Upholstery cleaning problems

Upholstery cleaning and some problems I have been asked to correct.

Sometimes I am asked if it is possible to make good poor attempts at cleaning upholstery by someone else. Damage is damage, but where in the following examples it was just bad cleaning, yes it is possible.

The client was told that as this was a velvet type fabric it could not be cleaned properly? Here you can see damage caused by spotting.

This was a synthetic velvet pile and so could be wet cleaned without the problems of pile distortion.

The next example is one of using the same detergents that would of been used for cleaning carpets. The ph in the chemical was to harsh for the fabric, combined with lack of technique and the failure to rinse the residue out properly. If detergents are left in the fabric they will become stiff and matted to the touch.

On the picture below is the same problem, but the original spots have not been removed either.

Spots and stains gone and fabric being restored.

Area rug cleaning

I provide carpet, upholstery and rug cleaning services to a number of high end serviced apartments in Knightsbridge, it can be an interesting environment to work in. After an initial period of testing to see if I can perform a number of tasks that will be required, I come under the wing of the housekeepers. Housekeepers are not to messed with. They are not interested in how you clean, how good are your  machines, all they are worried about is results.

They have two questions, can you clean this and how quick can it be put back in service.

Reception rug cleaning, get it clean and get it dry and put it back before anyone notices it’s gone.  I am lucky here that they understand prevention and maintenance. The area rugs they use are bespoke, hand tufted and 100% wool. Sounds good doesn’t it. Not really the only good part here is the wool bit. Wool is strong and can take a lot of foot traffic. These are really used as disposable barrier matting rugs. See our post on Tufted rugs.

So how do we this? First I need to get as much of the dry soil out of the rug as possible.

Apply solution and agitate. Same as you would do to your own hair. You put on shampoo and give it a good rub. I am not using shampoo here, nasty stuff. Some shampoos can be too harsh for natural fibre rugs and lead to excessive wear and other problems.

Next, same as you do in the shower, rinse the solutions out and leave it residue free.

Rug back in place before Sir or Madam even noticed it was gone.

Rip off Britain

Why don’t we manufacture anything any more?

I remember as a kid we had Rolls Royce, Sheffield Steel and even the buses were made to last too, like Route masters. Now if we want something, we import it and get ripped off for the privilege. I am always upgrading my equipment, so I have the best there is to offer,which predominately comes from America, but the costs just do not always warrant it.

A problem I had, is that when cleaning rugs you need to remove as much of the dry soil as possible. How do we achieve this, well there is always the old fashioned way.

No, that won’t work now. He would have too wear a high viz jacket, hard hat, goggles, gloves,shin pads and have the right paper work.

So, there was a piece of equipment that I wanted, but was looking at over three grand? Why, it’s basically a spinning bar with some straps attached to it. No matter how a salesman can dress it up, that is what it is.

So after a bit of inspiration from a nice lady in America, I started looking at suppliers in Europe and managed to find one in Germany. Discussing how to import it with a supplier in Cornwall, he said he was sure he could better, and he did. Thanks Nick.

Well knock me sideways, when I saw it, it’s identical to the one I wanted, but at half the price, just a different colour.

Now I know it’s not the tool that does a great job, it’s the man behind it. Combine the two and you have a even better level of service.

Question for you, with regards to the first picture. I remember as a kid singing a song that went

Today’s Monday, Mondays washing day is everybody happy, you bet cha life we are.

Today’s Tuesday, Tuesdays family allowance day is everybody happy, you bet cha life we are.

So if Friday is pay day, what day of the week did we beat the rugs and clean chimneys.

Black and white photo courtesy of John Bolton.

Is your carpet cleaner an upholstery cleaner ?

Choosing a carpet cleaner can be a difficult task, where do you start, who do you trust? Not only to come into your home but with your furnishings. Recommendations from family and friends is probably the best way to go, but if you have just moved into a new area what then? Maybe this is your chance to introduce yourself to your new neighbours. The other options is to Google trade associations such as the NCCA National Carpet cleaning Association or TACCA The Approved Carpet Cleaners Association.

But carpet cleaning is one thing, as it is the easiest part of what we do, carpets are made to be cleaned. Upholstery is a more difficult skill and cannot be learnt on a training course over a couple of days. I have done the exams for the NCCA and Woolsafe organisation, I learnt how to pass the tests, not how to clean.

Having said that, I did attend a course with Prochem who manufacture carpet and upholstery cleaning chemicals and must say it was one of the best courses I have been on. I still use a lot of techniques that I learnt then, today.

Sorry I’m not rambling or am I, but having read that back to myself, it would be rude not mention the other best course I have been on. Unlikely that they will ever read this but it was an NCCA road show with a Mr Derek Bolton and Mr Ken Wainwright. Bit late now and I’m sure I said it at the time but thank you gents.

Below is an example of a challenge you can have with fabric cleaning.

This armchair was a bleeding problem, no I’m not swearing it actually did bleed, the colour transferred quite easily. Now if you are not used to this problem it can be a bit of a shock if you have not carried out any testing first.

There are a number of tests recommended for upholstery cleaning ranging from dye stability, shrinkage, distortion (see post on Viscose Velour) and swealing. The easy option here if inexperienced is to dry clean, but if a fabric is not wet cleanable you cannot remove water based stains. The secret here is to neutralise immediately after cleaning.

One clean armchair and still the same colour, just brighter.

Stains, leave them alone. Please.

Whether cleaning upholstery or cleaning carpets any prior attempts at stain removal, however well intentioned can cause problems for me. Sometimes the stain can be set or worst case, damage is caused. A couple of efforts here that show what can be done and on this occasion undone.

The first is a red wine spill that a porter had tried to remove, but despite his best efforts, locked the stain so I could not get any transfer using my normal solutions. I had to revert to mixing raw chemicals and remove the stain that way.

Simply blotting would of prevented possible problems. No good crying over spilt wine you can always get more.

Next problem was an ink one. Not one but two pens had slipped between two cushions, again a bit of an attempt, but they obviously thought better of it. Cleaning upholstery fabrics is normally more difficult to clean than carpets.

One extra challenge with this task was that the pens had gone down onto the platform of the sofa. Platforms or decking of sofas can bleed their colour as well. So how to solve one problem and not create another.

Pictures are not great on this, I’m no David Bailey. Plus it is not really before and after, more before and during. The next couple of pictures show the platform has slightly faded but the rest of the area can be blended in to match and it will look a better result.

If you ever have similar problems to this, try and resist the temptation to have a fiddle. Left alone most things can be solved to a degree.