Fabric Care and Cleaning

 

Our advice is given in good faith and should not be considered a guarantee. If in any doubt always consult a professional upholstery cleaning company.

Alcoholic BeveragesAfter the moisture has been blotted up, dab at the stain with a clean cloth dampened in rubbing alcohol. Then blot repeatedly with liquid detergent mixed with cool water. Blot dry with a towel. Dab again with clear cool water and blot dry.

Blood Mix one teaspoon of ammonia in a cup of cold water and apply it sparingly to the spot. Blot with a clean towel. Repeat the procedure until the spot is gone. Then dab the area with cool water and blot. Wait 15 minutes and moisten the area again with white distilled vinegar. Blot thoroughly with a dry towel.

Chenille Yarn Fabrics Shampoo cleaning or hot-water extraction, taking care to restore the pile orientation in finishing will produce a satisfactory result. Care must be taken not to undertake concentrated rubbing on a small area, which may produce irreversible disruption of the chenille fibre. It should be noted that even the simple act of wetting the fabric is likely to produce an appearance change even if the chenille fibre is not disrupted. This is largely due to flattening of the chenille fibre while it is wet and may result in a ‘dappled’ or ‘mottled’ surface. Warning: Some high pile viscose rayon chenilles, velvets and pocket weave jacquards may change in surface character if stain repellent treatments are applied. Extra care should be taken to pre-test for these fabrics.

Chewing GumRub an ice cube over the gum to harden it, then scrape off the excess with a dull knife. To remove what’s left, use dry cleaning fluid.

Chocolate (and other soft candy) This is a combination greasy/non-greasy stain. Scrape excess away, then go over the spot with cool water mixed with a liquid detergent. Blot thoroughly and then clean with dry cleaning fluid.

Coffee and TeaSponge with warm water. Apply warm glycerine. Leave for 30 minutes. Flush out with water and dry quickly.

CosmeticsSponge with warm water. Apply warm glycerine. Leave for 30 minutes. Flush out with water and dry quickly.

Fruit and Fruit JuicesAfter excess is blotted up or scraped away, blot the spot with cool water. If a stain remains, add liquid detergent and a drop of vinegar to the water. Dab the spot with this mixture and blot until there’s no trace of a stain. Then go over the area lightly with clear water to remove traces of vinegar.

Grease (including hair grease and oil) Scrape away excess if necessary and then dab repeatedly at the stain with dry cleaning fluid. If any stain remains, go over the area with a lukewarm mixture of liquid detergent and water. Always make sure you use a clean portion so you don’t put the stain back in the fabric. Last, go over the area with a clean cloth moistened with cool clear water.

Ice CreamScrape away excess and apply cool water mixed with liquid detergent, blotting frequently with a dry cloth so as not to saturate the fabric. Let dry and then go over any remaining stain with dry cleaning fluid. Blot dry.

InkMoisten with warm glycerine. Leave for 10 minutes. Apply liquid detergent and brush lightly. Flush out with water and dry quickly.

IodineRub with cut lemon before sponging with warm water. Apply small quantity of detergent with clean cloth. Blot stain then remove soapy residue with cloth wrung out in warm water and white vinegar solution (1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water).

Milk and VomitBlot or scrape away the excess, then take a clean soft cloth and blot. Apply clear cool water to the area, blotting frequently. Then blot with a detergent solution to which you’ve added a small amount of ammonia. Blot dry and wait a few minutes. Go over the area with dry cleaning fluid, blot dry. Finally, blot the area lightly with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol.

Professional Cleaning Frequency Is determined by the furniture use, your own maintenance, upkeep and environmental conditions. As a good ‘rule of thumb’ overall cleaning is recommended every 12 months for most family room lounges.

Professional Fabric ServicingWarwick Fabrics recommend that water-based Fluro chemical’ type fabric protectors (such as DuPont Teflon® and 3M Scotchgard®) be applied by licensed applicators only. Check your care label first to see if a mill-applied protection was incorporated during fabric manufacture. Fabric protectors do not eliminate the need for vacuuming, routine cleaning or proper care. They will, however, make spot cleaning and vacuuming quicker, easier and more efficient between professional cleans and keep your fabric looking cleaner longer, as well as extending its life. Professionals applying fabric protectors must always pre test to qualify fabric suitability.

Shoe PolishApply liquid paraffin to loosen the stain, then sponge with dry cleaning fluid.

SOME RECENT WORK

YOUR LOUNGE – YOUR FRIEND

When your lounge is looking a bit tired and could use a  face-lift, don’t turn your back on it and replace it but recover it instead, remembering all its done for you.

When you come home from a long day at work who is there for you? Your lounge

When you’re left to look after the kid and they finally go to bed, who’s there for you? Your lounge

When you feel a bit tired or sick and need a day off work in front of the telly, who’s there for you? Your lounge

When you need some spare change to buy a coffee, who has kept some in reserve for you? Your lounge

When you want to do some sit-ups, who’s there to help? Your lounge

When friends or family come over, where will they sit? On your lounge

When it’s raining outside and the kids are getting restless, who can they jump up and down on? Your lounge

When you need a spare bed, who’s there to help out? Your lounge

When doing a bit of work from home on the laptop, where better to work from? Your lounge

Who’s come with you every time you’ve moved house? Your Lounge

Getting the dining chairs recovered and nowhere to sit and eat dinner, who’s there to lend a hand? Your lounge

That wine stain on the cushion is not so much a stain but rather a memory of a great night just like a photo, but when you can’t see the lounge for the photos, give it a new lease on life and have it recovered!

When you feel your lounge is letting you down and the cushions don’t give the support you need anymore, it’s not that your lounge doesn’t want to, so help it to help you and replace the cushion foam using Dunlop Enduro foam so that it won’t have to let you down again.

Below are some recent jobs completed

UPHOLSTERER SYDNEY

SOFA RECOVERED WITH LEATHER

The broken sofa from previous post now recovered with leather.

A few recent jobs

Parker Chairs

Diamond button chair

Daybed

And now the stuff you've always wanted to know

Seam Slippage  Care must be taken with some of our Upholstery Fabrics. In our Trading Terms we note the following: Seam Protection. Please ensure the following. precautions are taken, especially on Loose Woven, Heavily Textured, Open Weave & Ottoman Weave fabrics & especially on Seat cushion seams that take the highest load a. Stitch lengths: Should be a minimum of 12 searp stitches to the inch / Please use smaller stitch iengtn for high load areas such as Seat cushion covers. D. Seam size. A minimum seam size of 15-20mm should De taken. Heavy textured and loosely woven fabrics should lave 20mm seams and be overlocked. c. Over locking of seams should be used on loosely woven fabrics and seat cushions. Overlock immediately atter cutting fabric. d. Taping. In some cases an additional safeguard of stitching tnrougn a- Quarter incn tape along the seam may be necessary to prevent fraying in high lo,ad areas. This rri4y he clone at the manufacturers discretion after testing on individual designs. Seam Protection  - Heavily textured fabrics  It is Very important to make Extra seam allowance to  avoid Seam Slippage. ***Please note lepur standard patterns may Not allow enough Seam Aliowance tor. this type of ta-bric. We strongly recommend review inn youratterns before tracing pattern and cyttingtaU p ric on loose woven or heavily textured fabrics. ' These are the standard upholstery practises that are used by all quality upholsterers.

It is the responsibility of the upholsterer / manufacturer to ensure the seams are sufficiently manufactured so Seam Slippage will not occur. Westbury can not be held responsible for seam slippage as we have no control over the manufacturing process Applied Finishes  Westbury accepts no responsibility for changes in appearance, texture, colour, per-formance or damage or defects caused by any process applied to the fabric such as Drycleaning, Washing, Stain repellent finish, Flame Retardant finish, etc. These treat-ments can change the appearance, finish, handle & occasionally the colour & texture of fabric. We always recommend testing an inconspicuous area or off cut before proceeding

Dyelot  Unless a specific dyelot has been requested, the fabric supplied is from our current stock which may vary from the original sample swatch. Please note: Dyelots will always vary between batches. Please check this dyelot is acceptable for your use before cutting and manufacture as no claims will be accepted once fabric has been cut

Fabric Texture

As many of our fabrics have been manufactured using natural fibres, any stubs, shad-ing, irregularities & impurities are characteristic of the yarns used & enhance the nature of the fabric. Any irregularity of the weave or colour variation must be considered an inherent part of the character of the fabric. It should be made clear to the ultimate client that this is the inherent nature of fabrics & cannot be considered imperfect.

Face of fabric

The Face of the fabric is rolled inside. An fabrics must be made up on the correct face side, which is rolled face inside. The industry standard is to roll all fabrics face inside. If in doubt, please check before manufacture.

Faults 

Some weaving flaws occur in all fabrics. Our fabrics are manufactured to a high quality standard, however with certain qualities, faults or slight imperfections can appear whilst remaining within the norms accepted by industry (thick and thin linen yarns, crumpling of linen, silk stubs, etc). These flaws will be marked & an allowance will be made. The industry standard allows one flaw every ten metres. To assist us in supplying the correct meterage, please state required drops at time of order. Ironing fabric See specific Ironing Instructions on care Ironing Always test an inconspicuous area or off cut before proceeding. Iron lengthways. Polyester and Synthetic fabrics must be ironed on lowest minimum temp setting. Iron on reverse side if fabric has Glazed finish. Removing Creases from Velvet. Steam Iron on back of fabric using a backing cloth. Do Not Iron on face of fabric. Test on an inconspicuous area first.

Pattern Matching 

Pattern repeats are approximate & can vary. Care must be taken when pattern matching Patterned fabrics. In our general trading terms we note the following: As fabric is not a fixed, static commodity, the pattern will never be completely square on the fabric & therefore pattern matching will not always be possible. Side matching on some fabrics may Not be possible

Checks & Horizontal Stripes will bow across the width of the fabric. It is impossible to make a straight hor-izontal line due to loom tensions. For this reason we do not recommend these designs be made into Blinds When making curtains the horizontal lines will not perfectly match on the selvedge. This is part of the characterof these fabrics. Please always check the pattern alignment is satisfactory for your requirements before cutting the fabric as No claims accepted once the fabric is cut, regardless of the reason for the claim

Pattern Repeats  Pattern Repeats quoted are only approximate & can vary. Please check pattern repeats, fabric widths, piece size received & selvedge pattern match before cutting fabric as no claim or allowance will made once the fabric has been cut.

Roman Blinds  Claims for fabric that has been used in Roman Blinds due to fabric movement will Not be accepted. Fabrics should be preshrunk and bonded before being made into Roman Blinds. We do NOT recommend making Oversized Roman Blinds or using Upholstery fabric in Roman Blinds as this will invariably be problem-atical with some fabric movement to be expected and the Blinds will probably need alteration at some stage Roman blinds should be made in a way that the folds of the blind are not exposed to incoming light when the blind is raised. If the folds are not protected fading will occur on folds & will be noticeable when blind is lowered. We recommend that the bottom flap of the blind hang below the folds to prevent fading. Claims for fading or shrinkage in Roman Blinds will not be accepted

Shrinkage All fabrics are susceptible to some movement & shrinkage. Allow for 3-5% shrinkage - Industry Standard. More allowance for shrinkage should be made when Washed or Drycleaned When making fabrics (especially Woven & Jacquard fabrics) into Curtains, please al-low for some extra movement. Please allow for up to 5% shrinkage. This can mean 15cm on a three metre drop. We recommend that curtains have 25cm base hems & preferably be extra length, so curtains can be lengthened if shrinkage occurs Ideally the curtains should be lying on the floor & this way any movement will not be noticeable. If the curtains are not lying on the floor, the curtains should be hung in the workroom for a few days to give the fabric time to air & relax. Then the hems should only be hand tacked & then finished several months after installation to give the curtains time to find their stable level It should be made clear to the ultimate client that this is the inherent nature of fabrics & any costs incurred in the alterations of the curtains remains the responsibility of the client

Stretching /Bagging  Stretching / Bagging. It is important to access the fabric for Stretching/Bagging. Upholsterers normally check each fabric for stretch by clamping one end of the fabric to the cutting table, stretch the fabric & measure the length of the cushion & cut the stretched fabric to the cushion size. That way the fabric has already been stretched & the cushion will not bag or wrinkle after being sat on This is common upholstery practise, otherwise any loose weave or stretchy fabric will bag after be-ing sat on. Bagging is more noticeable on Large seat cushions as there is a larger area for stretching *Please note your standard patterns may not allow for Stretching / Bagging'

Sun Damage/Fading  All fabrics are susceptible to sun damage, especially Silk & NaturalTibre fabrics. Sunlight fading can occur, even from strong indirect light. Only the best quality chemical fast dyes are used in our fabrics, but fading can still occur, especially in the stronger colours We strongly recommend that a block out lining be used and please ensure that the fabric is protected from strong indirect sunlight.

BRAND NEW SOFA NOT SO GREAT...

As you can see in this video, the right arm of this sofa was broken when it arrived to our workshop to be recovered.
Our customer bought this sofa from a well known retailer where you're free to buy whatever they have available, to be recovered in leather.
We had to repair the arm and strengthen other parts to prevent future breakages as the manufacturer in Vietnam obviously could have used a few tips on how to make furniture frames...

We sometimes get asked why the cost to recover can be around the same as buying a new sofa, maybe this can help answer that question.
When furniture is made poorly using poor quality materials (see the particle board support rails), by people who are paid $1 per day, you cannot expect that item to be recovered here in Australia with our high wages and overheads etc for any less.
The Australian retailer will have paid the Vietnamese supplier a very small fraction of the actual sale price. Maybe once we establish what that price was it will make the recover cost seem more reasonable.
Did I mention the filling used in the cushions is also rubbish, so in a couple of years the cushioning is going to look flat and out of shape, and feel uncomfortable to sit on.

See these pics of the frame to understand the quality (or LACK of) of this furniture. I've seen better quality firewood!

You would be far better of buying an older secondhand piece that was made when people still cared about quality, and have it recovered by Cover It Upholstery Sydney