How to Clean a Mesh Office Chair?
Mesh office chairs are becoming more and more popular among offices for a number of benefits they offer. For instance, breathability and adjustable lumbar support. As far as breathability is concerned, no office chair material can beat how the mesh fabric keeps filtering fresh air throughout the day.
Now the question arises, how to clean a mesh office chair? Unlike other office chairs, cleaning mesh chairs isn’t as easy as it may seem. This is because of the mesh material used in the chair. If proper care isn’t taken, the mesh can be damaged beyond repair and the only option left is to replace the entire chair.
But don’t worry. In this article, we will be walking you through a step-by-step guide on how to clean an office chair made out of mesh material. After reading this article, you will be able to maintain your mesh chairs without a hassle.
Materials Required for Cleaning Mesh Chairs
Before moving to the procedure of cleaning a mesh office chair, it’s important to go through the list of materials required in the process. Here is a list of a few things you’d need to clean a mesh office:
- Vacuum cleaner (with hose attachment)
- Warm water
- Steam cleaner
- Laundry detergent/ liquid soap
- Dish soap/ brush
- Disinfectant
- Cleaning rag/ microfiber cloth
- Spot cleaner/ stain remover
How to Clean a Mesh Office Chair?
As the mesh is woven tightly on the office chair, it offers a great deal of durability as compared to fabric office chairs. So, it’s better to maintain them so that they live longer.
Cleaning mesh office chairs on a regular basis isn’t a tough task because mesh upholstery doesn’t absorb body fluids or body oil, you can easily maintain them.
Once you’ve collected all the mentioned materials, it’s time to start off with cleaning the mesh upholstery of your chair.
Step 1 – Disassembling Your Mesh Chair
The first and foremost step in cleaning any chair including mesh office chairs is disassembling the chair parts. Most of the mesh chairs come with detachable parts which can be removed without a hassle. All the parts can then individually be cleaned and later assembled.
It’s an optional step and can be considered in case you’re doing a thorough clean-up. But if you are just doing a routine cleanup, you can simply continue from step 2.
Step 2 – Vacuum Cleaning the Dust
As mesh materials easily accumulate dust and food particles and collect crumbs, so, it’s recommended to use a vacuum cleaner to clean the hard-to-reach spots of your chair every now and then. You can also use a cotton swab to remove these trapped particles.
A lot of vacuum cleaners are available in the market that does the job right. You can get a good handheld vacuum cleaner and remove dust trapped in the tiny holes of the mesh seat and back.
The good part about a vacuum cleaner is that it helps collect dust from all parts of your mesh office chair and keeps the flow of fresh air through the breathable mesh. On the flip side, a lot of people use a wet cloth to gently wipe their mesh chairs, which isn’t a good option. This is because the mesh fabric absorbs the water which is damaging to the chair in the longer run.
Step 3 – Cleaning with Laundry Detergent
After removing all the dust and other debris from your mesh office chair, it’s time to do a deep cleaning with some mild detergent and warm water. It’s not a necessary step to do in every cleaning ritual of your mesh office chair. You can do it once in a while to do a deep cleaning. During a routine cleaning, you can use a steam cleaner as well. For cleaning your mesh chair in detail, you need to follow the following steps:
Soak your office chair in water
You need to soak your mesh office chair in water. Spray water on your chair at a downward angle. Try to use warm water, so that stubborn stains are easy to remove later on. Now that your chair is all wet, it’s easy to clean it up. But you need to be careful here as some chairs aren’t made out of water-friendly material. Always read the manufacturer’s instructions on your chair to avoid damaging it.
Clean with a soap solution
Now comes the real part, take any laundry detergent or dish soap available at home and make a soap combination by mixing it with warm water. Take a brush with soft bristles because hard brush attachments cause the mesh material to fray and also cast scratches on the plastic part of the chair.
Dip it in the detergent solution and use the soft side of the sponge to clean the seat pads and the mesh backrest with gentle pressure. You can also use a clean rag, dishwashing sponge, or a microfiber cloth instead of the brush.
Remove stubborn stains with stain remover
In case your chair’s mesh upholstery has some stubborn stains, you can use a good stain remover to remove these tough stains. Try to use a mild stain remover, otherwise, the mesh fabric can be damaged because of the harsh elements of the stain removers.
With stubborn spots, comes bad odor, so for that, you can use baking soda. As baking soda is a natural odor remover, it really helps with the purpose.
Clean other parts of your office chair
To clean the legs, armrests, and other hard parts of the chair, use the hard side of the sponge. You can be a bit hard on these parts along with the chair frame as well as most mesh chairs have a strong frame.
Keep your mesh chair soaked in the liquid soap solution for around 10-15 minutes. It’s important to clean the backrest of your mesh chair because it is the main part that keeps the user’s natural spine curve aligned to maintain a perfect posture.
Rinse your mesh chair with water
Now rinse the chair with fresh water. Make sure you spray water at a downward angle to avoid any damage to the mesh upholstery. Use soft hands on the mesh back to aid the rinsing process until all the laundry solution gets out of it.
Squeeze trapped soap solution from the seat
Press and rub the seat pads with your hands, while splashing water, to remove all the soap residue trapped inside, which will not go away completely otherwise. Make sure to squeeze all the detergent out from the seat. You can do this by laying your chair on its side as well. As mesh materials absorb water a lot, so make sure to do this step with care.
Give a final rinse
Once you see no more detergent coming out, give your office chair a final rinse. Try to squeeze as much water as possible out of the seat of the chair so that the main body can dry up quickly. Lastly, put your chair in dry air for some hours so that all the excess water dries up. Make sure to let the chair dry completely, otherwise, the moisture will cause great damage to your chair’s life.
Step 4 – Polishing the Plastic Parts
Once you are done with a good cleaning of your mesh office chairs, all the wear and tear becomes prominent This is because now all the dirt, oil, and stains are removed. To give your chair a neat and fresh look, polish its plastic parts.
Take any good furniture polish that’s effective on plastic surfaces and spray it on the plastic arms, chair base, and chair’s general supporting frame. Dry it with a paper or dish towel or a dry and clean sponge. Leave it for some time and you’ll see the color of the plastic feels fresh and your office chair looks anew.
Step 5 – Unclogging the Wheels and Casters
To clean a mesh office chair completely, you need to unclog its wheel and casters from dirt hair, etc. This step is inevitable for the smooth rolling of your mesh office chair. You can do this step before step 3 as well, it’s totally up to you.
Dismantle the wheels from your mesh office chair and remove all the dust and debris from them with a vacuum cleaner. Make sure to attach the hose attachment with the cleaner to effectively complete this step. For removing the hair, you can also use a nail clipper or tweezers.
For removing adhesive debris gathered inside, duct tape can be used. Now, soak the wheels in detergent-mixed water for about 10 minutes and then rise. Let them dry and finally reattach the wheels to finish the mesh office chair cleaning process.
Step 6 – Reassembling the Chair
Although most mesh chairs come with detachable components, it’s not necessary to remove them every time you clean your mesh office chair. This step goes in connection to the first step and only comes into effect if you do the first step.
So, reassemble your mesh chair if you have removed the detachable parts earlier. With this, the process of your mesh office chair clean-up comes to an end. Enjoy working for long hours on a clean mesh chair in your office or at home.
Final Thoughts!
Lastly, mesh office chairs are difficult to clean and maintain. But with the right cleaning tools and proper cleaning approaches, you can easily get done with the task.
It’s better to keep a check on your mesh chair and do their regular clean-ups instead of replacing them later on due to your negligence. Although mesh fabric can fray easily, if you maintain it properly and gently wipe dust at the end of each day, it can prove to be a highly durable material for your office.
