Actually, as strange as it might sound, there is cleaning chemistry that specifically targets pet hair on upholstery. It does not dissolve it or obviously remove it by itself, but it does make it much easier to remove during extraction. Typical carpet cleaning surfactants will increase the moisture absorption of pet hair and actually make it stick to the fiber even stronger (think about what wet cleaning does to wool upholstery fiber). Everyone has their favorite way to remove pet hair from upholstery (everything from playtex gloves to lint and hair removing brushes).
HydraMaster manufactures a line of upholstery cleaning presprays, called FabricMaster Fine Fabric and FabricMaster Heavy Duty that both contain a special cleaning surfactant that helps suspend the pet hair rather than attach it further to the upholstery. Will it solve a massive build-up of pet hair on certain fabrics? No, but it does increase efficiency of removal with your upholstery tool.
The other thing to consider that Jim has often spoke or written about, are the differences in "average soil" between upholstery and carpeting. Specialized upholstery cleaning formulas are specifically designed to break down, dissolve, and emulsify the soils and spills most common to upholstery fabrics – body oils, hair treatments, airborne oils, shoe scuffs, spilled food and beverages, crocked colors from clothes, newsprint, and pet hair.</SPAN></SPAN>Specialty upholstery cleaning presprays and rinses (like Fabricmaster) are designed to specifically target these soils in upholstery. That is what really makes them different than lower pH carpet presprays and rug preconditioners.
There is also some evidence (though I certainly would not worry about it on your average synthetic fiber, plain weave sofa) that a high level of solvents used in some carpet presprays can affect upholstery with delicate textures. I first heard this theory related to microfiber, but in our evaluation here, we have not seen that.
