How To Clean Mesh Office Chair (Pro Tips)

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A dirty office chair may put off some clients or produce an unappealing smell. If your office chair wheels are filthy, they may not move with ease. With these issues, you may end up affecting your productivity.

Hence, it is crucial to keep your office furniture clean. And that is why I comprehensively guide you on how to clean mesh office chair below.

Mesh chairs are easy to clean with the right tools and methods. You deep clean a mesh chair by vacuuming the dirt, washing using detergent, disinfecting, and allowing its parts to dry. On the other hand, you clean a smelly mesh chair using baking soda, vinegar, drying, and airing.

Table of Contents

Are Mesh Chairs Easy To Clean?

Mesh Chairs are not the easiest to clean. In fact, those that feature mesh upholstery are the most challenging to tidy. Why cleaning these chairs is pretty difficult is the ease with which dirt can reaccumulate in the spaces.

Furthermore, you may end up damaging the material if you don’t know how to clean it properly. And this means you have to acquire a new chair.

Nonetheless, cleaning your mesh office chair is not too challenging with the right tools and a suitable cleaning approach.

You don’t require unique cleaning ingredients as you work on mesh office chairs. Most likely, you can access the necessary detergents at your office or home.

How Do You Deep Clean a Mesh Chair?

Although mesh chairs tend to accumulate a lot of grime, including dust, hair, and stains, using the right ingredients can remove the filth in a short while.

The items you need for deep cleaning mesh chairs include:

Vacuum cleaner (Includes attachments, dustpan, and brush)

With brush attachments, brush, and dustpan

Liquid soap

Warm water

Stain remover

Cleaning rags

Disinfectant

Microfiber cloths

Washing bowl

Dishtowel

So, how do you deep clean mesh office chairs?

Despite the seat’s upholstery ensuring that you are cozy, it traps crumbs, dust, and other things.

Vacuuming

The first step is eliminating the dirt and debris. In this case, use your vacuum cleaner to remove the solid residue on your chair.

To do this, gently pass your vacuum’s hose attachment over the chair’s mesh upholstery. Also, you want to ensure you get the cracks and spaces adequately as dirt mainly accumulates in these.

Disassembling the Mesh Office chair

It is not a must to detach your mesh office chair to ensure that it is properly clean. That said, you may consider dismantling the chair if you want a thorough clean and not just a hasty wipe down.

Assembling your mesh office chair is pretty straightforward, provided you have the tools and know-how to go about the process. You can also get disassembling instructions from your chair’s manufacturer.

In short, you should take apart the detachable components of your office chair. Doing this provides you with a less challenging time.

For instance, you can access the underside of your armrests, footrest, and other tough-to-clean places with your chair apart.

Cleaning Your Mesh Upholstery

Use your liquid detergent and washing rug to clean the textile separately. Apply a small quantity of your liquid detergent and dip it in warm water.

Next, wring the rug to eliminate excess water, then begin cleaning the upholstery gently with it.

Notably, some manufacturers warn against using water to clean your mesh chair. So, you want to ensure that it is safe to wash yours with some water, as shown in your manual.

How Do You Get Stains Out of a Mesh Office Chair?

Whipping your mesh chair with water and liquid soap is likely insufficient to remove harsh coffee, ink, or other stains from your chair.

The best approach to eliminating stains from your chair is using a microfiber rag and a stain remover. That said, some stain removers mess with the chair’s appearance leading to its destruction or discoloring of the chair’s mesh.

Because of the uncertainty of getting a stain remover that suits your office chairs, it is essential to test a product on a sample fabric with a similar make-up to your chair’s.

Besides that, you may check with your chair’s manufacturer on whether a particular stain remover works with their chairs or which options best suit their furniture.

Apply it on the stains after affirming that your stain remover is alright to use on your office chair. Allow the remover to soak into the taints, then slowly apply pressure to the spots with your microfiber cloth. Even as you remove the stains, be careful not to mess with the fabric.

Disinfecting the Chair

Once there are no more stains, rub down the chair’s main body using a suitable, quality disinfectant. Likewise, you should confirm your manufacturer or check on a simple fabric to confirm the disinfectant won’t destroy your chair.

Spray your disinfectant lightly onto the chair while wiping it down with your rug.

You may fail to get a disinfectant that suits your mesh chair. In that case, mix liquid soap and water and use it instead.

You should also ensure you go for those hard-to-reach crevices. A cotton swab dipped into warm soapy water should do the trick.

Cleaning Your Chair’s Attachments

While the main body of your mesh office chair dries, attend to the attachments you disengaged from it. You can either use the warm soapy water or disinfectant when cleaning the headrest, armrests, backrest and so forth.

However, you must first reduce the dust and grime in your headrest using a vacuum cleaner if it features a fabric construction. After lowering the dirt buildup, clean it using your microfiber rug and liquid detergent.

Framework Cleaning

Your mesh office chair’s base, wheels, and the rest of the framework need cleaning like the other parts. In fact, your office chair’s wheels can collect a lot of dirt, including hair.

Begin by detangling the hair around your office chair’s models using your hands or a pair of tongs. If you find it challenging, cut the hair using scissors, razors, or a scalpel.

Once you eliminate the hair, wash the wheels in disinfectant or soapy water.

Allowing Some Time to Dry

Give the different components of the chair some time to dry after cleaning. Elements like the seat pads may take quite a while to dry.

Therefore, you must be patient to ensure everything dries nicely to avoid causing the chair’s parts, especially around joints and grooves, to start rusting.

How Do You Clean a Smelly Mesh Chair?

Do you mask the smelly office chairs with air fresheners? If yes, you are doing your office furniture a disservice.

Aim to remove a foul odor from your office chair and not mask it. You can do so using baking soda, drying, or vinegar.

Baking Soda

Baking soda is usable in many household cleaning applications. But, how does it remove the bad smell from your mesh chair?

Dirt buildup increases the buildup of bacteria. Baking soda reacts with the bacteria, neutralizing it in the process. Since it’s no longer acidic, it no longer releases the pungent smell.

To use baking soda:

Sprinkle baking soda on your mesh chair’s upholstery.

Rub it into the material gently and allow it to stay for a day.

Vacuum the baking soda out.

If the smell is still present, repeat the steps until your chair smells fresh.

Vinegar

Vinegar kills off the odor-producing bacteria. While practical, you should use it diluted as a concentrated portion may destroy your chair’s upholstery.

Mix equal vinegar and water portions in a spraying bottle

Lightly spray the dilute vinegar on your chair. Don’t soak it.

Allow it to dry.

Repeat the process if necessary.

Drying

Placing the chair under sunlight kills the pungent-smelling bacteria.

Although some materials like leather are unsafe to put under direct sunlight, it’s alright to place mesh and vinyl.

Further reading:

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Steam Cleaning Remove Stains from Upholstery?

Steam cleaning removes stains from upholstery. Moreover, it sanitizes furniture and kills allergens, mold, and bacteria.

If you have issues with bugs in your chair, this method is an excellent option.

Can Baking Soda Damage Fabric?

Baking soda can ruin fabric if left for an extended time. The salt has a high pH that may discolor your upholster if it stays in it for a long time. Furthermore, it may destroy fabrics like silk and wool.

Wrapping Up

Once your office chair is clean, you want to ensure that it doesn’t catch dirt quickly. A few tricks can see you use the chair for a considerable period before cleaning it again.

Firstly, you should stop eating while seated at your computer desk. Drinking your favorite latte, juice, or eating things like sandwiches may result in the buildup of remains and staining of the upholstery.

Additionally, cleaning your mesh office chair more often reduces the frequency of performing a deep clean on it. Spare a few minutes each day or once a week to wipe your chair with a dry cloth. This way, you can minimize the buildup of filth on your office chair.

Author

Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith is the founder of CozySeating, is a father of 2, and an engineer from one of the leading furniture stores in the country. Due to his 10 years of experience, he has proved to be the best person to offer advice to clients regarding different seating furniture based on their needs and performance. Besides, he is a specialist in product reviews and always keeps up with the current trends in the market.

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