Thanks for all the feedback. I always gets nervous when customers ask how to clean their sofa because I am always afraid they will make it worse. And that is why I haven't sold cleaning products with my own name on it so customers hold me accountable for when they make their stain worse. I do have a few more questions.
What is the best way to get out a water ring in polyester?
There are various reasons for water rings. It could be the soil spreading around or related to water hardness.
The most common technique is "feathering" which means after gently spotting and blotting, one mists the entire surface of cushion with distilled water and going over gently with a dry white towel to level the amount of moisture.
As usual with all upholstery, one needs to be careful and there are risks. (like ring transfer to other parts, distortion etc.)
Can my customer take the cushion to a dry cleaners?
Yes. The issue may be that once returned clean (Sofas get heavily soiled just by dust and soot settling) it will not match the rest of the sofa, which is not clean.
If they use a dry cleaning solvent, it will not shrink. If they use water, the good ones have a special machine that rotates a few times per minute and then it needs to be air dried (not a dryer) to prevent shrinkage. Very few dry cleaners have that machine and are willing to go to that extent.
And if I were to shop around for a local cleaner to make house calls to clean a stain for a customer when necessary what would be a fair price?
We all have minimums that depend on the ease or difficulty of the set up required to do the job. Also, most of the time we are reluctant to do a partial cleaning due to change of look of that specific cushion compared to rest of sofa that has not been cleaned, yet is soiled (dust , soot etc.)
Unlike a shop where the client comes to the premises, we have to travel to their place do quite a set up and break down (all quite time consuming) to do even the smallest job. They will be better served if they combine cleaning of other things (carpet, other furniture, rugs etc.) to get the best return for their money.
Surely, you've realized that with cleaners just like sofas, the good ones ain't cheap and the cheap ones ain't good
Thanks again for all your help,
Derek