[Steve Chapman]

Hi all,

have been praticing leather repairs and re colouring (before i let myself loose

on the customers !) and have one or two questions form you leather experts:-

1, When repairing and spraying a small area say one cushion on a sofa (non removable obvioulsy), what do you do to protect all the other areas?

2, same question for areas that cannot be recoloured like the zips and / or material backings?

3, How much should i be charging for a simple repair job of one area?

I have found also spraying in my workshop (also office  : ) that alot of spray

floats about the place and coats fine dust every where, what can i do to limit

this ?


Thanks in advance


steve

[LTT Leathercare]

Hi Steve

All areas that you do not want to recolour including areas like zips etc. should be masked off using masking tape.  Beware as there will always be some bleed through onto fabric areas so warn your customer.  Cover other areas with a dust sheet.

Overspray can mostly be eliminated by hand application with airbrushing used only lighlty to even out the final coat.  We do whole suites like this and have virtually eliminated all over spray in our workshop.  Not all products work in this way though.

Pricing is always an individual concern taking into account overheads, area, time and earnings expected for the job.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I think it's a practise thing, I thought the same myself but you do over come this, as for pricing well it depends on how good you are at mixing colours, the repairs IMO don't usually take that long but I guess it depends on what you are doing.

I have colours matched for me by furniture clinic, on quotation I get a small piece of leather from underneath etc and send it to be matched by their computer, the match comes back and is ready to be applied then sealed with top coat finish.

A match and dye is about £15 in of post and there's more than enough unless you are doing vast areas.

Getting to the price, well you have £15 for your dye and then there's the finish albeit not alot I usually start at £100 inc. but I do like to clean all of the item not just the affected area so that would be ontop and then protector is extra, I think a 3pc suite with no cushions a repair and spot area redye with clean and protect is worth £180.

Judy offers all of the same services at LTT so she may advise you on her pricing structures also and LTT do the jobs they get in their areas so you may get a price estimate form Judy.

Shaun

[Kev Loomes]

Hi Steve

You could always turn down the psi a bit if you can (if its possible on the compressor), it will take longer but less dust will be about. If you have a turbo dryer you could always point it towards the patio doors for instance so that it will suck in the dust vapour in and exit it outdoors? Havent tried it myself but have wondered...LOL.

For a basic repair I would say about £90 min, then more if it drags on (custy pre-warned).

[Steve Chapman]

Thanks all for the replies,

I was thinking along the lines of £60 for a basic repair, but havent done one yet so not really sure what time it would take!

I guess it would be more viable to get them to have the suite cleaned at the same time so your not wasting too much time!

Would you need to throw dust sheets over the other furniture do you think to be on the safe side?


steve

[Tony Gill Carpet Smart]

Steve i alway advise they should have the whole suite cleaned when doing a repair.
Would say £80-100 for the basic repair re dye.

CHEERS TONY

[Steve Chapman]

yeah i think that is the way to go and its got to be likely more often than not that the whole thing needs cleaning any how !

regards
steve