Beware the rogue re-upholstered chair
August 1st 2006

NCCA member Antony George runs A. G. Carpet & Upholstery in Reading. Here he offers some sound advice to those involved in upholstery cleaning

I recently received a phone call to quote on cleaning the carpets and a number of dining chairs in a pub. Having inspected the carpet for any potential cleaning problems I then moved on to inspect the chairs for their suitability for wet cleaning (using a low moisture soil extraction upholstery cleaning system). Around half of the chairs were covered in a velvet piled fabric and the rest were covered in a plain (light turquoise) cotton fabric with a square pattern throughout. I tested both of the fabrics and gently rubbed them with terry towelling. No problems were revealed, which led me to believe there wasn't likely to be any problems if wet cleaned.

The next day I received a call from the client to say my quote had been accepted and we agreed a date for the cleaning to be undertaken.

I decided to clean the velvet piled fabric chairs first. I had undertaken the usual tests on the previous visit to ensure the (oil and soil loosening) pre-spray and the stain removers that I intended to use would not cause any dye run or transfer problems. These chairs cleaned up very well and when I had finished I placed them in front of my turbo dryer to get them dry as quickly as possible.

Next, it was time to clean the cotton fabric dining chairs, which I had previously noted had quite a lot of yellow and brown staining.

I assumed (always a dangerous thing to do!) that this was the result of food or drink spillages onto the fabric.

My pre-cleaning tests of the pre-spray and stain removers did not give me any cause for concern and so I decided to apply the pre-spray, agitating this in with terry towelling. I then proceeded to clean the fabric and undertook some post spotting of the remaining stains, finally placing the newly cleaned chair in front of my turbo dryer before cleaning a second and third chair.

Around twenty minutes later, and with everything appearing to be going well, I went over to inspect the first (now dry) cotton fabric dining chair and, to my horror, I noticed the fabric was covered with streaks and patches of dark yellow and dark brown staining. I immediately checked the two other cotton fabric chairs that I had just finished cleaning and noticed these also had yellow and brown patches appearing on the fabric. At this point (and somewhat too late!) I noticed that there was dark brown fabric under the turquoise cotton fabric covering. The dye in the original fabric was obviously not stable and the cleaning solution and moisture had caused the dyes to bleed through.

I immediately informed the client who was very understanding. She had just taken over the pub and did not know that the chairs she had inherited from the previous owner had been re-covered. For my part, I certainly did not want to leave the lady with three discoloured chairs so I contacted my local NCCA representative for some much needed advice. To have each chair professionally re-upholstered was likely to prove very expensive so we agreed that, as the fabric was plain cotton it would be worth applying a spray of Hydrogen Peroxide to the affected fabric. At the very least this should reduce the appearance of the staining.

I applied the peroxide (at 3% dilution strength) to the most badly affected chair. The peroxide was sprayed evenly across all the fabric to ensure a consistent finish. When I returned the next day the staining had been reduced, however it was still evident.

This time I applied a 6% dilution of Hydrogen Peroxide to the fabric and yahaay!!! When the fabric had dried, the stains completely disappeared. I repeated this on the other two chairs with an equal measure of success.

Although I am sure professional operators already check if the upholstery piece they intend to work on has been re-covered there may be instances where the history of the piece is not known or has been re-covered in such a way that it may not be picked up until it is too late, so my advice would be to give this aspect of the pre-clean inspection as much emphasis as the testing of your pre-sprays and solvents.

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