What Upholstery Fabric Do You HATE to Clean

[Jim Pemberton]

I'm not looking for what you're afraid of (though you can include that).

But what fabric, when you hear it described on the phone or when you show up on the job, makes you wince and say bad words to yourself?

And, of course, why do you hate to clean it?

 

[Willy P]

Polished cotton.

 

[Steve Lawrence]

sofas used as dog/cat beds

 

[Desk Jockey]

I don't like linens with crewel work, it's tough to do anything and not fuzz or distort the yarns when cleaning by most methods.

Using a fiber glass window screen helps but I don't like linens. Stains are difficult to remove, fabric stretches when wet.

Jacquard weaves with dark red, blue, black or dark green scare me, until tested for color fastness.

 

[Bjorn]

haitian cotton seeing less and less of it problem is the stuff that is good to clean it with is not good for me

Sodiumetaby Sulfate will give me an asthma attack

some of the micro fibers ez if you have a drimaster with a new valve


T

 

[truckmount girl]

real jacquard...the kind that bleeds when you look at it.

polished cotton...the polish is gone after cleaning, and as most natural fibers, it holds stains and can bleach and/or fade easily.

denim...the owners bought it because they thought it would be like jeans andwear like iron and be easy care, but it discolors/bleaches easily, stains easily, stretches and dries stiff (just like drying jeans on the line).

simulated suede microfiber....the crushed suede look comes out no matter what method you use to clean it.

And of course, anything that is like 100 years old and belonged to their favorite grandma and is falling apart, brittle, stinks and is filthy. But they would like it clean, fresh smelling and free of stains without damaging it. Trust me, just walk on this one, unless you know your chemistry better than Shawn Forsythe and are willing to clean it with compressed air, paintbrushes and Q-Tips.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[Desk Jockey]

LOL

I had denim on my list but I didn't want to date myself, so I deleted it.

I don't like that they over dye it for dark colors, but it will lighten when cleaned. It will even transfer color when wet.

 

[harryhides]

Surprises like this one cleaned by a hack before it came to us.

Preventing surprises by testing for shrinkage.

This fabric - seen 3 of this pattern all bled in only one place.

Ink

Antiques :

Especially when there is nowhere to take enough fabric to even test ID or test clean.
This 1880's chair I cleaned with no liquids:

Sun fading - recognizing it, preventing from getting worse and/or dealing with it.
Examples.

Preventing disintegration of fabric. Here is a shot of a cotton towel loaded with Peroxide that I used to warn my Techs about the dangers of using ANY Peroxide on ANY fabrics.

 

[Numero Uno]

nothin i love the stuff ...

 

[Mikey P]

Wet cleaning dirty Raw Silk and dirty White Linen.


All the rest just take proper qualifying and a proper mind set but those two are a challenge that I can't back down from.

 

[harryhides]

Differentiating raw and Chinese from Euro or American silk without the added metal salts.

 

[billyeadon]

Tony,
Those are awesome pictures. Put those in a class and 90% of the people will not add fabric cleaning to their businesses.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Willy P]

Time to dust off the waivers.... I convey the variables as best as possible and go as gently as possible. Knock on wood, I haven't bought a piece yet. Where are those waivers???

 

[Jim Nelson]

All uph Im a carpet cleaner.

 

[harryhides]

Tony,
Those are awesome pictures. Put those in a class and 90% of the people will not add fabric cleaning to their businesses.

Thanks,
Bill

I got paid for 90% of those examples shown......
And I learned something from 100% of them.

Bill, I have tons of pictures like those and most were restored to a satisfactory condition.
Some were attempted without success and some were not even attempted after testing.

None were made worse by our actions - many years ago I figured it out and began to have a lot more respect for what COULD go wrong with fabrics. Too many cleaners either fearlessly clean everything or are too terrified to clean anything.

I do believe that there is a happy place between those to extremes.
A healthy fear of fabric is not a bad thing.
Too many Instructors teach with a view to selling product and do not focus enough on testing and prevention, imo.

 

[The Great Oz]

Moire - It breaks if scuffed, it grows when wet and then shrinks, watermarks and loses the pattern if any water is used. Embossed velvet - Techs assume cut velvet and don't check before cleaning the embossing away.

The DriMaster has made many fabrics easily wet cleanable, including Haitian cotton, but won't help these two.

Fabric never meant for upholstery that some designer loved and used anyway.

Example #1 - An acetate glued to a cotton backing; looked like crushed silk. Lost color, delaminated, fabric broke at every stress point. Before it was cleaned.
Example #2 - A thin linen lace glued to a cotton backing, button-tufted to a headboard. Impossible to remove soil without damage.

 

[Jose Smith]

I have a problem when there is no fabric to test. For example, on a dining room chair. Or, like a recent problem I had on a bed skirt. Come to find out there was a small percentage of rayon in it.

Another piece of fabric that I absolutely HATE is a chaise or one large sofa seat cushion that seats three. Only because my normal "system" of cleaning a regular sized cushion does not work very well on these large ones. I know this is not a type of fabric and doesn't count for the question, but it is the only thing I truly frown on when I see it.

As far as those above mentions, these are all good challenges in my opinion. Everytime I find myself in front of one of these odd creations, I feel blessed and thankful that learned what to do to clean them (or not).

I also feel thankful that I can call on people like Jim Pemberton, Harry Hides, Joey Pickett, etc. when I'm not too sure about something and need feedback.

Jose Smith

 

[Ed]

All of it. Even the easy ones are a pain in the ass.

 

[Warren Wallace]

cotton and linen (white)

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I'm surprised more don't use compressed air.

Great pix above!!!!

 

[leesenter]

I hate rayon that is not made to be upholstery fabric. It will shrink in a split second even with a drimaster.

Lee- it is fundamentally unsafe to use compressed air to clean without the proper precaustions (which are quite extensive0.

 

[Hoody]

i hate removing the piling on nylon.

but when i hear the words "designer fabric"

i just know it goin to be a pain.

 

[Chris A]

Really dirty white cottons. Delicates I like because customers always tell me "XYZ said this wasn't safe to clean..." when they were either scared of it or just too lazy to do it.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I only use it in the shop. Secret weapon though, for sure.

 

[nwhmbiz]

I hate cleaning upholstery! kills my back
charge big prices to make it worth the pain.