[Mike Halliday]

Do you think ( or does anyone know anyone) who just does carpets and not upholstery?  How about just commercial work?

[edward coller]

I am a complete mix of the lot! Simon Hope your recovery is going to plan. Simon

[Robin Ray]

Do you think ( or does anyone know anyone) who just does carpets and not upholstery?  How about just commercial work?

Not really sure if thats possible as the two just go together. Particularly with domestics. Thinking about it all of my regular commercials have had their upholstery done too at some point. And loads of domestics have the two done at the same time.
Also if they have to go elsewhere for upholstery it wont be long before they are tempted to go there for carpets too.... even if its just to try it out.

[Jennifer w]

Hi Mike,

Don't do any upholstery at all now, back breaking, boring and underpaid, and that's at the top end rate.

Life is just too short!

[Dave_Lee]

What's top end for one is too cheap for others.
Dave.

[Carpet Dawg]

  its only underpaid if you don't charge enough. You can easly make the same hourly rate (and more) as carpets.

It is more physical but using knee protectors and a small table for cushions helps the body.

Going back to the original question. As has been mentioned, the problem is  when your regular cutomer wants thier upholstery cleaned they'll go else where and then you have the potential of losing the carpets there too.

[Jennifer w]

"It's only underpaid if you don't charge enough"

Yes I get that, but there's a ceiling on what people will pay, and even at top end rates it's a dull and backbreaking job, cleaning into creases and crevices where's someone's arse has been sat.

Each to there own though.

[maxcampbell]

I hate doing upholstery - we've just increased our uphol prices, but it's still not enough.

[john martin]

dont know what you guys are doing that makes upholstery such an effort , il take a sofa anyday over carpets , but generally i find them about equal effort wise

[Robin Ray]

Just out of interest what is not enough per seat? And what would make it enough?

[neil 47]

I charge £30 a seat and get about 3 out of 10 which is enough .
Make it 50  and I’d probably get 1

[Robin Ray]

I charge a minimum of £35 per seat and get 90% of them and over 50% have protector at 50% more money. Maybe you should just rise your prices a bit and offer more add on's. After all £5 extra on a seat over a whole suite could be an extra £25. Just doing one suite a week means an extra £1300 turnover a year, add protector to only half of them means an extra £2275 turnover on top for virtually no effort or materials, depending on what protector you use.
If a suite with 5 seats takes a morning or afternoons work at £35 per seat thats £175. Two a day thats £350 add protector thats £525. I'm sure many out there think that that is rubbish money but in the grand scheme of things its not really that bad.

[Jennifer w]

Hi chaps,

I'm assuming by these prices "per seat" you mean that includes the rest of the seat as well.

Example a two seater sofa fully cleaned at £35 per seat =£70??

Our last prices were nearly double that but I always felt slightly underwhelmed at the results, maybe because the suites aren't fully dry when we leave...

And as for doing one in the morning and one in the afternoon, no thanks!!

Out of interest which protector do you guys feel does the best job?

For mine at home, not a customers!

Cheers

Jen

[JandS]

I once did two in a day and never again.....always book them separate days.

[Robin Ray]

Hi chaps,

I'm assuming by these prices "per seat" you mean that includes the rest of the seat as well.

Example a two seater sofa fully cleaned at £35 per seat =£70??

Our last prices were nearly double that but I always felt slightly underwhelmed at the results, maybe because the suites aren't fully dry when we leave...

And as for doing one in the morning and one in the afternoon, no thanks!!

Out of interest which protector do you guys feel does the best job?

For mine at home, not a customers!

Cheers

Jen

Fair play if your prices are nearly than double that .... great, I should put my prices up too.

Just out of interest what is your conversion rate? and how long does it take for you to clean a suite eg: two chairs and a three seater sofa? Do you feel underwhelmed about the results on all upholstery after all there are may different fabrics and they respond very differently?

Yes thats £35 per seat minimum so a simple two seater sofa would work out at £70 however I do have a minimum charge of £80. This would realistically take about an hour. Giving a full comprehensive clean. I find it very rare that a customer has a two seater sofa cleaned alone though.

Traditionally people are very hesitant to talk prices either they are worried what the competition thinks or don't want to give away how much or little they are earning. To be fair it doesn't really make any difference because its the customer who makes the decisions really.

Best Protectors IMO are:
Chemspec Stain Shield
Hydramaster Compleate Guard
Stainguard from Ashbys

[Jennifer w]

Hi Robin,

Thanks for the info on protectors.

Yes we would quote around £129 for a two seater and £189 for a 3 seater, and this would be something I'd allow 4-5 hours for.....

I would estimate from previous quotations 6 out of 10 accept this price...

But it always seems so much harder graft than carpets and more pitfalls.

Cheers

Jen

[john martin]

not dry after 4-5 hours cleaning time ?  you obviously havn't discovered the bouncy castle blower   
actually any full size dryers ... like have two of them at least for the sofas , once you do a cushion put it against the wall and put  the blower on it ...and then move one to the sofa you did first etc ... should be dry in no time
My prices would be more like Robins ... but no way im spending 4-5 hours on them  ,  like i might have charged the big rate the odd time on an over sized Fama or something  fancy but the average customer i have wouldnt jump at 190 for one couch that will be messed up again in six months by the kids .
But the average sofa ... what does it need , the cushion , head rest , armrest i might do thoroughly with the a cfr tool , the backs /sides often need little more than a quick rub with the sherdry or even a dry foam on a mit .  30 min ... the rest of the time im looking at my phone trying to drag it out a bit . 

[Robin Ray]

6 out of 10 at higher prices is still not bad at all. After all if you do a little less than half the work at double the price you are quids in. You also have the added benefit of twice the amount of spare time and half the amount of on the job expenses.

[Jennifer w]

Mmmm,

A lot of variation in times and prices.
My 4.5 hours was for a 2 and a 3 seater.
I've got all the drying kit and blowers but I can't see how the arms would be fully dry..
We've never done leather but from what I've read and seen on here  the basics look a doddle.

Cheers

Jen

[john martin]

This is the only drying pic i can find on my phone  ....
i have tilted the chair on its side and the dryer is pointed directly at the armrest ....i will then tilt it the other side
The two seater the dryer is blowing towards the arm rest .... i can move that to the other side ....the cushions thrown on top were already up against the wall with dryers on them .

Lots of ways to do things but ... and im sure u know what your doing ...but for me ...
use equipment and methods that doesn't over wet them in the first place .
use full size blowers ... not the ones that fit in the palm of your hand
5 mins with a hair dryer can finish off drying a damp armrest
tell the owner to turn the heat on...if they havent already
If your doing a few thing in the house do the sofa first so u can have the blower on longer