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Hey guys, I’m fresh out of the May training course and it kind of put the fear of God in me about doing upholstery. Seemed like there were a ton of different types and that they were easy to mess up. Do you all have any suggestions or things to watch out for? Is it as bad as it seems?
thanks for the help,
TrevorI’m kind of in the same boat as you Trevor. I wasn’t in training too long ago myself and have yet to do upholstery for anyone else except for the boss(my wife). I think that it’s just like anything else though. We’re going to just have to get in the reps and get comfortable with it. I think that maybe doing them for friends and family might be a way for us to practice and get comfortable with it before doing it for a customer. I don’t know about you, but my family would be much more understanding about me replacing their furniture piece than a customer might. With that being said there appears to be really good money in upholstery even though I’m not particularly fond of doing them. Corporate wasn’t trying to scare us at all because they obviously truly believe in the system. They were just trying to make absolutely sure that we are always aware of what we’re dealing with and to never take any piece of upholstery for granted! I do charge a pretty high dollar amount if anyone wants this service and if I feel even the least bit apprehensive about a piece I’ll walk away. I guess the most important thing is to get as comfortable as you can with the process and even then to know when to back off when you don’t feel absolutely comfortable with it. I hope this helps.
Dan is correct. You just need to clean some to get in your reps.
I was very nervous on my first upholstery job. I cleaned a sofa and loveseat and it took me four full hours. I can do that now easily in 1 1/2 – 2 hours. I charged $130 three years ago for that job. I now get a minimum of $188 for a sofa and LS, depending on how many cushions.
Just schedule plenty of time on your early upholstery jobs and go slow and easy. Be sure to get the material sucked dry very well with a couple of slow passes with the wand. Experiment with your routine. I like to do the back and upper parts, then arms, then the lower parts, and the cushions last. You may like cleaning it a different way. If possible, do some solid colors first (I know you may not be able to choose that). Be sure to test a small section for color loss (maybe around on the back).
Concentrate on quality. Your speed will come with practice.
Good luck!
Mike
I started last October and was not sure I wanted to touch any upholstery but like Mike said the more you do the better it gets. This week alone I have had a run on upholstery 3 sofa’s 1 love seat and 2 big chairs. 3 different jobs but made about $350. I need to charge more as I find it more physical work than carpets.
I think everyone was scared to do upholstery after training. Just take your time and allow more time for upholstery, especially when you’re just getting started. Also, I recommend you always have the air mover/fan with you when you are cleaning furniture if it isn’t permanently in your van. If you run into a problem with furniture, it is usually going to involve bleeding of color while wet and the quickest way to stop that is to get it dry fast!
Most of the time people have very “cleanable” fabrics. The thing to do is follow your intuition…. If you think it might be trouble after looking it over, call corporate if you can, or pass on the job. The first time I cleaned micro-fiber I was petrified. I wound up on the phone with Dan in California and he put me at complete ease. Just start with very low moisture until you are confident in how it is working!
Hey Jeff. I know they mentioned it in corporate, but I can’t remember what it was they said. Was micro-fiber the material that’s sort of feels like an ‘artificial’ suede or am I way off?
Dan,
I know I am way late on this response but the answer to your question is yes.I just wanted to share a mishap I had the other day. I have cleaned enough upholstery that I have become over-confident. What happened was this:
I went to clean for a nice retired couple that I have cleaned for many times in the last 5 years. I was very comfortable with them as they were with me. They finally asked me to clean their sofa and recliner. Both were certainly ready for a good cleaning. Niether were high quality pieces and years from looking like new. The sofa, appearing to need a good pre-soaking, had no tags on it but did not look to be a threat. So I pre-soaked it and then went to clean the recliner. Came back to the sofa, and with a quick extraction across the cusion, I not only removed the soil but also all of the color. Long story shortened, I smiled and told them they just won a new sofa from Heaven’s Best!
Moral of the story: Don’t get too cocky!!!
We have a loveseat in our living room from a stupid act….not stupid really, just not taught to avoid at training class. Anyway, I bought a new one for an elderly couple as well.
Nothing else even close to teaching a great lesson as buying a piece of furniture for someone else and then living with the mistake and seeing it every day just to remind me. cuidado
I am very cautious since that simple error. I am not eager to purchase a $30k oriental, or $10k carpeting….or $5k leather sofa. Risk vs reward must always be measured.
Also, make sure you have insurance for the risk you are assuming…believe me, at time of claim, they will find an out if possible.
Hope this helps a little.
Dave
I rarely prespray anything and if I do it is real light, run the brush across it and extract promptly. Any remaining solution will stay damp long enough until I get back to it. I use the least amount of solution possible to avoid any wickback issues. The furniture drys quicker and can be used the same evening even after a late afternoon cleaning. A small handtowel to wipe down the oversoiled areas also helps to further clean those dark areas. I always turn on the ceiling fan if there is one to speed the drying time.
I went out to clean a leather sectional (used the new leather kit). When I arrived, I noticed the oil marks left from hands and head rest areas were far gone. The customer had the piece for 15yrs and this was the first cleaning. The rest of the house was immaculate and in an upscale neighborhood. I was upfront and told the customer he would not be pleased with the results. I tested the worst area and used the blow dryer to show what the spot might look like once dry. While he was inspecting the spot, I was vacuuming between the cushions with the edger. He said the vacuuming alone was worth it to him and wanted me to clean the sectional even after my disclaimer. I charged him $180 for the sectional and it took me 1hr to clean. Overall the couch did look cleaner, but the dark spots looked the same. We called back yesterday for our follow up call and he said the dark spots lighted up significantly after a few days. I like these surprises.
When I was a young buck starting out I made the mistake of putting my protectant sprayer on a leather chair and it leaked 😳 . I cleaned it with the old leather cleaner but the stain wouldn’t budget. I thought I just bought a new chair The gal said she said she would talk to her husband and call me back when they figure out how I could make it right. but when the customer called me she said it dried up and there wasn’t a mark left. 😆 Thank God becaue I had not the money to buy her a new one. 😳
remember to set your stuff on the floor.Trevor, I think you get the point from everyone to be careful and go slowly. Natural cotton is a definite no-no. Even after training we ran into one of these pieces and ruined it. Other than that, we always do a colorfast test first and if there are any concerns, we use the disclaimer. If we really feel uncertain, we simly pass on the job. We love doing upholstery because you can usually show a huge improvement in the piece and it can have a good profit margin, especially if an add-on to a carpet job. Two days ago I spent two hours cleaning a micro-fiber sectional with ink stains, crayon marks, glitter glue and numerous other stains. Called back yesterday and the client said I was a “miracle worker”. Did not plan on spending two hours to clean it, but that is what it took to do it right. “Slow and steady wins the race.” Good luck.
I’m sorry I didn’t see this earlier! I have the same respect for upholstery as the rest of you. I came across some information on fiber ID on http://www.cleanfax.com that has been helpful for both upholstery and carpet. Look under Industry Topics or CleanPros. I started doing the “burn test” as they recommend. Charts are available that show you how to do this. It’s not 100%, but certainly helps confirm what you are working on. I just started this the beginning of the year. So if any of you have been doing this for a while and have any tips you would like to share, that would be great! Be careful where you get your samples from. Customer may not understand why your are doing this!
Rick
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