Care of furniture

Maintenance

Leather & Fabrics – for Furniture

Furniture is an investment worth being protected.
This information concerning products is disclosing the characteristics and maintenance of natural leather and fabrics.

Worth knowing about surface treatment of leather
Be aware of buying cheap types of By-Cast and Bonded leather (China-leather). These types are not real leather and cannot be compared to genuine leather for furniture.

SØREN LUND MØBLER is mainly using pure aniline and semi-aniline leather.

Leather types
Pure aniline

ren-anilin

Natural individual appearance/grain. Entirely open hair follicles. No direct treatment of the surface.

Corrected grain leather

korrigeret-laeder

The natural grain has been totally abraded. The surface is covered with a layer of pigment colour and protective wax. Subsequently it is grained. Uniform grained appearance.

Pigmented leather

pigmenteret-laeder

The surface is covered with pigment colour and protective wax. Natural grain.

Semi-aniline

semi-anilin

Natural looks/grain with slightly light pigmentation and protective wax.
The hair follicles are still open.

Artificially grained leather

narvsat-laeder

The surface is covered with pigment colour and protective wax. Subsequently it is grained. Uniform appearance.

As recognized maintenance agents of leather  e.g.:
Leathermaster, www.leathermaster.dk Phone +45 46155025
Guardian, www.guardian-protection.com Phone +45 40842814

Maintenance of Leather Furniture

Never place your leather furniture closer than 30 cm from a radiator or in direct sunlight.

Leather without any surface protection
General cleaning procedure: Wipe off with a clean and soft cloth. When slightly soiled, the whole surface should be wiped with a clean soft cloth, strongly wringed in de-mineralised or tepid  boiled water.

Cleaning more thoroughly: Wipe off the whole surface with a clean and soft cloth which was wringed in soapy water of ¼ dl clean soap flakes and 1 l demineralised water or tepid and boiled water – remove immediately any surplus soap and re-polish the whole surface in order to avoid any discolorations.
– Or you may apply a recognized cleaner

Leather with surface protection
General cleaning procedure: Wipe off with a clean and soft cloth. When slightly soiled, it should be wiped with a clean, soft cloth wringed in demineralised or cold boiled water.

Cleaning more thoroughly: Wipe off or rub gently the whole surface with a clean and soft cloth which was wringed in soapy water of ¼ dl clean soap flakes and 1 l cold and boiled water or demineralised water.
– Or you may apply a recognized cleaner.

Stain cleaning is not advisable.
Do not use a vacuum cleaner on the leather furniture.General cleaning procedure: Wipe off with a clean and soft cloth. When slightly soiled, it should be wiped with a clean, soft cloth wringed in demineralised or cold boiled water.

Cleaning more thoroughly: Wipe off or rub gently the whole surface with a clean and soft cloth which was wringed in soapy water of ¼ dl clean soap flakes and 1 l cold and boiled water or demineralised water.
– Or you may apply a recognized cleaner.

Stain cleaning is not advisable.
Do not use a vacuum cleaner on the leather furniture.

Fabrics – for Furniture

Often consist of wool, cotton or linen, sometimes combined with synthetic fibers as e.g. polyester, acrylic polypropylene, and nylon in order to improve the abrasive resistance.Abrasive resistance is indicated in Martindales. The recommended minimum for normal daily use is 18.000 rubs, for special hard use as in institutions, public offices and the like the Martindale should be from 30.000 – 45.000 rubs.

Be aware of the fact that rough fabrics like denim and others are wearing out more profoundly on upholstery and leather.

Be careful with the trace of colours from jeans. As soon as the damage is done, it cannot be repaired.

Light fastness is indicated on a scale from 1 till 8, with 8 as the best quality. The recommended minimum is 4 – 5. Today “Indanthren” colours are not allowed in Europe, due to environment precautions. That is why colour and light fastness cannot be at their optimum.

Sunlight has an immediate effect on upholstery. It is very important to protect furniture against the influence of sunlight; especially southbound windows and coastal areas should call for careful handling.

Worth knowing about Fabrics for Furniture

Wool

Wool fibers are well suited as upholstery with great abrasive resistance, impressive anti-soiling property, as well as a great restoration capability. Wool fabrics may liberate a tiny amount of pilling at the beginning. As a rule, this does not influence the quality and can be removed by means of a special device.

General maintenance: regular vacuum cleaning. For more thorough cleaning “P-cleaning” is recommended.

Washing: Always use manual wash, detergent suited for wool fabrics, avoid any temperature chock, and shrinking should be expected.

We do not recommend any washing of wool.

Linen

This exclusive fabric is creating a spectacular appearance and consists of plain plant fibers, which are quite insensitive to dirt. Linen has got a strong abrasive quality, however it does crumple quite easily, and we advice against mounting it on soft cushions. It is difficult to pigment Linen and the genuineness of the colours can be problematic. In environments with hard daily use we do not recommend the application of Linen.

Do not wash Linen, bring it to the dry-cleaner’s and tell them that the item is Linen fabric.

Cotton

Cotton fibers have a fabulous abrasive resistance, are comfortable in use, and well suited for furniture with soft bolsters and cushions.

Colored cotton fabrics are often more light sensitive than wool and should be protected against direct sun influence. However, cotton is also more receptive to dirt and treatment with a dirt-repelling agent is recommended.

Regular vacuum cleaning and – if necessary – stain removal are contributing to preserve the looks and abrasive resistance, because dirt and dust are acting destructive on the fabrics.

Jeans and rough fabrics are also here important sinners causing the attrition of cotton fabrics.

Removable cover is not synonymous with the fact that the fabric is washable. If the declaration of the fabric says “washable”, the temperature must not be beyond 40°C. It is essential to use the correct detergent, and the washing machine should be cleaned thoroughly, especially after the last laundry had been a “white laundry”. Do not fill too much into the machine. After washing, there will always remain a small shrinking effect. Thus, the cover should be re-mounted in semi dry condition.

Today many of SØREN LUND’s fabrics have been Teflon-treated and are washable. Ask your agent.

Microfibers

are available on all price levels, from the cheapest discount store to the absolutely most exclusive end of the scale. All types have a strong abrasive quality, high light fastness and can be washed. Ask your agent for further information.

Massive wood

Wood is living material which is absorbing and liberating moisture according to its surroundings, and it does not stand sudden changes in humidity and temperature.

Maintenance of soap-treated massive wood

General cleaning: Wipe off with a clean, dry cloth. Dirty surfaces must be cleaned with a cloth wringed with a soap dissolution (¼ dl. soap flakes in ½ l. water).

Grinding can be done with sandpaper 180/220, do not use any steel wool on oak wood. Soap treatment increases the resistance quality of the tabletop.

Read more in:
www.danishfurniture.dk (find furniture)
www.moebler.dk (maintenance)

Upholstring Material

Søren Lund Møbler is using steel springs in the production of all furniture, which are protected by fibertex and needle felt as foundation of the upholstering

The front edges of the seats are equipped with solid foam rubber ( Moltex ). All the upper arms are upholstered with 50 kg cold foam or harder Moltex.

Propperties of the cushions
The cushions can be made either of deformation resistant cold foam or down/foam granulate ( Polydun ), or as luxury cushion: Down Top, which consists of a core of cold foam wrapped into down tight Cambrigde canvas with a stuffing of Polydun.

All upholstring is changing when it is being stressed. Especially the Polydun/Down Top seat cushion may have a bit shorter life span, depending on the fact, that it has not been maintained. If possible, please exchange the cushions, or turn them around, and don´t sit on the same spot every time.Thus the upholstering would “settle” more even over the whole seat area and better retain its shape.

If the upholstering has been subject to hard usage, e.g. heavy persons or continuous use throughout the day, more shape resistent cold foam cushion wirth a better ability for reconstruction should be chosen.

Detachable Polydun/Down Top cushions must be tapped in order to avoid any collapse . Cushions, containing harder filling material call for more shaking. The bigger and heavier the cushion is, the more it must be knocked in order to maintain its shape. All cushions have got a tendency toward a change of shape during use.

Soft cushions with slight creases and gathers are often part of the comfortable and nonchalant look of the designed furniture.Should those cushions keep their shape, the daily careful tapping of them would be a necessity, depending on the constant usage of the furniture.

Properties of the fabrics on the cushions
All fabric materiel has more or less a tendency to “walk” around the cushion, which can be reduced by turning and exchanging the cushions.

Properties of the leather on the cushions
As soon as you get up from the settee/armchair, there will always be created “sitting compositions” in seat cushions covered with leather, which are popularly experienced as “bird´s nests”. This appearance can be reduced by shaking the cushions. However, the leather will slowly stretch out, thus the seating area on your settee/armchair soon will show signs of usage.

This is of course use-patina which is spending live to the furniture. The inner channels of down will always be more or less noticeable, depending on the fabric/leather materiel – and may be experienced as horizontal lines on the bolsters .

If you follow the few and simple rules, you will own furniture which will last year after year.