01
Where the tag actually is
The cleaning code is printed on a small tag stapled under the deck, sewn into a cushion zipper, or attached beneath the skirt at the back of the frame. It is deliberately hidden, which is why most people have never seen it. On a sofa with removable cushions, unzip one and look along the inside seam. On a fixed-cushion piece, tip the frame forward and look at the underside of the deck where the webbing is. The tag will carry a letter, sometimes alongside fibre content and country of manufacture. That letter is not a suggestion from the retailer; it is the manufacturer stating which solvent system the fabric and its backing can tolerate.
02
W means water-based cleaning is safe
A W code tells you the face fabric and its backing will tolerate water-based solutions. Most synthetic weaves, microfibres and many cotton blends carry it. W is the most forgiving code and the one where hot water extraction produces the best results, because heat and moisture can be used properly to release oils rather than tiptoeing around the fabric. It still does not mean unlimited water. A W-coded cushion with a dense foam core will hold moisture in the middle long after the face feels dry, which is why controlled passes and high vacuum recovery matter more than how much solution goes in.
03
S means solvent only, and this is where damage happens
S is the code that ruins furniture. It means the fabric must be cleaned with a dry solvent and no water at all. Linen, many rayon blends, silk and a great deal of imported decorative fabric carry it. Running hot water extraction across an S-coded sofa produces watermarks at the edge of every wet area, shrinkage that pulls seams out of line, and in the worst cases a stiff, papery texture across the whole panel. The damage is usually not visible until the piece dries, by which point nothing can be done. If your sofa is S-coded, any company that offers to steam clean it is either not reading the tag or is hoping you will not notice.
04
WS accepts either, X accepts neither
WS means both water-based and solvent methods are acceptable, which gives a technician room to choose based on what the soil actually is: solvent for oil-heavy arm and headrest work, water-based for general soil across the seat. X is the strictest code of all and means vacuum only, no liquid of any kind, water or solvent. X fabrics are usually delicate decorative weaves where any wet method will distort the pile or shrink the backing. An X-coded piece can be dry-vacuumed and groomed but cannot be wet cleaned, and an honest cleaner will tell you that rather than take the booking.
05
What to do when the tag is gone
Missing tags are extremely common on older furniture and on anything that has been reupholstered, since the new fabric almost never carries the original code. The correct response is not to guess and not to burn-test a fibre sample. It is to test a hidden panel — the back of the frame, the underside of the skirt, an area behind a leg — with the intended method and check for colour transfer, texture change and edge marking before touching anything visible. That test takes a few minutes and is the difference between a clean sofa and an expensive mistake.