Why have you decided to enquire about upholstery cleaning?
Everyone has a reason to contemplate upholstery cleaning, for some the reasons may be vague and for others theres often a pressing reason or they know exactly why. Either way we all begin with the same sorta questions, it’s usually “How much” and most often you’ll get a quote and compare it to others and make a decision often on price.
Why did I ask for a quote anyway?
The answer is simple, you didn’t know what else to ask for. You see we are accustom to asking price and that happens because we are vague on our reasons or we lack information and understanding.
The truth is most cleaners aren’t professionally trained and don’t know how to help educate clients on the science of cleaning, think about that for a moment.
“don’t know how to help educate clients on the science of cleaning“
Understanding your why?
Theres no point getting a quote if you don’t know your why. So lets begin with your cleaning needs and see what resonates.
🔺 Regular clean 🔺 Spruce up 🔺 Getting soiled 🔺 Filthy 🔺 Smelly 🔺 Hubby messes 🔺 Kids messes 🔺 Pet messes 🔺 Mother in-law coming to stay🔺 Embarrassing 🔺 Baby arriving 🔺 Baby vomit or milk 🔺 Urine from baby, cat or dog 🔺 Cooking or pet odours 🔺 Allergies 🔺 Spring clean 🔺 Purchased second hand furniture 🔺 Want that fresh and clean feeling 🔺 Want to keep a long time 🔺 Selling furniture 🔺 Office furniture needs refresh 🔺 CEO is coming and we’re in trouble 🔺 Need promotion
These are the most common reasons people want their upholstery cleaned and if you resonate with one or a bunch of reasons then it makes understanding the reasons and process so much easier.
So lets begin with…
What is upholstery?
Upholstery is something we literally come in contact with everyday, it’s the fabric and padding that covers your furniture including- sofa’s, arm chairs, ottomans, stools, dining chairs, office furnishings, curtains and anything that’s covered in material.
How is upholstery cleaned?
There are 3 methods to clean upholstery
1: Dry Vacuuming
Dry vacuuming using a domestic or commercial grade vacuum, preferably with a power head designed to beat the fibres removing human or pet hair, dead skin cells, dust mites and eggs, dust, pollen and loose debris. Ideally this should be done weekly and can be achieved by owner or professional.
2: (VLM) Very Low Moisture
(VLM) commonly known as dry cleaning either uses a shampoo or as we recommend Encapsulation Solution by applying a liquid solution that has a crystallising polymer with mechanical agitation. Simply this method attracts and encapsulates dirt in a crystal bead that makes dirt easy to remove.
Advantages: It dries really quickly allowing use often with 60 minutes, perfect drying before children come home from school or last minute guests arrive.
Suitability: For light to medium soiled fabrics. Perfect for wool, nylon, silk, faux suede and polypropylene fabrics. With our premium product it also contains antibacterial agents and a mild fabric protector.
3: (HWE) Hot Water Extraction
(HWE) commonly known as steam cleaning is the process of using warm to hot water to extract pre-spray cleaning solution along with dislodged and dissolved dirt and contaminants.
Advantages: It is the deepest most restorative clean, fibres have that fresh and clean feeling just like bed sheets after they have come off the clothes line.
Suitability: Deepest clean removing odours, body oils, spilled liquids, surface contaminants and topical stains. Perfect for wool, nylon, silk, faux suede and polypropylene fabrics.
Health & Wellness: Full Spa Restoration service is what we recommend if you are health focused. This is an absolute must as it removes the most contaminants both bacterial and surface of any restorative clean.
The cleanliness scale
So how do I know which service to pick? Well we’ve provided a simple scale from clean to 10 that’ll help you evaluate where you sit.
Levels 1 to 4
If you feel your upholstery sits between 1 to 4 then you can choose between VLM Encapsulation Cleaning or HWE Espresso Steam Cleaning.
Levels 5 to 7
You require medium spa steam cleaning, this is best suited to medium soiling and some topical marks, it’ll also refresh the fibres.
Levels 8 to 10
You require heavy spa deep cleaning, fibres are heavily soiled and require deep penetrating cleaning, often requires anti bacterial treatments and neutralising solution.
Level 10+
You require a full restoration clean, typically this includes urine decontamination, vomit, faecal matter, removal of blood, penetrating odours and stain treatment where possible. It would require often the use of biocides to sanitise the fabric.
How do we charge for our work?
Seating Positions: We use what the industry calls seated positions to begin with, in essence 500 millimeters wide is the equivalent of 1 seated position, however some cushions can be 750mm wide and thats equal to 1.5 seated positions.
Example: You may have a lounge with 2 cushions, they may measure 150mm wide and thats the equivalent of 3 seated positions. If the arms of the lounge has fabric on them we measure those as well.
Seating Dimensions Guide
I’ve heard of fabric protection, is it a con job?
Fabric protection is applied on most new furnishings and indeed carpets by the manufacturers, the reason is it helps protect and enhance fabrics and fibres through the warranty period, so yes it works.
7 Things You Didn’t Know About Fabric Protector
1: Protects most fabrics
2: Penetrates deep into fibres to protect the fabric from inside out
3: Provides active barrier against the abrasion of dirt and dust particles, increasing fabric longevity
4: Contains ultra violet inhibitors to reduce fabric fading from indirect U.V exposure
5: Vacuuming dirt, dust, pollen and allergens becomes easier because the protector resists soiling
6: The protector resists liquids giving time to pat it dry
7: Water based formula, non silicone and non toxic
What’s the next step?
Now that you understand why you need upholstery cleaning and what it actually is, you can determine the level of cleaning required.
Simply call or email for a free fabric condition audit and simply book a date and time to fresh and clean beginning
Peter is a principal presentation technician and strategist with 30 years of training, he’s an educationalist to the multi national companies, international embassies, health institutions and domestic clients.
He can be contacted for a free audit or consultation on 0413656994 or peter.k@jimscleaning.net.au
peterkaraoglanis 