wine and dine 'em..

[Mikey P]

Give them an instruction sheet on how to avoid creating a wafter ring.
Home Pro uses Avenge, which according to a Pemberton and Tom Forsythe, is ideal for spotting after a quality florochem protector had been applied.

 

[ruff]

I did including an explanation about feathering.
They made it worse.

They want advise about spotting carpet? Glad to help.
Upholstery?
They're on their own.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Having your customer do their own spotting on upholstery fabric can be more than scary, but if you are selling protector with a warranty program, you need to have such a product available.

Here are a few things I've learned over time:

If (a big "if") the protector works as claimed, and if (another big "if") the fabric is left with as little residue as possible during the cleaning process and if (a really REALLY big "if") the protector is applied properly, this should happen:

1. Dry blotting alone will remove most, if not all of the spill.

2. Distilled water (which you will likely have recommended they have on hand to prevent water marks should they need the spotter anyway) will remove what they didn't blot out with the towel. Its very rare anything else will be left IF they attempt to remove the spill immediately after it happens. (Another one of those "big ifs")

3. Your spotting agent should rarely be needed on a "wet spill", but if it is, they won't need much at all (think in terms of a drop of it applied to the tip of a clean white cloth).

I have a silk cushion I use in training that has a green background that fades when cleaned with most cleaning detergents, and red flowers that bleed when cleaned or spotted with most cleaning products, including Home Pro.

BUT, the area I protected with a product designed for upholstery fabric neither bleeds nor fades when I spot it with Home Pro or other neutral upholstery cleaning products. I've only needed to use those products on spots allowed to remain for a few days, or ones that contain an oily ingredient, like salad dressing. Most everything else comes out with distilled water.

Last thought:

IF (I love "ifs" ...can't you tell?) your customer has an extremely delicate and/or high value piece of furniture, don't let them spot it at all if they have a spill. Just go out and take care of it yourself. It seems you know how to get paid a premium for your services Mike, so just build that in when they own "tissue paper that bleeds if the day is humid".

 

[Mikey P]

this should happen:

(a really REALLY big "if") the protector is applied properly, this should happen:

Jim can you go into detail... Over, under or random application, not grooming, dispersing in the product etc. Applying a solvent on wet furniture or water based on dry furniture?

 

[Desk Jockey]

What if you left them an instruction card or info sheet that helped steer them in the right direction. Maybe it could head off some of the issues before they cause them???

Something like this? I'd add anything else that applies. I just threw this one together so I may have missed some things.


What if you left them instructions?

ALWAYS test in an inconspicuous area before attempting any spot removal. Different spots react differently to spotting solutions. We have chosen a product that should be effective yet safe on most fabrics provided it is applied sparingly and towel dried or forced dry with a fan or hair drier. * Caution when using a hair dryer, do not get so close enough to scorch the fabric.




When testing allow to completely dry before proceeding with spot removal. You will be looking for adverse reactions such as; water rings, color transfer, color migration, change in texture, lightening or darkening of dyes.

One other precaution, when blotting a spot, always work from the outside in and gently blot. We see many instances where the spot was removed but the abrasion damaged remains due over aggressive spotting attempts.




Whenever in doubt, we recommend using a professional.

 

[Mikey P]

a 4" x 4" label for a wine box

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Jim can you go into detail... Over, under or random application, not grooming, dispersing in the product etc. Applying a solvent on wet furniture or water based on dry furniture?

I'll be happy to Mike.

I've got to get out of hiking gear, get showered and changed for "an evening out", and then spend tomorrow with my youngest daughter.

I'll get something put together early in the upcoming week.

 

[dgardner]

I've got to get out of hiking gear,

 

[amygeorge]

Call me tomorrow. Oh I don't want to talk protectant. I just like your accent, we can talk trash on Lockhart as a topic.

Good, because I would just have to direct you to Little Rock! Let’s catch up soon.

 

[Desk Jockey]

 

[steve_64]

Geeesh why not just give the customer the info to an upholstery class.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Jim can you go into detail... Over, under or random application, not grooming, dispersing in the product etc. Applying a solvent on wet furniture or water based on dry furniture?

1. Follow the Product Manufacturer's Directions for application rate, recommended applicator, and safety.

2. When applying protector to new fabric, test the product in an inconspicous area. Bleeding rarely happens (but it has....you will be protecting some weird stuff if you are working with designers Mikey..but you know that I'm sure), but some color change (usually an overall slight darkening) has happened enough to cause damage claims. People forget what a dirty fabric looked like when it was new, but on brand new fabrics, they might detect it.

You probably will never have a problem with this, but I look both ways when crossing a one way street.

3. When applying protector to fabrics that appear to be clean (relatively new or unused), make sure you vacuum it well first anyway. Light soiling that is otherwise invisible will sometimes migrate to create water marks when the fabric dries. I like spraying "clean" fabric like this with distilled water first to further assist water based protector to level out after you've applied it.

Try as you will, and no matter what sprayer you use, its a challenge to apply protector evenly over contoured surfaces.

4. If you clean the fabric first, it should be as dry and residue free as possible before you apply the protector. A little moisture is good (see point 3), but fabrics that are very wet will dilute the protector, and the extra water from the protector can create problems associated with overwetting (browning, bleeding, odors from microbial growth, water marks, etc)

5. Fabrics with a texture (chenille and velvet as examples) should be groomed after you apply protector. Note that some delicate natural fiber fabrics may have a change of hand after applying water based protector, so groom accordingly.

 

[Mikey P]

Fiber ProTector has bother solvent and water based products

I doubt I'll be using much water based.

 

[Desk Jockey]

but I look both ways when crossing a one way street.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I doubt I'll be using much water based.

Whuta bout applying to wall to wall carpeting? Or do you plan on using regular protectors for that?

 

[Mikey P]

Yeah, it will be the occasional silk
/wool blend broad loom that gets applied

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Fiber ProTector has bother solvent and water based products

I doubt I'll be using much water based.

Disregard my comments about using distilled water first if you are using solvent based protector.

Solvent based products "level" themselves very nicely as well.

Off all the weird color bleeding issues I've seen with dry cleaning solvent and solvent based protector, the one I see the most frequently is when a pattern is printed on acrylic fiber fabric. I've had more than a few guys apply solvent based protector and the print ran like waterpaint. It shows up in testing in seconds, so just just make sure you're careful with those.

What's most odd about those is that they don't bleed when cleaned with alkaline cleaning detergents, but do when exposed to solvent. That creates a false sense of security with cleaners, and they get nailed by these ones.

 

[Scott S.]

1. Follow the Product Manufacturer's Directions for application rate, recommended applicator, and safety.

2. When applying protector to new fabric, test the product in an inconspicous area. Bleeding rarely happens (but it has....you will be protecting some weird stuff if you are working with designers Mikey..but you know that I'm sure), but some color change (usually an overall slight darkening) has happened enough to cause damage claims. People forget what a dirty fabric looked like when it was new, but on brand new fabrics, they might detect it.

You probably will never have a problem with this, but I look both ways when crossing a one way street.

3. When applying protector to fabrics that appear to be clean (relatively new or unused), make sure you vacuum it well first anyway. Light soiling that is otherwise invisible will sometimes migrate to create water marks when the fabric dries. I like spraying "clean" fabric like this with distilled water first to further assist water based protector to level out after you've applied it.

Try as you will, and no matter what sprayer you use, its a challenge to apply protector evenly over contoured surfaces.

4. If you clean the fabric first, it should be as dry and residue free as possible before you apply the protector. A little moisture is good (see point 3), but fabrics that are very wet will dilute the protector, and the extra water from the protector can create problems associated with overwetting (browning, bleeding, odors from microbial growth, water marks, etc)

5. Fabrics with a texture (chenille and velvet as examples) should be groomed after you apply protector. Note that some delicate natural fiber fabrics may have a change of hand after applying water based protector, so groom accordingly.

i was thinking about this, alot of people apply just by spraying it, what if you used a small sponge and did the countoured areas with that instead of spraying, or use the sponge to help limit moisture when it comes to very delicate fabrics. that way you can just wet the sponge as needed.

good idea bad idea?

 

[Desk Jockey]

good idea bad idea?

Weird idea.

If you decide that's your method I'd try using a terry towel. Solvents on a sponge might damage the sponge and it crumple all over the pieces you are protecting. Worse if colored, it could possibly transfer color. ????

 

[Scott S.]

Weird idea.

If you decide that's your method I'd try using a terry towel. Solvents on a sponge might damage the sponge and it crumple all over the pieces you are protecting. Worse if colored, it could possibly transfer color. ????

i dont use solvent protector as i dont clean many fine fabrics. the sponge was just an idea.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Weird idea.

If you decide that's your method I'd try using a terry towel. Solvents on a sponge might damage the sponge and it crumple all over the pieces you are protecting. Worse if colored, it could possibly transfer color. ????

You'd be amazed to know how many "weird ideas" end up changing our industry for the better Richard.....When I was around 10 I remember a representative of Servicemaster and my father (who had one of their franchises back then) discussing this new "steam cleaning concept". The Servicemaster guy tried to convince him that this new process would destroy carpet and be a terrible thing for the business.

My father, who always questioned authority and "the establishment" of course had to try it once someone told him NOT to do it...

The rest, as they say, is history.

To Scott's thought:

Using a sponge type paint applicator might work with water based protector. I'll try that out the next time I'm testing protector application. It never occured to me before.

Thanks Scott.

 

[Desk Jockey]

i dont use solvent protector as i dont clean many fine fabrics. the sponge was just an idea.

You need to be Scott. There is a demand there, most cleaners will pass on fine fabric cleaning when in reality that's where the bucks are. You have two of the greatest Fine Fabric Cleaners and trainers as your distributors. Use them to gain your knowledge of fine fabrics and then go out and make some easy bucks!

Its always good to think outside the box. The sponge...uumm no stop that thinking.

 

[Scott S.]

You'd be amazed to know how many "weird ideas" end up changing our industry for the better Richard.....When I was around 10 I remember a representative of Servicemaster and my father (who had one of their franchises back then) discussing this new "steam cleaning concept". The Servicemaster guy tried to convince him that this new process would destroy carpet and be a terrible thing for the business.

My father, who always questioned authority and "the establishment" of course had to try it once someone told him NOT to do it...

The rest, as they say, is history.

To Scott's thought:

Using a sponge type paint applicator might work with water based protector. I'll try that out the next time I'm testing protector application. It never occured to me before.

Thanks Scott.

i was just thinking it might help not to over wet the edges and corners if your applying a very controlled amount of moisture. and you dont have to worry about over lapping with a spray and over wetting a finer fabric.

 

[Mikey P]

The FPA pressurized sprayer ensures that the product goes down with a fan spray at a prescribed 40 PSI, no more, no less.
6501 T jet for dry fabrics and flat weaves and 8004 for pile rugs with either product

 

[Desk Jockey]

You'd be amazed to know how many "weird ideas" end up changing our industry for the better Richar

LOL

I know its funny how creative people can be. Dan had rigged and manifold and garden hose to push dry air into walls decades before anyone developed a real product to do so. It looked like hell but it worked.

 

[Scott S.]

You need to be Scott. There is a demand there, most cleaners will pass on fine fabric cleaning when in reality that's where the bucks are. You have two of the greatest Fine Fabric Cleaners and trainers as your distributors. Use them to gain your knowledge of fine fabrics and then go out and make some easy bucks!

Its always good to think outside the box. The sponge...uumm no stop that thinking.

If you ask jim he will tell you that i do things that others don't even consider doing.

on top of that.
Jim and Lee have been critical to my business. If Jim says its something i should consider then ill make the move

 

[Scott S.]

The FPA pressurized sprayer ensures that the product goes down with a fan spray at a prescribed 40 PSI, no more, no less.
6501 T jet for dry fabrics and flat weaves and 8004 for pile rugs with either product

solvent protector, how bad does it smell, are you spraying in the customers home? are you moving the furniture onto a drop cloth then spraying it?

 

[Mikey P]

Sure they stink. Wear a respirator in closed, small rooms

Cobb's is actually the mildest of them all.


Taking outside, blowing fans, opening windows etc

Tarps for sure.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Cobb's is actually the mildest of them all.

Flurosil II smells pretty good, a clean sweet smell but there is still a solvent smell with it too. http://www.prochem.com/ViewCategories.aspx?Pid=825

 

[Mikey P]

the promo kits are coming together..

P is headed over to Scruz next week to deliver..