[Mike Osbourne]

Did a dark blue cotton suite yesterday with Fabric restorer on the greasy bits and used craftex teflon stainguard while wet.

Today custy calls and I see a pink hue in places where I know I've use Fab retsorer. I rinsed with Ashbys fabric poweder then sprayed and toweled their acid spray Finish.

I also notice worryingly that some corners of the cushions were still damp. I have left my blower with them but what to do now?


I have read a post and wondered if this is a Ph sensitive dye or not. I was pretty methodical with my extraction but did use a far bit of Fab Rest.

 

[tony harrison]

Hi Mike,

Try applying ( dabbing ) dilute ammonia to a small part of the pink hue it sometimes works.

The reaction should be almost instantaneous if it is going to work and obviously do not re-apply an acid rinse if successful but dry as quickly as possible.

I have come across something similar to  this in the past

Regards Tony

[COLIN BRIGHT]

i think there was a problem like this not so long ago on one of the forums
the remedy was to lightly mist over with some warm bicarbonate of soda
apparently the pink diappeared instantly
but don't take my word for that!!!

[Mike Osbourne]

I'm going back to pick up my air mover this aft so my try a quick spray of bicarb.

Looked at that thread again. Is it just that particular suite? Mine is your bog standard flat cotton all one colour. I'll take a pic and post it.

Mike

   

[Mike Osbourne]

Went back to customer today and took some pics and took away a cushion from the footstool.

Spoke to prochem and they said she must have washed the cushions as it's not on other parts of the suite and all the cushions are removable. Suggested just an acid rinse.

I have a inspection sheet signed saying the suite has never been cleaned. Not sure who to believe.



 

[*paul_moss]

Mike
This flock looks like it has an indicator dye in it and the Hue is the colur/bleed from it.Acouple of the guys have suggested different chemicals right along the ph scale.
Basically they are all right.
What you need to do is test an area at a very low ph and an area with a very high ph and see  what colour change takes place, may be instant my take a couple of minutes.
If this is the case you should then de able to adjust the chemicals ph to stabilse the dyes colour by misting on and quick drying.

[Mike Osbourne]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Spoke to Mr Ashby today who took time out to help. He reckons she's likely had the covers in the wash and there has been a reaction, as there's nothing I've used which would cause the problem.

Wondering whether worth going back. If I touch it again am I liable? Will try the acid/alk thing on the cushion I've got as this would be an 'easy' fix if it is that.

[Matt Read]

Hi Mike....i had this happen last year,looks like a carbon copy of the suite i cleaned.

I wasted a lot of time trying to remedy it and came to the same conclusion as you, that it had been washed previously.

I did find out from the manufacturer of the suite that the fabric was discontinued (that tells a story) but to cut a long story short i handed it over to my insurance company to deal with explaining what i had used (fab restorer and ultimate) and they actually came down on my side and dealt with the problem for me.

As far as i'm aware the customer either gave up or went back to the manufacturer for recompense as i never heard anymore.

This has been quite common recently,a cc friend of mine had an extract from ncca magazine which he promised to show me about this problem but we've yet to meet up,at the end of the day you've just been unlucky as i cleaned an almost identical sofa on the same job ,different fabric but you could hardly see a difference between the two,same products ,and no problem.

Even if you pretest which i did you can't predict this horrible result.

I think Mike Halliday had a similar experience around the same time as me ,whether he managed to put his right i don't know.

Hope you get it sorted but my advice would be to let your insurance deal with it and let them take the stress.

Cheers

Matt

[Mike Osbourne]

Thanks for the info Matt, very interesting. She got the suite from Furnitureland who I now believe are out of business. Still concerned for my custy though. Wondered whether I could just replace the covers if I could track down manufacturer.

My excess with HSBC is £500 and a I had a major rug problem last month. Combined this means I've been working for nothing this month.  Losing confidence fast.

[Matt Read]

It is a confidence loser ..no question..but i looked at it from the point of view of being in business 12 years you are bound to get the odd hiccup.

When i looked in to replacing my covers (it was just the one large 2 seater sofa) i'm sure it was approx £500 to £700 from the original manufacturer but it would have been a different fabric. As my excess is only £250 and combined with the fact that the original fabric was discontinued i gave it to my insurance co to sort as i wasn't 100% certain it wasn't a manufacturer problem.

The customer was actually fine with me all the time but if they had no joy with the ins co then i'm sure they prob won't use me again..one thing i would say is the insurance company were quite strict on what was said/offered to the customer,so don't make promises of replacement covers if you're not prepared to pay yourself,just in case you have a change of heart and decide to let the insurance take over ....which they may then decide to look at all angles again.