How to clean velvet: a velvet sofa without water rings or crush marks

Run your hand across the seat in both directions. One way the velvet will feel smooth and look lighter; the other way it will feel rougher and look darker. That is the pile direction. Do everything — vacuuming, brushing, blotting — along it, and finish by smoothing the pile with a light stroke in the same direction.

This is also why velvet shades: a patch that looks darker than the rest is often not a stain, just pile lying at a different angle. Before reaching for anything wet, try evening it out with a soft brush.

Vacuum once a week with a soft brush attachment on low suction, following the pile direction. Dust and grit act like sandpaper — pressed into the pile, they dull velvet faster than sitting does.

Pet hair comes off best with a slightly damp rubber glove or a rubber brush moved with the pile. Lint rollers work too, but on longer pile they can tug at the fibres — use them gently.

1) Act straight away and do not rub. Lift excess liquid by pressing an absorbent white paper towel or cotton cloth onto it: press, lift, move to a dry area. 2) Dampen a clean, light-coloured cloth with lukewarm water and a drop of mild, colourless detergent and work from the edge of the stain towards the centre, so you do not spread it.

3) Remove detergent residue with a second cloth dampened with plain water, then blot dry with a towel. 4) While the fabric is still slightly damp, smooth the pile with a soft brush in the pile direction and let it dry at room temperature — no hair dryer, and away from radiators.

The most common complaint after cleaning velvet at home is a visible ring where the stain used to be. It forms when water dries from the centre outwards and leaves at the edge everything it dissolved on the way: minerals from tap water, detergent residue, dirt from deep in the pile.

Two things prevent it most effectively. First, use demineralised water instead of tap water. Second, avoid a sharp wet-to-dry boundary: feather the edge of the damp area gently into the dry fabric, and for larger stains clean the whole panel — a whole cushion, for example — seam to seam. A ring that has already formed usually disappears after the whole panel is dampened evenly and lightly and left to dry.

Marks left by cushions, elbows or feet are pile laid flat under weight, not damage. On polyester velvet a soft brush is usually enough — first against the pile, then with it. If the mark stays, steam helps: hold a garment steamer a few centimetres above the fabric without touching it, then brush while the pile is still warm.

Use steam only if the fabric's care instructions do not rule it out, and always test in a hidden spot first. Never put an iron or the steamer plate directly on velvet — heat and pressure set the crush instead of removing it.

Most damage to velvet comes from a handful of repeated mistakes. Here they are in one table, with what to do instead.

Some upholstery velvets have factory finishes that make cleaning easier. In the Rivestimento collection the Stella, Ive and Gobi velvets have a waterproof finish: liquid stays on the surface for a moment instead of soaking in straight away, which gives you time to lift it before it becomes a stain.

A finish is neither permanent nor resistant to everything. Solvents, alcohol and aggressive stain removers can strip it locally, and once the finish is gone the fabric behaves like ordinary velvet. The rules stay the same — the margin for error is simply wider.

• Stella — velvet 720 g/mb, Martindale 85,000, waterproof
• Ive — velvet 520 g/mb, 27 colours, waterproof
• Gobi — warm-toned velvet, waterproof

Wine, grease, ink, blood or urine stains, marks older than a few days and large areas are cases for an on-site upholstery cleaning company. Give them the fabric name and composition from the technical sheet — choosing chemicals for polyester velvet with a finish is a different job from cotton.

If your furniture is upholstered in a TIM Collection fabric and you do not have its technical sheet, write to us with the fabric name — we will point you to the sheet for that line.

• Contact the TIM Collection office