Cleaning code
Also called: cleanability code, W/S/WS/X code
The single letter — W, S, WS or X — on an upholstery tag, stating which class of cleaning agent the fabric was tested against and found to tolerate.
The cleaning code is an upholstery-trade convention rather than a legal requirement. It appears as a single letter on a tag, usually under a seat cushion or on the underside of the frame, and it states which class of cleaning agent the face fabric tolerates.
- W — water-based cleaning agents permitted.
- S — solvent-based, water-free products only.
- WS — either water-based or solvent products.
- X — neither; vacuum or light brushing only.
It is a compatibility statement about the fibre, not an instruction and not a guarantee. It says nothing about the filling, the backing or the frame, nothing about how a pile fabric will look once dried, and nothing about whether the dyes will hold.
Where no code is present — reupholstered pieces, older furniture, covers sold separately — the working assumption is the most restrictive one the fibre plausibly supports, until the fibre has been identified another way.