away from air conditioners and heaters/radiators. Check on the conditions of your room regularly, as abrupt changes in temperature or humidity may cause the wood to crack in extreme cases.
• While vitamin D is good for us, sunlight can have a negative impact on wood and alter its colour. If this is a concern, we recommend using a (sheer) curtain to help regulate the amount of natural light coming in.

Maintaining your dining chairs is crucial for their longevity and appearance. By regularly cleaning upholstery with appropriate products and caring for wooden surfaces with the right techniques, you can ensure your chairs remain in excellent condition. We hope that our bLOG post on dining chair cleaning tips helps you keep your piece in tip-top shape, so that you can enjoy them for years to come.