[LisaE]

About a week after we bought our cream-coloured cloth-fabric sofas they started looking very dirty. Nothing has been spilt on them; it's from people just sitting on them. I wondered if this was a result of the ScotchGuard they were treated with. Perhaps it attracts dirt? Does anyone know? The problem is that it's relatively uniform, not just one small area...covered with a dark "something". And it's affected all three pieces in the same manner.

Regardless, I am looking a a cleaner. Something I can use on them periodically. Would you recommend a machine? Would you recommend a sprayed-on/wiped-off product? Because they are in a reception area where our clients come, they need to be kept spotless on a daily basis.

(Trust me, if I knew this was going to happen I would have opted for leather.)

[woodman]

Hi Lisa

First things first, if you feel that the sofa is wearing / soiling prematurely and as you noticed it after only after one week we can assume that it is,then you should contact the retailer or suppliers of the furniture and register a complaint.Don't worry if you think you have waited too long to call, register it any way and keep a note of when you called and when you first noticed the soiling building up.
Stain proofing when incorrectly applied can cause the opposite to what its supposed to do and i'm afraid that if that is the case your sofa's will only go from bad to worse.
I certainly would not recommend you try and wet your sofas yourself as any manufacturers guarantee you might have  will be invalidated by this action.
By attempting to clean and spot clean yourself you may find it re-soils even quicker.
Call in your local upholstery cleaner for advice ask him to carry out a report on his findings(you will have to pay for this) and submit this to the suppliers, they shoud then send round their own inspectors/cleaners.

In conclusion my advice is not to touch them until they have been inspected.

[LisaE]

Ugh. Not good news, but definitely a very good answer. Thank you for your advice.

[Derek]

Hi Lisa

I endorse what Woodman has said entirely. Fabrics are causing the professional cleaners to do some headscratching too.

My advice is to make sure that you contact a cleaning Company who is either...

1. Recommended to you
2. Belongs to a recognised Trade body...Preferably both

Scotchgard was withdrawn from the market place three years ago although members of the Scotchcare network have, until recently, been using existing stock.

The Scotchgard name has become generic and it will probably be another product that has been used.

Resoiling can be, as Woodman has said, due to incorrect application.
Many retail outlets will sell on a protector to a customer and duly treat the items.
These items may have already been mill-treated therefore a double application is made and this can result in the fabric quickly attracting soil.

All mill treatments are fluorochemical protectors and if the retailer has used a silicone protection then two things happen.

1. Again a double application...resoiling problems.

2. The two different products react adversly with each other, in other words neither will work and therefore there is no protection.

Get the professional in....

I hope that this helps

Regards
Derek

[LisaE]

Helps tremendously, but sadly not the news I wanted. Not an easy fix, but it is an answer, and it is something that I can arm myself with when contacting the retailer. Thank you.