Jim Pemberton's Upholstery Seminar continued

[J Scott W]

I wanted to post some of the questions that came into the Mikey's Board / Interlink Supply webinar that Jim Pemberton taught last night. We simply ran out of time to cover all the questions.

Jim will come along and answer these when he gets a few minutes.

1) It would be difficult to carry all the products you mentioned on an already crowded van. What do you suggest for basic "works on most upholstery" product?


2) Cushion for outdoor furniture have proved hard to clean. What advice do you have on cleaning these?


3) Are their companies that just concentrate on cleaning upholstery? Should a carpet cleaning company do both or would it be better to have two divisions, one for carpet and one for upholstery?


4) Is it OK to speed dry upholstery protector using air movement? WHat is your favorite protector?
I think Jim made a pretty strong argument for the benefits of Maxim Advanced Fabric Protector with Dye-Loc. But I should let him answer - Scott


5) What products and procedures to you reccommend for removing hair oil from denim?
What about water marks on denim?

 

[Jim Pemberton]

First Question:

To be an upholstery cleaning specialist, you should have a wider variety of products than just two. However, I understand the problem of too many products on the truck.

If I was told to only have two products, it would be an upholstery preconditioner and an acid rinse. You might want to try a "compromise" prespray, which is neither as alkaline as the Avenge Heavy Duty Prespray, nor as mild as the Avenge Fine Fabric Prespray.

A few good choices would be: Bridgepoint Fabric Prespray, Masterblend Fine Fabric Prespray, and Chemspec Heavy Duty Soil Lifter. All are close to neutral, but have a blend of solvents built in for grease cutting. However, all also have a bit of an objectional solvent odor, and can "wet through to the back" of fabric. I would consider applying them to a clean, white towel or bonnet instead of spraying them directly on fabrics that might not be colorfast, or that have ink markings on the back of the fabric or on the cushion.

 

[leesenter]

We have used Chemspec's Prekleen for Upholsterry for decades. Its neutral pH and fabulous on body oils and food stains.
Use that and textile rinse and you can safely clean just about any upholstery.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

2nd Question:

Outdoor upholstery is usually stained with mold, tree sap, and other "outdoors" contamination that most indoor furniture would ever be exposed to.

Most of this stuff ends up being cleaned with bleach and a garden hose by the consumer. If you choose to clean it and resort to chlorine bleach, be sure to rinse out both your sprayers and recovery tank.

You don't want to have a sprayer full of bleach leak on nylon or wool carpet, and chlorine corrodes recovery tanks faster than you could imagine.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

I've known a few cleaners who have "made it" cleaning only upholstery, but they are the exception, not the rule. Those that have done it have networked closely with interior designers, furniture stores, moving companies, dry cleaners, and restoration services.

You can expand that base and make it work more easily if you add some other specialty services that most carpet cleaners hate to do:

Area rugs
Leather cleaning and repair
Color repair
Carpet repair

If you create such a service, you can add many carpet cleaners to your referral list.

Its likely not convenient to have a different division cleaning just upholstery. There are too many opportunities to clean upholstery, especially synthetic fiber upholstery, quickly and efficiently while you are cleaning the carpet. Even truck mounts that are not "true dual wand" carpet cleaning units are very good dual wand upholstery cleaning machines, and can help you work more efficiently on multiple piece upholstery cleaning jobs when you otherwise have someone just standing around.

Some larger companies mix the two suggestions together and have the carpet cleaners clean only synthetics and durable natural fiber fabrics and blends, and have an separate individual or team handle the hypersensitive fabrics and above listed specialty services either on location, or with pick up and delivery when in plant work makes more sense.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

I'm not aware of any negative outcomes from using air flow to dry upholstery after the application of a protector. Ventilation is critical when applying solvent based protectors in the home or in plant work environment, and water left on fabric after cleaning (as you would do with protector) can create the same risks that too much water left from cleaning can create on a fabric that might be susceptible to bleeding, browning, or shrinkage.

As Scott mentioned, I do like the Maxim Advanced for Upholstery. Its the only water based product that I find to be nearly as safe and effective as solvent based products are.

My favorite protector, though, is the one YOU will apply, and YOU will test, and that YOU feel comfortable with.

Its a testimony to the integrity of our industry that most cleaners don't apply protector to carpet and upholstery. There isn't much of an easier way to make money quickly.

But the majority of the "good guys" out there hesitate to make the "quick dollar" if they aren't sure that they are offering something of value to the people that trust them.

I'm not sure that its such a "bad thing" that so many people hesitate when it comes to "selling the invisible", which is what selling protector really is.

I've made this point about carpet protector, and I'll make it about upholstery protector.

Go out and get some filthy cushions or chairs from the dumpster or an upholsterer, try out every conceivable method and product to get the piece clean.

Then protect half with your favorite stuff, and don't protect the other half. Let it dry, and then start spilling stuff on it.

If it works, sell the service. If it doesn't try another product.

But don't sell it until you believe in it.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Denim, as well as most other dyed, natural fiber fabrics, tends to fade easily in heavy use areas (arms, cushions) as well as from many cleaning agents.

Removing hair oil from natural fibers is also a bit different than removing hair oil from synthetic fibers, based on the nature of the fibers used to make the fabric.

In the case of denim, some of the best products for removing hair oil, such as upholstery presprays that are alkaline in nature, including those that use ammonia, might create a problem with color loss.

The use of a solvent booster to break the oil down, or a neutral enzyme (such as Mr Senter advised), would be safer alternative.

I'm experimenting with new products and processes for heavily soiled natural fiber fabrics. I'll keep everyone updated through my website.

Water marks are a bigger issue. These are symptoms of either residual spotting agent or soil left after your customer's cleaning attempts, localized cellulose browning, or sizing that migrated to the edge of water spill or spot.

The first two will often clean out, or be removed when rinsed with an acidic rinse agent.

An even application of distilled water will often remove such stains with no harsh cleaning or oxidizing agents, followed by your procedure for cleaning natural fiber fabrics.

Water stains caused by sizing are often the most difficult. A non chlorine oxidizing agent, such as Boost All, will often help to remove them, but if the denim is dark in color, it may contribute to some degree of fading.

If the stains are severe, and the customer needs them to be removed to satisfy them, have a written understanding that the removal of these stains often results in some measure of color loss.