How long a sofa takes to dry, and how to speed it up

• How much water stayed in. Most of the water should come back out with the machine, and good extraction is the biggest single factor.
• The fabric and the filling. Absorbent natural fibres hold on to water longer than synthetics, and deep cushions take longer than a tight seat.¹
• The humidity in the room. Damp air takes up water slowly.¹
• Whether air is moving. A closed room with the shutters down turns into a slow, humid box, whatever the thermometer says.
• Whether it was soaked before we came. A spill rinsed at home with a lot of water is wet well below the surface.

Sun does not dry a sofa indoors. The moisture in the air does the deciding. AEMET’s standard climate values for Palma Airport show average relative humidity going from 62% in July to 79% in November, December and January, with a yearly average of 72%.² Those are measurements at one coastal station from 1981 to 2010, so a house in the hills or on the sea will differ, but the shape of the year holds: a sofa dries more easily in July than on a still, damp January day.²

What that means in practice: in winter, a heater and a slightly open window dry faster than either one alone, because warm air holds more moisture and the open window lets it leave. In a shuttered holiday house out of season, plan for the longer end of the time, or longer, and tell the technician that the house is shut up, because you will want a different plan.

1. Cross-ventilate. Open windows on two sides of the room if the air outside is dry enough. This does more than anything else.
2. Use a fan. A room fan aimed across the seat, not directly into one spot, keeps air moving. The trade’s advice is the same: air movement and humidity control keep drying reasonably fast.¹
3. Run the air conditioning on dry mode or use a dehumidifier when the weather outside is damp. It is better than opening a window on a wet day.
4. Stand the cushions on their sides, leaving gaps, once they are no longer dripping, so that air reaches every face. Turn them once.
5. Do not use a hairdryer or put the sofa in direct sun. Concentrated heat can mark the fabric and make it dry unevenly, and strong sun fades colour.
6. Keep pads or foil under wooden feet until it is dry. Wet upholstery on dark wood or a stained foot can transfer colour to the floor, which is why ours stay under the feet while it dries.

The surface goes first, so it can feel dry well before the middle of the cushion is. Press a clean, pale tissue firmly into the seat for a few seconds. If it comes up damp or cold, leave it. Unzip a cushion if you can and feel the foam. A sofa that is dry smells of very little. A sofa that smells musty the next day has stayed wet too long, and you should tell whoever cleaned it straight away rather than waiting.

You can, if you must, but a damp seat attracts dirt from clothes, and dark jeans can transfer dye to a pale fabric that is still wet. Put a clean white sheet down first. Keep pets and small children off it until it is dry, because they will not take your word for it, and leave throws and dark cushions off for the same reason.

If guests are arriving, book the clean for the morning, so that the sofa has the whole afternoon. Leave windows open while you are out if you safely can, and do not put the room back together until the evening. The working time for a standard three-seater is 45 to 75 minutes, and the technician tells you the drying time for your own sofa before leaving. Add the two together, and you know what to do with your day.

Other pieces have their own times. Mattresses take 3 to 5 hours and rugs 4 to 8 hours. Fitted carpet: 2 to 4 hours (to walk on). If you are preparing a let, the turnover guide shows how to fit these between guests, and the sofa cleaning page has the full list of what is included and what it costs. If you have not looked yet, it is also worth reading the code on your sofa before anybody wets it.