Est. Reading Time: 8 Mins
At La-Z-Boy, our furniture is designed to last a long time. Due to the quality of materials and craftsmanship from our manufacturers, La-Z-Boy furniture can last as long as 20 years!
This is partly why our furniture is more expensive than other retailers. Investing in furniture like La-Z-Boy means you’ll be spending a good number of years with that furniture.
So what happens when your furniture starts to look older and worn in over time? Is it time to start thinking of buying new furniture?
Hold it right there! There are actually less expensive solutions than purchasing new furniture altogether. There are ways to upkeep your furniture so that it remains looking new and recently bought.
Being in the furniture business for over 90 years, La-Z-boy knows a thing or two about upkeeping old furniture. This article will cover 8 ways to keep your La-Z-Boy furniture looking new and fresh! From leather furniture to recliners, sofas and decor items, there are plenty of tips listed below.
To help with our list of tips, Mary Lee Smyth, an interior designer at La-Z-Boy Kingston, has her own recommendations that are sure to help anyone with keeping old La-Z-Boy furniture looking new.
In This Article…
- Wearing & Tearing of La-Z-Boy Furniture
- Regularly Clean Leather Furniture
- Keep Your Leather Furniture in Room Temperature Setting
- Shave Off Fabric Pilling
- Deep Clean Fabric Furniture Regularly
- Upkeep Your Seat Cushions If Lumpy
- Beware of Dust Mites with Your Wooden Furniture
- Blow Dry Wooden Furniture If You Have Water Marks
1. Wearing & Tearing of La-Z-Boy Furniture
Finally, the last thing anyone would want to worry about when owning a furniture item is having rips or tears in the upholstery covers.
Over time, your cats' claws could eventually rip through the fabric, little kids jumping on the cushions and having pillow fights could cause damage, or a sharp object could accidentally cut through the cover.
Although these situations are not ideal, there are many reupholstery services out there. Depending on the size and shape of the furniture, reupholstering a piece of furniture could be less expensive than replacing it.
However, sometimes replacing upholstery can be as expensive as getting a new furniture item altogether, so it is up to you if you want to keep your furniture or go for a newer furniture piece.
Check out our article outlining the Cost to Reupholster a Chair and the Cost to Reupholster a La-Z-Boy Recliner.
At La-Z-Boy, the wear and tear of furniture is an understandable issue, which is why it is covered by our extended warranty.
To learn more about deciding between Repair vs. Replace, check out this article.
2. Regularly Clean Leather Furniture
For those that may not know, leather furniture is favoured among fabric options by some individuals because of its durability, sustainability and overall comfort.
Leather is known to last 5 times longer than fabric upholstery, meaning your leather furniture will maintain its new look much longer than any fabric furniture items you own.
However, leather furniture can certainly age over time. With that being said, there are ways to preserve its original beauty.
One of the main things that leather furniture owners should do is clean and condition their furniture regularly. This involves gently cleaning your furniture with distilled water on a damp cloth. You can also condition your leather with a furniture-grade conditioner.
Along with your monthly washes, don’t forget to dust your leather furniture more regularly! These types of furniture products also pick up lots of dust.
Leather furniture is meant to be deep cleaned at least once a month. By cleaning and conditioning leather, you are avoiding discolouration and peeling caused by natural body oils.
Leather is very similar to the skin since the material is originally from cowhide. Keeping your leather furniture perfectly balanced in hydration is key to keeping it looking new.
This also means doing your best at keeping leather away from natural sunlight since this can cause fading and peeling as well.
If you want to learn more about Common Problems with Leather Furniture, take a look at this article.
3. Keep Your Leather Furniture in Room Temperature Setting
On the subject of leather furniture, leather is also very climate-sensitive, meaning certain temperatures can cause leather furniture to peel or crack.
To prevent this from happening, regulate your AC and heat levels to ensure that your leather furniture isn’t subjected to extreme heat or cold. This is especially important in the summer and winter.
The ideal room temperature to keep your leather furniture in is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26 celsius).
One thing Mary Lee recommends is not putting leather furniture in a cottage. “If you’re gone for 6 months out of the year, who is going to upkeep the high maintenance of your leather furniture?”
Putting leather furniture in a suburban apartment can be a risk if you do not have any central AC. However, if you have an AC unit, keeping it close by can help regulate the temperature in the room.
4. Shave Off Fabric Pilling
When it comes to fabric upholstered furniture, there is also necessary upkeep. Nonetheless, there are easy ways to keep your fabric furniture looking new.
A very common problem that furniture owners may face is fabric pilling. Fabric pilling is when the loose fibres added to your furniture are moved up to the surface caused by friction and rubbing. These little fibres are twisted together into small balls that we see–they rise to the surface but remain attached to the furniture.
Do not be alarmed! Mary Lee says this is not considered a defect and does not mean your materials are cheaper. However, you might be annoyed by this happening to your furniture.
The best way to resolve fabric pilling is using a battery-operated pill shaver.
These devices are specifically used to easily shave off excess fabric from furniture, de-fuzzing them so that fabric pilling is less of an issue.
One thing Mary Lee recommends is deciding which fabric is right for you. “Not the type of colour,” she says, “but if it should be a specialty fabric or not.”
La-Z-Boy’s specialty fabrics help with all sorts of problems like stain-resistant iClean fabric covers, pet-friendly materials, antimicrobial fabrics, and more. Some specialty fabrics, like the performance fabrics, see reduced fabric pilling.
If you want to learn more about Fabric Pilling and how it occurs, take a look at this article.
5. Deep Clean Fabric Furniture Regularly
Keeping on the subject of fabric, dust and dirt can appear frequently on these upholstery furniture items. You may notice a high collection of dust and dirt in between cushions, underneath your couch, and in small crevices.
A great to keep your furniture dirt and dust-free is by deep cleaning every month with a vacuum.
This involves removing the seat cushions of your couch, if detachable, and lifting your furniture to get rid of any dust bunnies hiding underneath. If you own a recliner, you can always keep your recliner open while cleaning underneath for easier access.
Along with deep cleaning the furniture frame, don’t forget to vacuum your cushions too! And, if you own a steam cleaner, this device is good for getting rid of any unwanted wrinkles and stretches.
If you have any stains on your furniture from food or spills, use a damp cloth with a mixture of water and white vinegar to get rid of any stains. You can also use rubbing alcohol to help but you must blot instead of rub on the fabric or else you’ll risk staining your furniture further.
As mentioned before, if you are worried about staining your furniture, La-Z-Boy's specialty fabrics, like iClean fabrics can help reduce those pesky worries
6. Upkeep Your Seat Cushions If Lumpy
The seat cushions of a beloved chair or sofa are used daily. The cushions not only provide comfort, but this part of your furniture is probably the most distinctive aspect of its overall look.
If cushions are lumpy, they may not appear as such, but they can become very much apparent when someone sits on them. There are many ways to fix this problem, one of the main solutions being adjusting the cushioning from within.
Some La-Z-Boy cushions come with a zipper, meaning you can easily access the cushioning by unzipping it.
If your cushion does not have any zippers, it may not be ideal, but flipping and rotating your cushions is a temporary solution. If that is not an ideal solution for you, La-Z-Boy can replace any foam cushions through our extended warranty.
Mary Lee says that rotating and flipping your cushions after your monthly deep cleans are the perfect way to make sure that every cushion wears out evenly.
To learn more about La-Z-Boy’s Limited Lifetime Warranty by checking out this webpage.
7. Bewear of Mould & Dust Mites in Your Wooden Furniture
La-Z-Boy not only sells living room furniture, but also dining room furniture.
Canadel and La-Z-Boy have been partners for quite some time now, and with their furniture selection in our showrooms, we’ve also collected tips throughout the years to help maintain the look of your dining room furniture.
Firstly, all of Canadel’s furniture has some form of wooden material exposed The quality of materials and craftsmanship is also comparable to La-Z-Boy’s high-quality furniture.
However, no matter how high the quality of the furniture is, there will always be problems that occur. A very common problem for wooden furniture is for mould or dust mites to chew away at your nice furniture.
If you ever see spots of mould on your wooden furniture, use a natural cleanser, like white vinegar or vodka, to eliminate the problem.
Mary Lee says, “mould is a live fungus looking to feed, so you have to make your space uninhabitable for it to dissipate.”
If you see dust mites the best way to eliminate them is by wiping with a damp cloth on your furniture and flipping the side of the cloth each time you wipe. If you keep wiping with the same side, you’re essentially moving the dust mites to a different spot rather than getting rid of them.
Dust mites not only appear on wooden furniture but anywhere that has dust. This can also include living room furniture and pillows.
8. Humifidy Wooden Furniture If You Have Water Marks
Wooden furniture is easily stainable, especially if the design of the wood is distressed. Water or other beverages can stain and easily get into the natural cracks of a wooden table.
Nonetheless, there is a simple solution to this. Obviously, the best way to avoid this problem is by cleaning the spill immediately, but if you see any water marks on your table, Mary Lee recommends using a humidifier to get rid of them.
Humidifiers carry low heat temperature, so you can avoid any permanent heat damage to your tabletop.
Mary Lee says it’s hard to find permanent watermarks on Canadel products because of its sustainable materials. However, if this problem occurs, you now know what the best solution is!
If you want to learn more about Canadel Dining Room Furniture Care Tips, check out this article from Canadel’s website.
What's Next?
After reading this article, you now have more knowledge on how to keep your old La-Z-Boy furniture looking new again. Now, instead of worrying about finding new furniture to wear out, you can still keep the furniture you’ve been using for years!
With that being said, you may be looking to freshen up your home with updated and stylish furniture. At La-Z-Boy, we offer a wide selection of traditional, transitional, and contemporary furniture that complements many home designs.
To get started, take a look at our best-selling furniture lists below to see which furniture pieces speak to you:
- Best Selling La-Z-Boy Power Recliners
- Best Selling La-Z-Boy Sectionals
- Best Selling La-Z-Boy Swivel Accent Chairs
You can start shopping online or go to any one of our showrooms located in Ottawa or Kingston. You can also schedule a visit online before coming in.
Our design consultants are always eager to lend a helping hand. Take advantage of our interior design services to see how our furniture could fit in your home.
Related Articles: