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Page Background www.theconnectionsnj.com CALL FOR ESTIMATE (908) 722-2345 WWW.DRAPERYCARE.NET Bedminster ON-SITE Drapery Care We dry clean window treatments right in your home, right where they hang – Work usually completed in one day. Fully insured. Fully bonded. WE RESTORE LEATHER UPHOLSTERY FINE ORIENTAL RUGS WE CLEAN DRAPERY & UPHOLSTERY HUNTER DOUGLAS SHADES WE GUARANTEE NO DAMAGE OR SHRINKAGE Need Tree Work? Contact the Pros at Action Celebrating Our 35th Year Pruning, Plant Health Care, Removals, Stump Grinding 9 08-756-4100 For All Phases of Professional Tree Care at Competitive Prices Business Reg. # 0465673 NJ Lic. # 13VH05461400 Free Estimates Fully & Properly Insured At Bedminster ON-SITE Drapery Care, we spe- cialize in getting difficult stains out of fine fab- rics. We thought it would be of value to pro- vide a series of articles, each having to do with a recent stain removal job. So with every issue we will provide “before and after” pictures of a badly stained drapery, piece of upholstery or carpet with a brief explanation of how we suc- cessfully “spotted out” the stain. Professional stain removal is not just about removing a stain. The key is removing a stain without damaging the fabric. In other words, we don’t want to remove the original color or abrade the fabric or cause a color bleeding (migration) issue. We are as aggressive as we can be in removing a stain but stop short of ruining the piece. This is where experience comes into play. More often than not, the customer will already have tried to remove the stain before calling us. This involves a quick “how to” Google search for which home remedy to use. While sometimes this may work, it usually does not and often results in the stain becom- ing worse and/or becoming “set.” This makes it much harder or impossible for us to take out the stain completely. Let me state here that the purpose of these articles is not to teach the reader how to remove stains on their own. Without proper training and years of practice, one will invari- ably get into trouble. The purpose is simply to relate a story and provide some insight into the challenging world of stain removal. The loveseat in the pictures was custom made with high-end, natural fabrics. Natural fabrics, such as silks and cottons are, of course, more beautiful and luxurious but are also much harder to remove stains from than synthetics. Furthermore, almost all high-end, custom made furnishings do not come with fabric protection since they are not mass produced in a factory but are hand made in a local workroom or by a local upholstery shop. Fabric protectant application is more of an afterthought. Fabric protection has come a long way and today the better products additionally guard against harmful Sun UV rays. Fabric protection should be applied when a piece is new and every 2-5 years thereafter depending on use. We provide this service and highly recom- mend it. This loveseat had been in storage and had water stains from a wet floor, which left a light brown ring around the skirt. There were also numerous pet saliva stains throughout the off- white areas as well as body oil stains from where dogs had rubbed along the corners. There were also lipstick or red crayon stains, which someone tried to remove on the plat- form (under the cushions) and a small maybe red wine stain in the middle of one cushion. First we thoroughly vacuumed the entire piece in order to avoid “mudding.” We pretreated all the stains accordingly. We then dry cleaned the entire piece in order to protect the natural fibers from the water based spotters we would have to use and also to help prevent color bleeding. We then proceeded to attack each and every spot and stain, one at a time, using a series of spotting chemicals, heated, distilled water and rigorous tamping (not brushing) with a stiff bristled spotting brush. Stains must be addressed individually because of timing issues involving the use of spotting chemicals. After three hours of spotting, we completely rinsed out the chemicals with hot, distilled water and then dry cleaning fluid using a fabric-specific extraction machine. The good news is that the stains are com- pletely gone in the upper sections with just a little left in the skirt. The love seat is now near- ly like new. The “after” picture is a little dark- er because the couch hadn’t completely dried. The cost to clean and spot out the stains was a fraction of what the cost would have been to replace or reupholster. The work was complet- ed the same day and in our customer’s home. STAIN OF THE MONTH By: Mitch Frieber, Bedminster ON-SITE Drapery Care AFTER BEFORE

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