By Mitch Frieber, Bedminster ON-SITE Drapery Care
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. At Bedminster ON-SITE Drapery Care, we specialize in getting difficult stains out of fine fabrics.
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 remove the stain and often results in the stain becoming worse and/or becoming “set.” This makes it much harder or impossible for us to take out the stain completely.
Read more ‘ Home’ articles: https://theconnectionsnj.com/category/home-improvement/
Let me state here that the purpose of this articles is not to teach the reader how to remove stains on their own. Without proper training and years of practice, one will invariably 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 recommend 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 platform (under the cushions) and a small, possibly 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. Then, we 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 completely gone in the upper sections with just a little left in the skirt. The love seat is now nearly like new. The “after” picture is a little darker 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 entire piece. The work was completed the same day and in our customer’s home.