Sofa, mattress and curtain cleaning
Monster Cleaning cleans upholstery in London, Liverpool and Manchester at a set price per piece: £57 for a two-seater sofa, £33 for an armchair and £35 for a mattress, with a visit starting at £67. Curtains cost £35 a drop, or £42 for a long one. The cleaner reads the fabric and its care label before anything wet touches it. Allow about 12 to 24 hours for a sofa to dry.
Our London teams work in all 33 boroughs, among them Croydon, Barnet, Westminster and Tower Hamlets. The Liverpool team covers Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens and Halton, and the Manchester team every Greater Manchester borough, from Salford and Stockport to Wigan and Oldham.
Fabric pieces are cleaned with hot water extraction, what most people call steam cleaning, through a small upholstery wand. We clean fabric only: leather, faux leather and sofas that mix leather with fabric are not cleaned. If you’re moving out, book the upholstery with your end of tenancy clean and it costs less: £51 for the sofa, £24 for an armchair, £29 for a mattress.
Prices last updated November 2026
Upholstery cleaning prices
You can add up your own quote from this table before you ring. The middle column is the price for upholstery booked on its own; the last column applies when it goes on the same booking as an end of tenancy clean.
| Piece | On its own | With an end of tenancy clean |
|---|---|---|
| Two-seater sofa | £57 | £51 |
| Each extra seat on a bigger sofa | £26 | £23 |
| Armchair | £33 | £24 |
| Dining chair | £13 | £10 |
| Office chair | £11 | £8 |
| Mattress, single or double | £35 | £29 |
| Curtains, short drop (per drop) | £35 | £33 |
| Curtains, long drop (per drop) | £42 | £37 |
Three-seater sofa
two-seater plus one seat
£83
Six dining chairs
£78
Two-seater and an armchair
£90
Scotchgard fabric protection
per seat
£13
An upholstery visit starts at £67, so a two-seater sofa booked on its own comes to £67. Corner sofas, recliners, headboards and king-size mattresses are priced on the phone (0333 555 2076). If the van cannot park for free near you, the parking is added at cost, never more than £40, and you are told before the visit is booked.
Which fabrics can be cleaned
The cleaner starts with the care label. Most sofas have one, with a code: W means water-based cleaning is fine, S means solvent only, WS means either, and X means neither, so an X piece gets a vacuum and nothing more. The clean uses water, so an S piece is checked on the day and you hear before any work starts whether it can be done. For marks between cleans, our guide to cleaning a fabric sofa by hand goes through the codes and the method.
| Fabric | Can we clean it? | How |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton, polyester, nylon, acrylic, microfibre | Yes | Hot water extraction |
| Wool and wool blends | Yes | Neutral products, less water |
| Linen | Yes, with care | Low moisture, as linen watermarks easily |
| Chenille | Yes | The pile is groomed by hand afterwards |
| Velvet and velveteen | Tested first | Dyes vary, so a hidden patch is tested before the rest |
| Leather, faux leather, nubuck and suede | No | Not cleaned: hot water extraction would damage them |
| Leather and fabric mixed on one piece | No | Not cleaned |
| Care label X | Vacuum only | No water, no solvent |
| Antique horsehair or hessian | No | We refer you to an upholstery restorer |
Some budget fabrics use dyes that run as soon as they get wet, so the cleaner tests a hidden patch before committing. If a sofa fails that test, you’ll hear it before any cleaning starts.
The sofa clean, step by step
- Cushions off and a thorough vacuum with an upholstery attachment, including the sides nobody sees and under the skirt, where the crumbs and the remote control end up. Dry grit turns to mud once water reaches it, which is how tide marks start.
- A pre-spray chosen for the fibre and the mess: enzyme on food, pet and bodily marks; alkaline on general soiling where the fabric can take it; neutral on delicate fabric; a solvent on oil and grease. It sits for about ten minutes.
- Extraction with the upholstery wand, which is smaller and gentler than a carpet wand. Two passes on a moderately dirty sofa, three on the worst patches. The foam is never soaked, because a wet cushion core takes days to dry and can go mouldy.
- Extra time on the arms and headrests. Skin contact and hand oil make them the dirtiest part of any sofa, and the part people miss when they clean it themselves.
- Spot treatment on any mark that survived the main pass.
- The pile brushed in one direction and the cushions put back where they were.
Upholstery drying time
Allow about 12 to 24 hours for a fabric sofa or a mattress to dry, and keep off it until then. Deep, feather-filled cushions are the slowest of all, and lined curtains take longer than unlined ones.
The wand pulls most of the water straight back out on the same pass, so the fabric is left damp rather than wet. An open window helps. Book a morning slot so the drying runs through the day.
Stains on sofas: what usually comes out
A rough guide to what usually comes out. Every mark is pre-treated, but complete removal is never guaranteed: before starting, the cleaner looks at each of your marks and tells you which row it belongs in. A photo of the marks helps when you book.
| Stain | Usual result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Red wine, within a day | Usually out | On most fabrics |
| Red wine, set in | Reduced | Often lighter, not always gone |
| Coffee or tea | Usually out | |
| Make-up | Usually out | Foundation and lipstick included |
| Oil, grease, food | Usually out | Solvent pre-treatment |
| Blood | Usually out | Enzyme treatment, best within a week |
| Sweat marks on arms and headrests | Usually out | The biggest visible change on most sofas |
| Suntan lotion | Depends on age | Easier within a month, much harder after |
| Water rings | Often fixed | Usually a tide mark left by a partial clean |
| Ink or biro | Mixed | Depends on the ink |
| Curry or turmeric | Reduced | Full removal is rare |
| Bleach or colour loss | Stays | The fibre is damaged; only a specialist can recolour it |
Pet hair, smells and accidents on upholstery
Dog and cat hair works its way down into the weave, and a household vacuum only gets the top layer. Extraction lifts more of the hair and dander held in the weave than a household vacuum reaches.
Accidents depend on how far they have gone. Urine or sick on the surface of a cushion cover usually comes out with an enzyme treatment. Once it has soaked into the foam, cleaning reduces it, but the foam insert may need replacing to get rid of it completely. The cleaner will tell you which you have once they’ve seen it.
With a pet on the furniture, have the sofa cleaned every nine to twelve months.
Mattress cleaning
A mattress is vacuumed first, then sweat marks, body oils and urine (babies, pets, bad nights) get an enzyme pre-treatment. The extraction is low moisture, because a mattress soaked through is almost impossible to dry and grows mildew inside the foam. It finishes with a deodorising treatment.
It’s worth doing after a newborn, an illness, a long spell in bed or a pet accident, and before you sleep on a second-hand mattress. Otherwise every year or two is plenty. A single or double costs £35, or £29 with an end of tenancy clean.
Curtain cleaning on the rail
Curtains sit in the draught from the window and the heat off the radiator, so they gather a lot of dust. They are priced per drop: one panel from the rail to its hem, £35 for a short drop and £42 for a long one. The cleaner checks on the day whether each curtain can be cleaned where it hangs, and you hear before any work starts.
Heavily soiled or delicate curtains need taking down and cleaning elsewhere; ring us about those. Lined and interlined curtains take longer to dry.
Booking an upholstery clean
Tell us the pieces. Ring or WhatsApp 0333 555 2076 (8am to 7pm, seven days a week) and tell us the sofa size, the fabric, any pets and the stains that bother you most. Or choose the pieces in the booking form at the top of the page: it adds up the price as you go, and the office rings to confirm the date.
Pick a day. A few days’ notice is usually enough; same-day or next-day only when a technician is nearby. A morning slot gives the most drying time.
Clear a metre around each piece. Move lamps and ornaments, and lift any rug under the sofa that could get damp at the edges.
The cleaner brings the rest. The machine and the products arrive with them.
Upholstery cleaners we vet ourselves
Interviewed and insured. Cleaners are interviewed in person and insured, and they train on our 57-point checklist before they clean a sofa unsupervised.
4.7 on Google. Read what customers say on our Google profile.
Trading since 2014. 40,000+ properties cleaned in London, Liverpool, Manchester and the areas around them.
Told what to expect first. The fabric and every stain are checked before any water goes on, so you know the likely result before any cleaning starts.
Trusted by 300+ letting agents. Tenants can add sofas, chairs and mattresses to an end of tenancy clean at the lower prices above.
Upholstery cleaning covers soft furniture, mattresses and curtains
Upholstery cleaning is the deep clean of anything padded or fabric-covered that isn’t a carpet: sofas, armchairs, dining and office chairs, headboards, mattresses and curtains. Vacuuming reaches the top two or three millimetres of the fabric; skin, hair, food and sweat salts sit below that, held in by the weave, which is why a sofa can look fine and still feel tired. Hot water loosens that soil and the wand’s suction pulls it out. Not every piece can take water, so the method changes with the material.
| Method | Used on | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hot water extraction | Most fabrics | Lifts soil from deep in the weave |
| Not cleaned | Leather and leather mixes | Water damages the finish |
| Cleaned where they hang, if the fabric allows | Curtains | Checked on the day, before any work starts |
Upholstery cleaning questions
How often should a sofa be cleaned?
Every 12 to 18 months suits most households. With pets, young children or anyone at home with allergies, make it every 9 to 12 months; a quiet home with one or two adults can leave it two years. A sofa that has never had a professional clean usually shows the biggest change the first time.
Will cleaning shrink the covers or make the colours run?
It shouldn’t. Shrinking, colour bleed and watermarks usually come from the wrong product or too much water. The cleaner checks the care label, tests the colours on a hidden patch and keeps the water to a minimum.
Do you clean leather sofas?
No. We clean fabric upholstery only. Leather, faux leather and sofas that combine leather with fabric are not cleaned, because hot water extraction would damage them.
Do you move the sofa and put the cushions back?
Yes. The sofa is moved enough to clean underneath and every cushion comes off. The cleaner notes how the cushions sat first (not all of them are symmetrical) and puts everything back as it was.
When can the children and the dog use the sofa again?
Once it’s dry, which takes about 12 to 24 hours. Keep them off until then. If anyone at home reacts to cleaning products, mention it when you book so we can talk through what goes on the fabric.
What if a stain doesn’t come out?
You’ll know before we start. The cleaner points out the marks that are unlikely to shift (old curry, set ink, bleach damage) and gives you a realistic idea of the rest. If a mark responds less well than expected, the cleaner shows you at the walk round and talks you through the options, such as a second treatment on the day or the name of a specialist.
Should I add fabric protection?
On a new or freshly cleaned sofa in a home with children or pets, usually yes. At £13 a seat, it slows a fresh spill from soaking in, so you have a moment to blot it. On an older sofa with stains already in it, the case is weaker.
Do I need the sofa cleaned when I move out of a furnished flat?
Check the inventory. If it records the sofa or mattress as clean at check-in, the landlord can expect the same at check-out. Book the upholstery with your end of tenancy clean and it’s done on the same visit for less: £51 for a two-seater, £24 for an armchair, £29 for a mattress.
Choose your pieces in the booking form at the top of the page, or ring 0333 555 2076 with your list and you’ll have the price on the call. Having the carpets done too? Carpet cleaning goes in the same booking and on the same visit, and every service is priced on our prices page.