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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As a carpet cleaner in Fleet and Camberley, I am often asked about dealing with spots and spills and how to approach them.

There should be no need for you to call out a carpet cleaner for simple everyday accidental spills if you act quickly. Sometimes blotting is all you need to do, it really can be that easy. Some stains will need more patience than others and as long as you can remove a portion of the stain with each application of cleaning solution just keep repeating until no more transfers from the carpet to your absorbent material.

You can avoid those horrible shop bought spotters and can use a variety of solutions in the kitchen cupboard. Vinegar really is great for cleaning and deodorising, detergent you use for washing woollens, baking soda, corn flour and even hairspray will remove stains. If you are a client of mine you will have a bottle of safe to use spotter. Having said that always make sure you test anything in an inconspicuous area first, under a sofa that’s never going to moved or inside a closet and do not over saturate the stain.

 Ketchup Stain Removal From Carpet

•  Gently scrape off the excess Ketchup from the carpet.
•  Mix up your cleaning solution of detergent, one tablespoon to two cups of water. Spray onto the towel and place over the stain.
• After a few gentle taps with the back of the spoon, start blotting the stain. The stain should start lifting into the towel.
•  If stain is remaining, repeat the blotting with a fresh part of the towel.
•  Now the stain is removed, mist the area with one part vinegar and four parts water. Just blot with a fresh towel.
•  Dry the carpet by placing a terry towel or paper kitchen towels over the damp spot. Put a plastic bag on top this towel and then a heavy weight like a book. Leave this in place for a couple of hours or overnight and any moisture will lift up into the towel and the stained area should be clean.

For more stain removal tips, refer to our blog. http:/www.elbowcarpetcare.co.uk/blog/ or call us to find out about our stain spotter.

Stain remover from Elbow

Okay that’s enough looking out of the window, back to work.

Commercial carpet cleaning at Heathrow, and what a job for the weekend.

Rest room before carpet cleaning

Without regular maintenance you are asking for trouble. Sometimes there are limitations to what I can do. This a rest area in an office building that had not been cleaned for a number of years. The usual coffee, tea, food spills and oily work boots thrown in for good measure.

Rest room after carpet cleaning

I did say they may need replacing, undersell and over deliver is not such a bad thing. Having said that, it was not the most perfect of results throughout. This was due to the traffic lanes and where the chairs have damage the carpet.

When you get a lot of foot fall in the same areas all the time or have sat in that same chair in the same place for  years. you will get damage to the carpet. Soil tracked in off shoes every day abrades the fibres of your carpet. This reflects the light differently, so that sometimes even when a carpet has been cleaned it can still appeared soiled.

Carpeting acts as a filter and when this filter gets  full you have problems. The picture above shows where a swivel chair has been for a long while and combined with soil brought into the building it now looks yellow even thought it has been cleaned. With regular maintenance and some preventive measures you can slow this right down. Think about barrier matting to your building and possibly placing plastic mats under chairs.

All right one last look out of the window.

This weeks carpet spotting challenge was definitely not glamorous but there a was variety of such, well vomit, one from a baby and another from a dog.

Pet vomit can be a problematic stain to deal with because of the damage it can cause to the fibres. The ‘recipe’ for vomit varies, the main factor is hydrochloric acid which can re-dye the fibres and set the stain. Dog food contains boiled meat, which a dye colour is added to make it look more tasty, not that the dog cares how it looks.

I think this is known as projectile, I was always amazed at what our kids could throw out.

Here is a tip for you when dealing with this problem. Scrape up as much of the excess you can and then generously cover with Sodium Bicarbonate. This will neutralise and deodorise. Wait until the bicarbonate absorbs and turns brown and then vacuum up. If it is a little crusty underneath, just break this up with a brush and re vacuum.

Oil is generally not a problem to remove. I wonder where he went next? Should get him to take some of my business cards with him.