[Martin S]

Hi all.

Got my first Upholstery clean to do on Friday.  Pictures below (if I can figure out how to do it)

It's a three seater recliner Sofa (fixed cushions), 1 year old bought from 'Courts'. 

Done all tests and seems ok.  Medium soiling, Looks similar to Chenille but don't think it is.  Burns like Wool.

There is a mark on left hand cushion, (as you look at it) where customer has tried to remove a spot or stain with kitchen sink stuff.  Prequalified that this may not improve.

I'm Pretty sure this is ok to wet clean, but as it's my first one am a little apprehensive

I plan to Pre-vac, prespray with no 4 or fineline, light agitation (may use minitex and pads for this), extract with CFR handtool at 300 to 400psi, wipe down with terry towel and airmover to assist drying.

What dilution ratio do you guys recommend and how best to deal with any stubborn grease marks?

I'd be grateful for any views and advice.

Cheers

[strakercleaning]

Personally think you have described the safest way to clean and dry the sofa. I would agitate with bonnet mitt or microfibre mitt so as not to cause too much friction on arms, cannot tell if they are wearing at all.
I use Solutions No4 at 1 to 16 but you may need different ratio if using CFR, i use Prochem upholstery tool.

I approve of someone having the cajones to post the question and save a problem later. Be nice conclusion to post 'after' pictures as well.
Good luck 

[Mark Roberts]

Should be ok as Chris says
Did one very similar today but was a tad more dirty.
16.1 dilution should be ok with plenty of agitation. I use that with CFR. For spots try no3 or HD. Fineline is good but may be a tad weak for bad area's. Should be fairly straight forward if you have tested ok.

And yes that is blood you can see below   

[therapist]

Where are they all coming from ?

I cleaned exactly the same suite as Martin's yesterday, but absolutely filthy.

Presprayed with m/s gave a vigorous  agitation with a mitt, then extracted.

Due to the filthy state of the suite I used much slower passes than usual. Happy to say it cleaned up, fine.

Just make sure you 'vac thoroughly.

cheers

robert m

ps. Mine was in Glasgow in a private Let !!!

[Phil Marlor]

Mark,

That sofa looks like its been dragged home from your local tip.

You got any photo's of the after clean.

Phil

[Mark Roberts]

Phil,
I know, normally i'd laugh and walk but as custy was not expecting miracles I thought I'd give it a go.
The actual condition was fine just really filthy. Came up ok, no photo's as I normally only take them before clean as backup. Might pop back tommrow for a look.

Mark

[Martin S]

Thanks guys for your advice.

I'll try and take some 'after' pics (if I remember the Camera)

Cheers. 

[strakercleaning]

May not always have my camera but never leave home without my phone ( which has 1.3 megapixel camera and video built in) and has saved my butt many times  :

[benny d]

Hi Chris,
in what way has it "saved your butt"?
Have you sent the pics to someone else to look at, and give you advice?

[Martin S]

Ben,

I think Chris means that it has been known for a customer, (believe it or not  ) to try it on, and accuse you of damage etc.  By taking a photo first you can say..........Ahem, Sir/Madam, would you like to see the photo that I took of your suite  before I started work on it?

If you look at one of the photos I took of the suite, there is a mark on the seat cushion.  It may improve, it may not, but at least I've pre-qualified and recorded it.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Martin you have hit the nail on the head. 'Some' custys will try to take advantage even when you know you've done the best job possible. I always use my phone to take pics before a clean, as you can see the quality is not great, but good enough to alter the outcome of what might turn into a claim.
I remember once a lady telling me I had shrunk her cushions by a couple of inches, simply by showing her the photo of the before stage was enough to deter her from taking any further action.

Mark

[strakercleaning]

Exactly what i meant.
Was accused of making patches on 9m runner rug from Mulberry in Bond St.
When i emailed photos of marks on front and watermarks along back edges and explained that i use microsplitters that do not contain detergent as found in the pathes, i was in the clear.
Turned out that the cleaners were using this expensive wool rug as a runway for buckets whilst mopping the stone floor 
Used cameraphone loads of times for split seams on sofas or cat scratches on carpets. Normally tell and show customer before touching but take a picture to be safe.
Costs nothing but could save a fortune 

[Ian Gourlay]

Try to view images but was told I was not allowed


Why is this?

[strakercleaning]

Because you should not be trying to look into THOSE sort of websites  Shame on you Ian.

[Martin S]

Hi All,

Upholstery clean went really well and customer really pleased with result, but took longer than I’d anticipated so I’m after any tips from you guys.

The item was a ‘Courts’ 3 seater ‘recliner’ Sofa with fixed cushions and apparently 1 year old.
It tested as natural fibre and looked like medium soiling particularly on the seat cushions.

Method used.
Pre-vac (‘Hunter’ vac), pre-spray (no 4), agitation (Minitex with Cotton bonnets, lighter areas with Micro fibre mitt), extraction (CFR with 3” hand tool at 300 to 500 PSI), drying (fan, and Minitex with clean bonnets to assist)

The problem I had was difficulty getting the soiling out initially.  Especially with the seat cushions I had to go over some areas with several pre-spray/agitate/extract and a fair number of ‘rinse’ passes.  I’m sure that some of it was down to me being a bit too careful, this being my first Upholstery job, as when I became a bit more aggressive it improved more quickly but at first it just didn’t seem to touch it.

What I don’t understand though is this:  I Cleaned some Upholstery for some friends before this, and their suite didn’t appear to have anywhere near the soiling of the Sofa just cleaned, yet when I used the Minitex on their suite, the Bonnet pads had removed a surprising amount of soil, much more than came out of the one I have just done!!!!

Question: 
What do you think I did (or didn’t do) that caused this, or is this normal?
Should I have agitated in a different way? (I have a soft nylon brush attachment for                           the Minitex)

When the Sofa was in the ‘recline’ position with the footrest up, there was a black line along most of the length of top of the footrest.  The material appeared to be really stretched at this point as you could clearly feel the backing carcase behind it.  I couldn’t really improve on this much at all.

Question: Any suggestions as to how this black marking can be removed?  I tried Eco-Spotter to no avail.  It felt to me like it was not so much soiling, but some form of staining from the Wooden backing!!

One last observation.  When I emptied the tank on my CFR I checked the filters, they were all ok, but the two small inlet filters that are enclosed inside the main filter were covered in a thick grey film, the weren’t blocked, but not far from it.  When rubbed between the fingers this grey film felt like wet paper!!!!!!  Any ideas as I’ve not come across this before?

Any suggestions gratefully received.
Pic’s attached if I can do it.

Cheers

[mark_roberts]

Welcome to the joys of cleaning upholstery.  You now know why so many cleaners hate doing it and why you need to charge enough to justify your efforts.

As to where you went wrong........you didnt.

You done all that was expected and even more compared to most.  The fabric you where cleaning is where the 'problem' is.  It hids more soiling than what you can see and didnt seem to want to give it up.  Possible ways to speed the process are to use more heat, an area where CFR lacks no matter what the sales men say (Ive got a CFR machine) and use a different prespray or possibly a safe detergent in your tank.

Having taken the blinkers off recently I'm coming to the conclusion that microsplitters ARE NOT the be all and end all of chemicals.  Often, to achieve the desired result quicker, a more traditional chemical is required.

Another thing to remember is your cleaning a light coloured yellow fabric.  Light colours and especially yellow (for whatever reason) will take longer to clean.

Happy cleaning

Mark

PS. I'm cleaning a 3-2-1 white suite tomorrow with a simialr fabric.  NOT looking forward to it.

[Doug Holloway]

Martin,

I too would use a detergent based product on this type of fabric with a prespray , short dwell and then extract with hot water , approx 70c.

One of the problems with suites is that paranoia can creep in resulting in you using a weak cleaning solution so as not to run the colours, I have even found myself doing this and I have cleaned over 4000 suites.

The result is that you have to go over it loads of times to get it clean.

I would pretest with the cleaning solution I was going to use and if O.K , almost always is ,  then go for it.

Result quicker , better and drier job because less passes needed.

Also don't be too worried about drying times , what most customers want is a clean suite .Obviously don't overwet but most customers expect the suite to take several hours to dry.

Cheers,

Doug

[eco freindly. peoples champion ron .sherlock]

sherlock loves suites. give them all to me

[Martin S]

Mark & Doug,

Thanks for the input.  what other Chemical alternatives are there as a CFR user (in tank and or topical)?

Sherlock,

You've been a bit quiet lately, so come on, as a self-proclaimed expert on Upholstery, share some of your secrets then.

It was just a 3 seater Sofa and I charged £87.00

How would you clean it?
How long would it take you?
How much would you charge?

[eco freindly. peoples champion ron .sherlock]

sherlocks been so busy. but i would of vacumed, used ashbys prespotter.give it a quick bit of figer massage.use ashbys fibre and fabric rince, towell down and blast with 2 blowers. take 1 hour 10 mins .charge £50.00. and try and sell a bit of fabric guard, : :