How to clean and care for velvet to ensure longevity

A fan of this most opulent of fabrics, Kya deLongchamps has advice on the best ways to remove stains from velvet-covered furniture and accessories

Kya deLongchamps looks at safe, proven ways to clean and remove stains from velvet furniture and accessories.

A byword for elegance and chic, velvet has always been the plush option. A form of warp-pile weave, the fabric was first made and used in ancient Egypt and China as a weft-pile. It became a staple in interior decorating in the West when it arrived in heavily guarded bales via the silk routes to the drawing rooms of royalty and the classes imitating aristocratic style splendour. Lavish and coveted from the Late Middle Ages, it was draped and upholstered all over wealthy homes. Velvet soon slipped into our lexicon as a noun and an adjective for a smooth surface with a glide under the fingers.

During the Renaissance, Italian velvet produced in cities including Florence, Genoa and Venice became available to the moneyed classes for clothing, curtains, upholstery, and even to line their walls if they could afford it. Henry VIII famously had a loo “box” covered in velvet for added comfort and flash. Don’t say it — I know.

The Industrial Revolution brought new weaving techniques that allowed cotton velvet to be launched to a wider market at a lower price point, making the yielding beauty and texture of velvet available to the burgeoning middle classes. It’s important to note that what most of us regard as opulent velvet today is this cotton velvet that started out in the Austen age of fustian, while everything else we see on the high street in furnishing, window treatments and fashion is largely polyester velvet, viscose/rayon and velour.

Velvet’s appeal is universal. In its best incarnations, velvet is soft, fluid and so appealing to the touch, it jumped from a noun to an adjective hundreds of years ago. We all know what velvet should feel like under the fingers. At first sight, with areas of light and shade created by the pile’s characteristic ability to lie in various directions, it spells luxury even in its cheapest form.

Our soft, yielding, gorgeous companion of the ages, velvet has a reputation for high maintenance. It has a tricky form, either based on a woven loop that’s cut, or a double cloth in more expensive forms, leaving it open to pulls and wear. Obviously, its longevity, placement and care will depend on what it is — silk, cotton or a synthetic. Let’s assume most of us will only have a brush with cotton and synthetic velvets. Just how difficult is it to keep velvet furnishings, and what’s the best way to clean them of typical weekly dust and (clutches pearls) — a stain!

Velvet demands considered treatment and particular care in the event of a stain.

Dust is the first thing to address with all piles, including short piles like velvet, velveteen and corduroy. These cut styles of weave catch everything in the air, and in furniture are essentially dusting the backside of your clothes when you sit down, leaving dirt brought in by you on the chair. Synthetic piles can be highly static, so that slight charge will again draw dirt into the pile, filtered out from the air. Enough dust will dull the surface of a short pile, taking away its signature brilliance in both earthy and jewel colours.

Velvet dining chairs in 1970s style with a (round) Brubeck chandelier by Delightfull (Spain) POA, delightfull.eu.

Incidentally, dust is not a passive passenger in your furniture and fabrics. With pressure, small pieces of grit can saw at the weave and tufts of materials. Get it out. Reduce the suction setting on the vacuum and use the soft (clean) furniture brush of the vacuum, working with the direction of the fabric to clean down velvet furnishings, working very lightly over the pile without digging or dragging the tool. Never, ever scrub the pile with harsh pressure. About once a month is about right for this job. For an extra freshen-up, we can sprinkle cornflour or bicarbonate of soda over the sofa and again give it a gentle vacuum. I like to slightly dampen a microfibre cloth and roll it over the back edge of my sofa to lift dust without wetting the material in any way.

Tackling stains

Now, staining. Speed is our friend here. If it’s a typical spill (most likely a drink) — we want to get as much of the moisture out of the velvet as possible as quickly as possible. Take a white tissue, a cotton rag or a perfectly clean, dry, white microfibre cloth and blot down into the stain with very light presses. Don’t use coloured towels or cloths which could cause dye-transfer, a disaster in pale fabrics.

If the liquid is viscous like soup or vomit, lift it onto some kitchen cloth with short sweeps across the surface with a soft, blunt edge like that on an undamaged plastic spatula. If you don’t have that, an edge of light cardboard will do. Do not scrub the fabric or drive the liquid stain around the surface, which will just spread it. Work from outside to in. Replace the cloth or tissue and keep going until the spot is as clean and dry as possible. Do not introduce more water or wring out the cleaning cloth, as water itself may stain the velvet.

With some dense, modern velvets, you may be largely out of trouble already, as they are manufactured to be stain-resistant. Read the tag before applying any set treatment, including steam. W or WS fabric codes usually allow for damp and steam techniques; S requires professional cleaning.

If there is a chemical treatment on the material, liquid spills may largely bead on the surface for at least a time. Otherwise, there may be an obvious stain. Don’t go in with solvents, bleach or detergent-rich cleaning solutions — these will likely damage the colour, texture and finish of the velvet. With modern, synthetic velvet, say on your DFS sofa, you can give the area a light, damp clean (damp, not wet).

DFS Zanetta Leopard velvet 3-seater sofa from €2139, dfs.ie.

Make up a solution of gentle soap and warm water in a bowl. Distilled water (free of mineral deposits in tap water) is safest — but on a weekend you might not have this to hand. Take a clean, white cloth, and dip just a small piece of the cloth in the bowl and wring it out. Dab the stain lightly, turning the cloth to use clean areas to remove the stain. If this doesn’t work, and the velvet has dried to the point it’s clear there’s still a persistent mark that’s not just damp, reach for bicarbonate of soda. Safe for most materials, bicarbonate of soda will at least not harm and will lift both stains and smells from short-pile synthetic fabrics. That said, test it first (dry) on a small, discreet area of your velvet furniture or curtains, and don’t put anything on pricey silk velvet pieces without specialist advice.

I’m going to disagree with the common advice to use a bicarbonate paste here, as when wet, it can lodge in short piles and be difficult to remove. Instead, shake the bicarbonate over the area, and work it into the pile with the same care you would apply a serum to your face — gently with the flat of your fingertips. Go in the direction of the nap to ensure it reaches all the tufts. Leave it for around 20 minutes and vacuum off with the soft upholstery head of the machine. With the velvet now dry, and hopefully stain-free, we want to put the pile back in good order.

Delicacy is crucial here. We need a soft, scrupulously clean clothes brush, soft enough to run over your arm without it prickling your skin. When the velvet is dry, deftly brush first against and then in the direction of the pile to set the velvet back to its beautiful, subtle brilliance.

While crushed velvet has a particular texture, if you have flat spots on your velvet seating, we can fix that if the pile has not actually worn away. Use a steam cleaner held around 3cm-5cm away from the textile to lift the pile, being careful not to truly wet the furniture by driving the head of the machine into the velvet.

Ensure any surface connecting with the velvet is spotlessly clean before you start. When dealing with badly staining liquids like ink and red wine, don’t do anything you read about until you spot test. Off-the-shelf saviours, even rubbing alcohol, may further ruin your piece.