Office chairs are one of those things that are easy to overlook. Right up until the moment when you sit down in your trusted office chair, and it rewards you with an offensive aroma that might be downright embarrassing.
What Causes Odors On Office Chairs
When you stop and think about it, you probably spend nearly as much time in your office chair as you do in your own bed! Just like how you wouldn’t go months without washing your sheets, you shouldn’t go weeks without doing something to refresh the upholstery of your office chair.
This includes things like your own sweat, which can also trap odoriferous airborne particles. Body soils are caused by shedding skin, and bacteria that are fostered by the warm environment created by your body. Among other things.
There are also times when even something like the “New Chair Smell” can be a little annoying to smell all day long.
How to Remove Odors from Office Chairs
There are a few different options to consider when it comes to removing the smells and unpleasant odors from your office chairs. This starts with taking into account the type of material the chair is made from. Especially the exterior. A chair that is upholstered with leather or faux leather will have slightly different cleaning and deodorizing needs than one that has an upholstered cloth seat.
Removing a New Office Chair Smell
New material smells are the type of odors that can be very tough to live within a relatively small, enclosed space, like a small office. They are even more likely to be an issue with leather and faux leather office chairs.
Sometimes getting rid of a new office chair smell can be as simple as setting your chair outside for a few hours on a breezy day to essentially “Air Out.” With time this might help the chemical or plastic odors to dissipate. If airing it out doesn’t work, you might want to try using some of the same measures you would use to remove body odor smells from an office chair.
Deodorizing Older Office Chairs
Older office chairs are easily prone to building up smells over the years. Sometimes refreshing them can be as easy as using a fabric deodorizer after a vigorous vacuuming session. They can usually be sprayed on and allowed a few hours to dissipate.
Sometimes rubbing alcohol can be lightly sprayed on the fabric of your office chair can help tackle odors and provide a nice smelling surface once it has dried. Just be sure to only use these products in a well-ventilated area. Then give them ample time to completely dry before using them again. During that time you can meticulously wipe down the hard surface areas of your chair with a mild soapy cleaner to remove any dust or grime as well.
Vacuuming an Upholstered Office Chair
Vacuuming is a great way to pull odors up out of the fabric and padding of an office chair. Though you need to be smart about the type of vacuum cleaner you use.
Traditional vacuum cleaners that use one or two-stage filter bags tend to pull odors and particulate matter out of soft surfaces like upholstered cloth office chairs and then disperse them out into the air. It has the net effect of spreading the odor, and a fair amount of dust around. The chair might be cleaner, but the rest of the office is not.
Ideally, when vacuuming an office chair to refresh it, you want to use a multi-stage, sealed HEPA filter vacuum cleaner system. This will trap particulate matter and many odor-causing particles without spreading them back into the air.
When Is It Time To Purchase a New Office Chair?
While there is a point where an office chair can’t be truly saved, most can be restored with the right cleaning products, equipment, and proper techniques. Obvious signs of an office chair that is past its time can go beyond ugly physical damage to the upholstered surfaces. It can also include things like musty odors or mildew smells that linger in chairs no matter how much you vacuum, clean, and deodorize.
An office or desk chair has been stored in a damp location or suffered water damage from a flood, roof leak or plumbing problem might be infested with mold spores. Sometimes a mold-infested office chair like this can be saved by a professional cleaning specialist or a mold remediation specialist like the expert technicians at Building Services Inc. Though usually, it’s not safe to try to remove the mold from the office chair with the cleaning products and equipment sold at the retail level.
Restoring an Office Chair With Professional Deep Cleaning
If your best efforts have failed to turn in the results you want, yet the office chair is still in relatively good condition, you should consider having it professionally deep cleaned by a specialist company like Building Services In.
The cleaning technique we use will be based on the type of fabric, the presence of any stains, the finish of the upholstered surface, and the type of odors that need to be neutralized. Usually, a deep steam cleaning and sealed HEPA filter vacuum cleaner will do the job.
Though we also have some professional-strength deodorizers that can be brought to bear. For bacterial odors, we also have special sanitizing agents that can eliminate the microbial presence on the fabric.
Green Cleaning Products For Professional Deodorizing
One of the problems with the cleaning products sold to consumers at the retail level, as well as traditional commercial-grade chemical cleaners, is that you ultimately end up trading the organic unpleasant odors of an office chair, for harsh chemical, toxic odors.
That’s why Building Services Inc. Is proud to offer a special Green Cleaning Service. This is a lineup of ecologically friendly cleaning products that has a minimal carbon footprint. Best of all they don’t leave behind toxic chemical odors. Instead, they leave behind a pleasant, refreshing natural smell, to rejuvenate even the most unpleasant-smelling office chair.
