There are always fancy new materials being introduced into top of the line vehicles which end up being standard offerings in time. Lately, OEMs have been using microsuede on the interiors of their vehicles as a high-tech alternative to leather in luxury and performance vehicles. I fully expect the use of this material to spread similar to how we’ve seen the use of carbon fiber spread over the past few years. One of the reasons for the proliferation of this material is the fact that it is much more durable than natural suede. And while microsuedes are certainly more durable and stain resistant than real suede, they are far from bulletproof. In fact, these types of blended microfiber can be very delicate and must be maintained with care.
In the past this has been a problem. Since most cleaning products are unsuitable for use on microfiber suedes, most people simply use water to try and clean them up. Well, let’s face it — water sucks at cleaning most things. If you just want to wipe something off of a smooth surface, then sure, use some water. But if you want to actually clean something, as in, remove some sort of embedded contaminant from the surface, then you’ll need something a little stronger than water. And in this case I do mean a little. Strong cleaners can cause staining, discoloration, and exacerbate pilling in microsuede, and those things can be tough to come back from. So the most important thing to be aware of here is to use a cleaning solution designed specifically for cleaning microsuede type fabrics.
Keep an eye on this space in the coming weeks and we’ll show you how to clean microsuede, and how to fix certain other problems (pilling, stiffness) that are unique to this special material. Do you have microfiber furniture or upholstery? Let us know if you have any questions in the comments and we can address them in some of our upcoming articles!