FAQs - Cotton Denim-Like Fabric

Q – Hi Jim,

A customer has a sectional comprised of a light colored denim fabric. There are numerous baby formula spots on multiple panels.

I mentioned to the customer that there is a good likelihood that the spots will not be removable, but they would like me to try. I will burn test it, but, assuming it is cotton, I was thinking of trying either cool protein spotter (Zoop, or possibly Avenge or Perky spotter), letting it dwell for a few minutes, rinsing with Clean Rinse in my rinse solution, then force-drying with a blower.

What are your thoughts on this? I would appreciate any advice you would be willing to give.

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A – From Jim . . .

Much of the outcome will depend on whether the fabric had a protector on it, how long the spots have been on the material, and if they tried anything first.

What color is "light color"? Dark denim, like jeans, loses color easily, and spotting often causes color loss. To be on the safe side, I'd follow this procedure:

• Precondition the entire fabric with Avenge Heavy Duty Prespray. It has a high enough pH to break protein bonds in most cases, especially if the furniture was protected.
• DO NOT apply it only in spots.
• Allow ten minutes of dwell time, and then extract with your Clean Rinse. You will take out some, if not all, of the spots. If any do remain, you can try the Zoop Enzyme Spotter, as it is very mild and unlikely to cause color loss. Also, if you apply it immediately after you rinse the fabric, the presence of moisture will prevent water marks.
• You can accelerate the Zoop by lightly steaming it with a steamer or iron, but hold the steam back and do not let the iron touch the fabric.
• Rinse again with the Clean Rinse and see what you have.

If any spots remain, you should get some sort of release. Once you are clear of liability, Protein Stain Spotter is one of the best baby formula spotters I've ever used, but it can pull color from natural fiber fabrics, so apply on a small amount at a time, and rinse it as quickly as possible.

If you have any before and after pictures, please send them!

Jim

Research Reveals Key Reason Why Carpet Cleaners Don't Clean Upholstery

"I've been engaged in an ongoing study about why cleaners don't make enough money cleaning upholstery to feel that its worthwhile to position themselves as an upholstery cleaning specialist.

Much of this attitude appears to come from the fact that, unlike carpet, its difficult to predict how long it will take to clean upholstery because of the wide variety of fibers used in the constructions, as well as the differences of durability of those constructions themselves.

I recently did a study on a chair made from a blend of rayon and polyester fibers, that was both heavily soiled and stained. The techniques used initially on this chair to clean it improved the appearance over the way it looked before professional cleaning, but the process took longer than most cleaners could afford to take on location, and results were still less than stellar.

Check my blog on Monday afternoon to see pictures of this chair, along with the improvement conventional on location techniques were able to give, and what processes were finally used to restore the chair to an almost “like new” condition.

Pet Odor Removal: The Right Tools Aren’t Always Enough!

The most important tools to enter our industry have been “sub surface extraction tools”, such as the Water Claw and Flash Extractor. With proper use of these tools, heavy spills that create wicking, as well as odor causing urine contamination, can often be removed from carpet and carpet cushion without the need to disengage the carpet.

Is It Magic?
Unfortunately, as with most new tools, many cleaners feel the tool alone is the answer. I recently received a question about urine odor treatment where the cleaner treated the urine odor with a high quality deodorizer, but not a product designed to remove urine contamination.

Even though he used the tool properly, the lack of using the right product resulted in failure to remove the odor.

When it makes sense to remove deep urine contamination by using the advantages of subsurface extraction, the product that you use is critical.

Remember These Facts:

• A conventional deodorizer works on odor, but does not remove the source.
• An enzyme deodorizer may remove the source, but requires hours if not days to work.
• The best product to use is one that using oxidation, such as Pet Zone or Occelerate.
  
  • These products work much like the non chlorine oxidizing boosters you might be using to boost carpet or upholstery pre-sprays, but also have an additive that makes them work MUCH quicker!

When mixing an oxidizing deodorizer, mix it in a watering can or open bucket, as the rapid oxygen release may burst your sprayer!

Pour the product liberally on the affected area, then extract with the subsurface extraction tool (Spot Lifter or Flash Extractor).

You will see yellow foam, then just foam, and after another application or two, you can use water and rinse till clear.

NOTE: DO NOT use this method when you have wood subfloor without pulling back the carpet and pad and placing plastic underneath. If you are working over concrete, no protection is necessary.

FYI - Hidden in the Ductwork

FYI - Hey Jim . . .

I just cleaned the ducts in a house I was preparing for a new tenant - and was I ever shocked! OH MY! I had cleaned the ducts last year as a practice job, so I had no idea I would find anything amiss.

However, after the practice job last year, I let a contractor into the house to do some remodeling. I felt it would make the house a better rental unit. But, what a mess he left hidden in the ductwork!

I guess registers make good dust pans when nobody is looking! It was a good training for my new employee. He had to make 3 passes in one duct!

The insulation pieces were flying around in the clear view vac box like crazy. Fun to watch, but certainly made me angry.

(People enjoy seeing the junk coming out of their ducts. Makes them feel the money is well spent, but this didn't make me too happy.)

Any how, he removed nails, saw dust, and even wood chunks. The filters in the system were plugged solid! Even a couple dead mice. Must have gone in there after some food they swept in there.

Dead though....hmm. Contaminated ducts must not be good for mice either!

FAQs - Acrylic/Modacrylic Fibers

Q - Hey Jim,
I got a couple of Acrylic/Modacrylic area rugs in yesterday. White back ground with colored polka dots.
Should I have any concerns?

A - from Jim P
Good question!

In my limited experience with acrylic rugs, I find some to be cheaply made, so do a thorough inspection to look for any weakness or preexisting damage. The PRC (China will always be "Red China" to me) makes cheap stuff, including rugs. I have had some non colorfast acrylic rugs that were manufactured in the PRC, so test the colors carefully, even though we usually think of thermoplastic synthetics as being colorfast.

You'll also find that if there is any wear or distortion, that you cannot readily fix it with grooming or steaming like you often can with wool or even silk.

Send me some pictures, front and back!
Jim

Q - comment from reader

Thanks Jim,

The rugs do not appear to be anything too special. Typical tufted rugs, just wondering about the modacrylic fiber characteristics.

Thanks again

A - from Jim P
OK, that being said, let me know a little more, if you can.
Tufted rugs can have their challenges, especially if cheaply made. They likely have very low value.
Jim

Q – comment from reader

Jim,

Here is what I observe . . .

As I said, the rugs are from China. There are two identical rugs. One for some reason is darker/dirtier looking. After cleaning, pet spots are almost gone, 99%, but the darker rug still looks darker. Neither was super soiled, but they just don't look any better except in the pet spotted areas.

On another note, I had a badly abused wool rug with numerous dye looking colored spots or medicine spots that didn't clean. I went back over with Stain Zone (I know, I know!) lightly. All responded beyond my expectations with no (visible) bad results.

Interesting how our industry has matured over the years to come up with so many specialty products to so easily fix things that were next to impossible except for the real spotting geniuses.

A - from Jim P

Hi again, and thanks for the updates.

You'll see I've now copied your emails to my mentor in "all things area rug related", Lisa Wagner. I think she'll have some insights regarding your Chinese acrylic rugs, though my guess is that she doesn't see them as having a very high value, and therefore that any further restoration likely exceeds the value of the rug.

But she never ceases to surprise me with her creativity and standards of excellence, so we'll see what she says.

Likewise using Stain Zone (stabilized 9% Hydrogen Peroxide Lisa, if you weren't sure) on wool.

Not a great idea, but if you can do it safely and not take on excessive liability, why not? My father was using peroxide back in the 60's, but since from the 60's to the late 80's most carpets were dark, most urine stains were bleach stains. In the last 20 years carpets are light, and the early stages of urine contamination are visible, and can be treated before dye damage occurs.

Jim

A-2 – comment from guest expert
From: Lisa Wagner
Subject: Re: Acrylic/Modacrylic

Jim is right that acrylic is really the bottom of the food chain... it's like trying to clean a styrofoam cup to make it all uniformly "white" again - the question "why bother?" comes up from all directions.

It is a very weak fiber - not as horrible as fake silk (rayon) but fake wool (acrylic) still has those concerns about too much agitation, and weakening from just about every corrective stain remover you could use.

With hydrogen peroxide on wool... yes you can improve some stains with that. Most rug plants do use this on certain stubborn stains - within reason, because it will create deterioration of the wool fibers as a result, so these areas will be weaker over time, and begin reflecting light differently, so as the rug ages, those areas you worked on will become more apparent. So it is a short term "win" with a long term consequence.

But - if the rug is not high value (i.e. an investment piece), from India or China, then this might not matter much. Actually, if it has urine stains on it, the rug even if valuable is no longer valuable... so it may be a moot point.

In these scenarios, I write on the invoice - "significant pet urine damage has permanently devalued the rug - we will attempt to lessen this damage with some corrective measures but will not be able to reverse what has been done by the pets."

Something along those lines. She needs to know her rug is less valuable - so if any work you do seems incomplete, or a different version of a problem, that she cannot come back and say YOU devalued her rug. You can damage a damaged rug, that's what I say.

So, protect yourself if you do any more work. I usually try one area, let them tell me if they want more done - give them the cost - and let them know that bleach/peroxide/stripping agents/whatever WILL damage the fibers. I make it their educated call on what they want done.

Hope that helps... please do send the acrylic photos. I hope your clients don't think they bought a wool rug, -- that would be sad.

Lisa

Understanding Fiber Families Key to Getting Better Results in Upholstery Cleaning

Cleaners who use a "one size fits all" approach to choosing upholstery cleaning products and procedures usually end up existing in a world where they skirt safety occasionally, and fall short on the best possible cleaning results most of the time.

This happens because of the fact that you can't clean "plants and hair" (cotton/linen/rayon and wool) like you do plastic (olefin, polyester, nylon, and acrylic).

The cleaning products and processes that clean one type well do not readily clean the other type well, regardless of safety issues.

Think of it this way: Natural fiber upholstery (plants and hair) absorbs water readily, and is usually stained by common spills and body discharges; it’s also sensitive to over-wetting.

Synthetic fibers (plastics) resist water based spills, but draw in oily soils and spills, whether from petroleum, vegetable, as well as animal oils or fats.

In our upcoming webinar on June 22, you'll learn which products and procedures best remove water based stains from natural fiber upholstery, and which ones help to remove oily soils from synthetic fibers.

I plan to share techniques that work and I promise that you will learn
“How to Get Dirty Upholstery Clean, and Get It Done Quickly”.

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Join Jim Pemberton the evening of June 22nd for a 60 minute webinar co-sponsored by Bridgepoint and Mikeysboard where Jim will spell out the simple steps you can take and products you can use to clean upholstery both safely AND effectively.
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Don’t miss this one! We will provide more details in upcoming issues of Pembertons CleanTip

May 28th FREE FRIDAY Tile & Grout Cleaning
June 25th FREE FRIDAY Successful Pet Urine Decontamination,
Deodorization, and Stain Removal.
July 16th BOOKED SOLID Seminar by Jeff Cross

Do You Have What it Takes to be an Upholstery Cleaning Specialist?

In January of 2007 I wrote an article for Cleanfax regarding the lack of true upholstery cleaning specialists in most market areas.

I was prompted to write it because of the number of furniture retailers who approached me for training so that they could handle skilled upholstery spotting, stain removal, and cleaning for their clients.

I want to be sure you understand this:
None of them have opened cleaning divisions as a profit center! Instead they had their delivery and repair staff trained and equipped to clean fabrics that their customers could not have taken care of anywhere else in their community.

Cleanfax recently reissued this article and sent it out over the internet. What surprised me was the amount of inquiries I received about how to be such a specialist in just one day after it hit!

As I pondered the questions that I have been asked, and reflected on what I’ve learned in the three years since I wrote that article, I’ve come to a conclusion that might make some of you uncomfortable:

You may NOT be able to be an upholstery cleaning specialist!

I do believe that, with one of the new “dry tools”, some specialty upholstery cleaning products, and a couple of days of training, that you can clean most fabrics safely (and at a profit).

But I am no longer convinced that simply working with such tools, products, and with the limited industry training available, that you can clean most fabrics EFFECTIVELY enough to be considered an “Expert” in your marketplace!

I also feel less convinced that every cleaner is willing to commit the resources of time and finance to take the cleaning of upholstery to that next level, and to effectively market the fact that they can and will offer this specialized service to their marketplace.

If YOU wish to make the commitment to go beyond a tool, a few products, and a few days of training and become the upholstery care specialist in your market place, stay in touch with us at Pembertons. We will be offering ways to help you make that next step very soon.

In-Plant Upholstery Cleaning

I recently taught an upholstery cleaning class where the class was given a wingback chair made of a rayon/polyester blend fabric that was heavily soiled. The upper inside back had a brown hair oil stain, and the cushions and arms were likewise heavily soiled and stained.

The class was able to improve the appearance of the chair dramatically, but not perfectly. And the process took an hour to complete. One student said: “How can you make money spending this much time cleaning one chair?” The answer is: You probably can’t, especially if some of the soiling and staining were still present, regardless of the fact that the overall improvement was dramatic.

I pondered this, and thought about some of the upholstery cleaning experts I’ve known in my life, and there is one thing that “the best of the best” of them had in common:

They cleaned heavily soiled natural fiber fabrics “in-plant”.

By taking such furniture from the customer’s home, they did incur higher labor costs of pick up and delivery, but they also then had the furniture in a controlled environment where there was a greater range of cleaning agent options, plus the ability to dry the furniture quickly with the use of both dryers and dehumidifiers. Mostly, there was also the ability to “touch up” the furniture after drying, do some minor scratch repair to wooden legs and trim, as well as apply polish the trim, do minor upholstery repair, and apply protector in more controlled setting for more even application and no fumes in the home.

With this in mind, I cleaned the chair two more times, and did some minor repair work.

The result is one that someone would likely pay three times as much for as the more limited job that could be done on location.

If you are already considering setting up a small rug cleaning plant, consider adding restorative cleaning of fine fabrics in-plant to your service mix. You may find what was once a frustrating and unprofitable part of your service offering to become one that is rewarding both financially and personally.

FAQs - Dull & Hazy Marble

Question -
Hey Jim,

I just cleaned some white marble, and it looks clean, but the traffic areas look dull and hazy, what do you have to clean that?
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Answer -
Good observation!

Those hazy areas are not likely dirt, but instead scratches where the tracked in gritty soil has damaged the marble. No matter how much cleaning that you do, you can't fix those scratches without polishing the marble.

Depending on the depth of the scratches, you'll either need to use industrial diamonds and a weighted scrubber, or at least the Spinergy pad system. Also, advise your customer that the higher the shine that they require, the more often you'll be back polishing out the scratches.

Simply put:
Marble in an ancient temple in Europe is white, but not reflective (sort of like chalk). That flat finish will not show scratches. If they want the marble to make a mirror type reflection, it can possibly show scratches in days.

FAQs - Water Stains on Carpet

Question: I have a commercial carpet with dark water stains that appeared after drying out a flood loss. Any tips on how to remove them?

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Answer: Water stains are usually simply wicked soil. If the stains are brown or rust colored, they may also contain cellulose or mineral materials from the water itself or structural materials.

Some water stains may be removed with an acid based spotter, or mild reducing agent, such as would be found in Browning Treatment by Masterblend or Coffee Stain Remover by Bridgepoint. Severe water stains often come out more readily with the use of an oxidizer, however.

I worked on one such stain that was a dark rust color, and had defied every conventional removal process. I then tried a new product of ours, Groom Solutions Peroxicap. This unique product works primarily for use in encapsulation cleaning, but it also has peroxide in its formulation. By applying the product to the stained area and the surrounding carpet as well, then following with agitation with a rotary scrubber and encapsulation pad, every bit of the water stain was removed.

One of the above processes should work for you, depending on the severity of the stain and the equipment and products available to you.