How to Clean a Gaming Chair

A lot of time, effort, and money goes into configuring the right gaming setup. From keyboards and monitors to mice, hard drives, and chairs, you have probably spent a huge sum to personalize your gaming space and carefully optimize your setup to meet your standards and match your desires.

Unfortunately, your work does not stop there. While it can be easy to kick back and relax once everything has been set up, you should not allow any of your gaming hardware and accessories to languish in the dust.

Simply put, although the hardest part (spending your hard-earned money) is now over, you still need to put in a little bit of work every now and then to maintain your equipment. Chairs will get dirty and keyboards will become sticky. If you fail to give them some TLC every so often, they can quickly fall into disrepair.

Of course, you are never alone in this matter. Considering the preciousness of many of these bits of hardware, you may be worried about getting them anywhere near some soap and water. This is a common enough concern, though, which means that we have all the answers you need and more when it comes to cleaning a gaming chair and all of your gaming accessories.

First Things First

A lot of work goes into making a gaming chair with a distinct focus on design, details, and style. Your gaming chair probably looked very pristine when you first set it up, and you will want to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Of course, when it comes to cleaning, it can be difficult to know where to start. You may not know what is safe to use on your gaming chair or what chemicals and substances can potentially damage it beyond repair.

Our suggestion is to consult the manual. You may have already forgotten where you put it at this point - after all, who uses it for anything other than learning how to assemble your chair? However, there is actually a lot of useful information contained in that booklet, including details about the chair’s physical properties, which are just what you need before you start cleaning.

Some manuals also include their own instructions on how to properly clean your gaming chair, in which case we would always recommend that you take their suggestions into account. For those of you who have lost your manuals or whose manuals simply do not have enough information, read on to find out how to clean any type of gaming chair you may come across.

How to Clean a Gaming Chair: A Step-by-Step Guide

Step One - Identify the Upholstery of Your Gaming Chair

The material of the upholstery of your gaming chair will determine which cleaning methods you can use without leaving any permanent damage. To this end, knowing what that material is made of is the most important part of preparation before you start cleaning.

Generally speaking, there are four main types of upholstery, and most gaming chairs will only make use of one. These materials are:

• Mesh
• Fabric
• PVC Leather
• PU Leather

You can usually find this bit of information somewhere on the chair itself - it will most likely be kept out of sight. Alternatively, it might be on the product’s packaging or within its manual.

Step Two - Get Rid of Dust

Before you douse your chair in all sorts of chemicals, you need to give it a good dusting off.

In the case of mesh or fabric-based upholstery, you will need a vacuum cleaner to ensure that you clear all of the dust away (sometimes, dust can become trapped within the material itself). Once you are done vacuuming, run any brush over the material once more for the sake of thoroughness.

If the upholstery of your chair is made from either PVC or PU leather, you do not need a vacuum cleaner, as dust is far less likely to become ingrained within these materials. A quick dusting off with a thick microfiber cloth should do the trick just fine.

Keep in mind that you do not only need to dust your chair before a big clean. In fact, you should dust your chair regularly, perhaps at least once a week or so.

Step Three - Adding Chemicals to the Mix

Now, you can start getting rid of any ugly stains or marks with the use of a cloth and either a water-based or solvent-based solution.

The material of the upholstery will determine which of these two products you use. In the case of faux leather chairs, you will use water-based solutions, and with others, you can use solvent-based solutions. The upholstery should also feature a tag with either a “W”, “S”, or “W/S” label, which denotes water-based, solvent-based, or either method.

Regardless of which one you use, it is important to be gentle. With any faux leather upholstery, you will want to blot and dab gently with a warm sponge coated in your water-based solution. With mesh-based upholstery, the same applies, and you should pay extra mind to never rub, or you might damage the material.

Finally, with fabric-based upholsteries, it is okay to scrub your chair down, but you still do not want to be too rough.

Step Four - Clean the Base and Frame

This last step is very simple, as you do not need to pay much attention to the material of your base and frame. Generally speaking, you should be able to simply scrub the base and frame of your chair with a soft sponge dampened with warm water and a mild detergent.

Once you are done here, give your chair some time before you make use of it again.

Final Thoughts

Cleaning a gaming chair can seem like a daunting task from the outset, but as we have hopefully proven here, knowing how to clean a gaming chair makes it rather simple. It is important to clean it regularly, however, as you do not want any stains to become permanent additions. Just be sure to double-check the material of your upholstery before you ruin it completely.