How to Clean an Office Chair: The Complete Guide (2024)

You’ve had your office chair for a while, and admittedly, it’s looking kind of dingy. You have no idea how to go about cleaning it, nor which products to use. How do you clean an office chair?

How you clean an office chair varies based on the chair’s materials. For upholstery such as fabric and mesh, mild dish soap and water should be enough to restore the luster of your chair. If your office chair is made of leather, you should use leather conditioner as well.

This guide to cleaning your office chair will go over the most common office chair materials–including fabric, mesh, and leather–and describe the cleaning methods recommended for each one. I’ll also talk about how often to clean your office chair to keep it looking fresh and new.

Let’s begin!

How to Clean a Fabric Office Chair

Of all the office chair materials, fabric is among the most popular if not the most popular. It’s plush, appealing, and often low-cost to procure, which keeps the office chair affordable. Although fabric isn’t all that breathable, it’s a standard for a reason.

Fabric is kind of a catch-all term that refers to one of several materials. The office chair’s upholstery could be knitted or woven, for example. Perhaps it’s made of polyester, which is ultra-low-cost.

Fortunately, if you’re not sure what kind of fabric the chair manufacturer used to upholster your office chair, you don’t have to be 100 percent certain. From knitted fabric to polyester, it all pretty much cleans the same.

Here are the materials you’ll need:

Carpet cleaner
Laundry detergent (vinegar or rubbing alcohol can work in a pinch)
Compressed air
Microfiber soft cloths
Empty spray bottle or bowl
Dish soap
Vacuum cleaner
Feather duster

Now let’s go over the steps to make your fabric office chair beautiful again.

Step 1: Clean Surface-Level Dust

Chairs get dusty just like anything else can, especially the components you don’t touch all that often. Pull your chair out from under your desk and take a look at it in a brightly-lit environment. You’ll see dust, I’m sure.

A feather duster can lift dirt and dust from the surface of your chair. If that’s not doing the trick, then plug in a vacuum cleaner and use a covered nozzle to remove surface-level dirt.

A handheld portable vacuum cleaner is suitable to use if you don’t want to drag your full-sized vacuum out of the closet.

Even with the array of nozzles the average vacuum cleaner has (well, the full-sized vacuums anyway), you might not be able to reach every last corner and crevice of your office chair’s fabric upholstery.

In that case, a can of compressed air can blow the debris out of those inaccessible corners so you don’t waste too much time trying to finagle your way in there.

Step 2: Clean with Water and Soap

Your fabric office chair looks better than it did, but it can look better still.

In your empty spray bottle, add 16 parts water and one part dish soap. The water should be lukewarm while the dish soap should be a mild brand.

Ideally, you want a scentless, clear dish soap that won’t deposit colors and/or fragrances in your chair.

Seal up the spray bottle and mist the affected areas of the office chair upholstery. You can also fill a bowl with the water and soap mixture, take a microfiber cloth, dip it in, and clean it that way.

Either way, you want to coat the surface of the upholstery with water and soap but not drown the chair. If the area is soaking, then you’re doing too much.

Step 3: Rinse and Dry Your Chair

Take a second microfiber cloth and wet it, wringing out the excess water. Dab at all the soapy spots on your fabric upholstery until you don’t see any soap residue.

Allow everything to dry. This can take several hours unless you force the process along using a wet/dry vac or a hairdryer.

Step 4: Spot Treat Any Lingering Stains

If your fabric office chair was merely dirty because you had never cleaned it, then the above steps should have restored it to its former glory.

What if you’re contending with a few stains here and there? Then you’ll want to keep working on your chair.

You’ll have to use a heavier-duty cleaner than water and dish soap. I recommend rubbing alcohol at this point. Be sure to spot-test before you start cleaning.

What do I mean by that? To spot-test a part of your fabric office chair, look for some fabric under the seat and apply the rubbing alcohol diluted with water on that area.

You’re intentionally choosing a hidden area so that if the rubbing alcohol and the chair fabric don’t get along, the chair itself isn’t ruined.

Once you’re sure the rubbing alcohol is safe to use on the chair fabric, you can use it all over the upholstery. Combine the water and rubbing alcohol in a small bowl and dip a clean microfiber cloth into the liquid. Then clean the stained areas of the upholstery.

Again, take care not to get the chair fabric soaking wet. You’re just trying to clean surface-level stains here.

When you’re done, take another microfiber cloth and moisten it to remove the alcohol residue. Then allow the chair to dry.

Step 5: Clean the Rest of the Chair

Metal and plastic components are a lot easier to clean than fabric upholstery. You can usually rely on a tried and true combination of dish detergent and water. Using a microfiber cloth will prevent any scratches, especially to metal parts.

Be sure to dry these components of your office chair when you’re done cleaning them. You should use a clean microfiber cloth rather than a paper towel, as paper towels can be somewhat abrasive.

Drying everything after wetting ensures that mold doesn’t grow. Yes, although it’s not common, mold can develop on both plastic and metal.

Fabric too can be a mold attractant, FYI, so triple-check that your office chair is dry before storing it in a closet or another enclosed space.

How to Clean a Mesh Office Chair

Perhaps mesh is your office chair material of choice. You appreciate how breathable mesh can be. As the mesh material sends cool air through and pulls perspiration away, your chair smells fresher for longer. It just doesn’t look fresh.

Cleaning mesh is admittedly harder than fabric because all those small holes and openings throughout the mesh can accumulate dust and dirt. If you’re willing to take your time and work conscientiously, you can get the job done.

Here’s what cleaning a mesh office chair requires:

Vacuum cleaner
Microfiber soft cloths
Liquid dish soap
Cotton swabs
Compressed air

Okay, so let’s get started!

Step 1: Vacuum the Mesh Fabric

Just as I suggested when cleaning your fabric office chair, you want to begin the mesh cleaning process with a vacuum cleaner.

Once again, you can use a handheld portable vacuum or a standard-sized vacuum, that’s up to you.

You can ideally use both, but if you are cleaning with a standard-sized vacuum, make sure you outfit it with a hose attachment. The attachment will let you reach the cracks and crevices of the mesh material that are otherwise impossible to get to with your fingers.

If you only have a portable handheld vacuum cleaner, then you can use compressed air with the portable vacuum to get into these tight spots.

Step 2: Clean with Water and Dish Soap

Now it’s time to bring out the cleaning products.

Combine water and dish soap. You only need a squirt or two of the soap in the bowl. As you did before, select a fragrance-free, colorless dish soap so it doesn’t impart any smells or colors to your mesh office chair.

Fill a bowl with the water and dish soap mixture, then take a clean microfiber cloth and dip it into the bowl. Wring out the extra water.

Clean the entirety of the mesh with the microfiber cloth, including the front, back, and sides. This mixture is safe enough to clean metal and plastic components of your chair as well, FYI.

Take time to clean the wheels, as these are dirtier than you often realize.

Step 3: Clean Tight Areas with a Cotton Swab

Vacuuming or using compressed air on tight corners only blows away the dirt and debris. It doesn’t clean the mesh upholstery or the rest of the chair. For that, you can use a cotton swab.

Moisten the swab using warm water. On its own, it might be able to clean tight areas. If not, then dip the wet cotton swab in dish soap and see if that does the trick. Compressed air can come in handy for drying these tight corners so they don’t harbor mold growth.

Step 4: Let the Rest of the Chair Dry

For the areas of your mesh office chair that are more accessible, you can use a wet/dry vac or a hairdryer to manually dry them. Otherwise, move your chair to a sunny spot and allow the natural light to take care of the drying.

Allow several hours for your mesh chair to air-dry before you sit in it again, especially if the chair has fabric components as well as mesh.

How to Clean a Leather Office Chair

For the office chair shopper who desires a more high-end look than that found in fabric and mesh chairs, leather upholstery is your top option. Leather gives off a refined, posh air, so it’s no wonder the material is favored for producing gaming and office chairs alike.

Not all leather is created equally; not even close. Here is a quick rundown of the different types of leather that are used to manufacture office chairs:

PU leather: Also known as artificial leather, PU leather is not true leather. Rather, it’s a synthetic material that looks and feels like leather. If your office chair is lower-cost, then it probably features PU leather. This stuff doesn’t hold up as well over time and is prone to cracking and/or splitting.
Leatherette: A step up from PU leather, leatherette is still synthetic leather, but it’s more real than PU leather. Its composition will include plastic or vinyl. Renowned for breathability, leatherette holds up better compared to PU leather.
Real leather: Finally, there’s the real deal itself. Real leather in office chairs is usually nubuck leather, which is sourced from the outer leather hide of a cow. Its durability is superior, and its price tag reflects its excellence.

Are you stumped on whether your office chair is made of real leather or fake stuff? Time will tell. Until you’re surer, you can clean the chair using the same methods. Here is what you’ll need:

Vacuum cleaner
Dish soap
Bowl
Microfiber soft cloth
Compressed air
Feather duster
Leather conditioner
Rubbing alcohol
Lemon juice
Cream of tartar
Olive oil
Baby wipes
Hairspray

Follow these steps to keep that leather office chair shiny, supple, and fresh.

Step 1: Vacuum Debris from the Surface of the Leather

To rid your leather office chair of its surface-level debris, you’ll have to find your vacuum cleaner.

As has been the case this entire time, a full-sized vacuum or a portable handheld version work just as well, especially in conjunction with one another.

Attach the soft brush attachment to your full-sized vacuum cleaner. Run the machine to suck up all the dust, dirt, and debris on the surface of your leather chair. Use your portable handheld vacuum for tighter corners. A can of compressed air works as well.

Step 2: Clean with Water and Soap

In a bowl, combine water with dish soap. Use a mild dish soap formula that has no fragrance or color. The last thing you want to do is accidentally stain or otherwise damage the leather!

Try distilled water too if you can. Tap water might be hard, which means it contains minerals that could degrade the quality of your leather. Distilled water is mineral-free.

Once you have your ingredients in a bowl, stir until they become sudsy. Then take a microfiber cloth, dip it in the liquid, and spot-test under your chair.

I can’t stress enough how important spot-testing is with an expensive office chair material like leather. Choose an inconspicuous spot.

If the leather has no adverse reaction to the dish soap (which it shouldn’t), then begin cleaning the leather surface of the chair top to bottom.

Continue to the non-leather parts of your office chair, such as the arms, the base, the levers and mechanisms, and the caster wheels. You can use water and dish soap for these parts too.

I want to be clear that all along, you want to keep the microfiber cloth damp but never soaking. Leather usually has a water-protective coating, but that probably won’t be the case if your office chair isn’t made of real leather such as leatherette or PU leather.

Step 3: Rinse Away the Soap Residue

Take a separate microfiber cloth and moisten it with distilled water. Then wipe it over every surface of your leather office chair that you just cleaned. That includes the upholstery, the arms, the casters, everything. You don’t want to see any sudsy residue.

Step 4: Dry the Leather Office Chair

Using yet another clean microfiber cloth, wipe the entirety of your chair so it’s nice and dry. Make sure you don’t miss any corners or crevices. Leather is not impervious to mold and mildew, after all.

Step 5: Use a Leather Conditioner

If you don’t already own a leather conditioner, I recommend going out and buying a high-quality product. You won’t find anything formulated for office chairs in particular, but that’s okay. You don’t need a specialized leather conditioner.

Should your local stores be sold out of leather conditioner, and you don’t want to wait for an online order to arrive, you can use a dollop of olive oil.

Extra-virgin olive oil will be of better quality than other types of olive oil, so try to use that if you can. Do not exchange the olive oil with any other type of oil.

You really do only need a dollop of olive oil. Overdoing it won’t make your leather office chair look shiny, but rather, greasy.

Apply the leather conditioner or olive oil on a clean cloth. I’d recommend a microfiber cloth to prevent scratching the leather upholstery, especially if your office chair features real leather.

Rub the cloth in a circular motion, focusing on one part of the chair at a time. When the leather begins shining, move on to another area and repeat until all the leather looks fantastic again.

Step 6: Treat Stains

Stained leather is a nightmare scenario, but it does not have to be the end of the world. Here are some options you can use if your leather office chair is stained.

Marker stains: Did you accidentally drop a marker, pen, or even a crayon on your leather office chair and you’ve been kicking yourself ever since? With hairspray, you can get rid of the stains. Apply the hairspray to the stain directly, then rub it using your hand or a microfiber cloth to see if the stain disappears.
Sticky residue: If you’re not sure why your leather office chair is sticky, try using baby wipes. The wipes are usually gentle enough that you don’t have to worry about the formula damaging the leather. That said, spot-test if you have concerns.
Discoloration: Stains on your leather office chair that leave it discolored are the most upsetting of all. Combine cream of tartar with lemon juice to make a paste, then rub the paste over the stain. After 10 minutes, wipe down the area with a damp microfiber cloth and the stain should be gone.
Ink stains: Did your pen explode all over your new leather office chair? Using a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol, spot-treat the area to make those ink stains vanish.

How Often to Clean an Office Chair?

Your office chair is in exceptional shape now, and you want nothing more than to keep it that way. How often should you begin cleaning your chair moving forward?

I’d recommend prioritizing a basic cleaning at least once per week. That basic cleaning would entail vacuuming residue and maybe using soap and water to clean the upholstery if it looks a little extra dirty.

The exception is when you get stains on your office chair. The sooner you treat them, the better, as stains can set in as they spend more time on your chair’s upholstery.

Conclusion

Cleaning an office chair is usually doable with a vacuum cleaner, dish soap and water, and maybe some compressed air. My takeaways to you are this: never soak your chair when cleaning it and always let it dry completely so it doesn’t get moldy. Good luck!

How to Clean an Office Chair: The Complete Guide