IICRC Technical Adviser Jeff Bishop receives numerous questions from consumers as well as cleaning and restorative industry professionals. Although not every question and answer can be printed, IICRC news will include one or more of the most frequent asked questions (FAQs) and answer it each time.

Question: How often should upholsters office chairs be cleaned? Where in the IICRC reference material would I find this information?

Answer: I hope that you have your copy of the IICRC S300 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Cleaning. Unknown to most commercial end-users is the fact that, unlike residential upholstery, commercial upholstery experiences a lot more daily soiling and wear and tear. In my judgment, commercial upholstery should be cleaned at least annually by a professional cleaning service that knows how to remove MAXIMUM soil. According to the American Association of Dermatologists, the average human sheds about 300 hairs per day along with roughly 300,000 skin cells. much of that organic soil winds up in the furniture or the carpet. Each time a person sits on a commercial upholstery, some of that organic soil, along with other solid components, is rendered airborne and becomes breathable. When inhaled, by building occupants, we can speculate that sensitive persons will, at best, experience lower productivity and, at worst, absenteeism. This has a direct and profound impact on organizational productivity, thereby increasing the costs of doing business and ultimately diminishing profitability.

                             
       Commercial Chair Cleaning                             Commercial Cubical Cleaning

Bottom Line: I think that commercial upholstery should be cleaned at least annually and perhaps semi-annually in heavy use situations or high traffic areas. The increased life of the upholstery and the savings in productivity should more than pay for the cost of cleaning