Author: John

Upholstery and Leather Furniture Care Guide
A practical guide that will help you keep your furniture looking beautiful.
Provided as an educational resource by:

Inside:
4 Basic Steps For Spot Removal
Upholstery Cleaning Codes
How to Pre-test a Spotting Agent
How to Identify Your Leather
What to Use on Upholstery
How to do Spot Removal on Leather
Which Products Work Best?

Upholstery and Leather CAUTIONS
Don’t let any type of soil or spot remain on upholstery. Upholstery is not nearly as stain resistant as carpet.
Keep pets off of furniture. Their claws can permanently harm the fiber. Pet accidents can get deep into the foam and become impossible to remove.
Keep upholstery away from sun light.
Don’t allow transferable dyes (newspaper, blue jeans, etc.) to come in contact with upholstery.
Have light colored upholstery professionally cleaned BEFORE it appears overall soiled. If you wait until it looks dirty, permanent damage may already be done.
Cleaning Codes for Upholstery
W: Spot clean with water-based cleaner.
S: Spot clean ONLY with mild water-free dry cleaning solvent.
WS: Spot clean with water-based or solvent cleaner.
X: Clean only by vacuuming or light brushing.
The upholstery code should be located on a tag beneath the cushions. Use care with all upholstery, but especially with X and S codes.
Spot Removal Tips For Upholstery
First, remember to pre-test any piece in an inconspicuous area BEFORE attempting spot removal. Allow the pre-tested area to dry. If discoloration or shrinkage occurs, do not use the product.
For W and WS coded upholstery, use a Neutral PH water based cleaner such as Bi-O-Kleen’s Spray and Wipe on spots such as food spills, drink spills, light grease, etc.
For S, W, and WS coded upholstery, use a small amount of dry cleaning solvent (such as Carbona available at Wal-Mart or rubbing alcohol) applied to a cloth for oil based spots.
Upholstery Cleaning Steps
Pre-test an inconspicuous area.
Remove the excess soil with a spoon or extract liquids with a wet vacuum.
Apply the spotter to a clean cloth
Gently blot, using caution to not distort fibers.
For over 150 specific spot removal tips and information on Bi-O-Kleen products, visit www.CarpetCareTips.com or call
474-1133.
Leather Spot Removal
You can determine if your leather is protected by lightly scratching an area with your fingernail. If the scratch is not seen, it is Protected. Otherwise you have a more natural Aniline or Nubuck leather. Types of Leather:
P - Protected - (Finished, Semi Aniline, Pigmented) Protected leather products are uniform in appearance and color. This will most likely be the most durable leather type. A - Aniline - (Natural, Pure, Naked) These are Leathers that are colored with transparent dye and have very little protective treatment added. This means you are able to see the actual surface grain markings. N - Nubuck - (Chaps, Bomber, Suede) These are actually Aniline Leathers in which the surface has been brushed, and has created a texture similar to velvet. Nubuck is particularly difficult to clean.
CAUTION: Only use products made for leather! In most cases, Aniline and Nubuck should only be cleaned by a professional. Do not use saddle soaps, mink oil, or dishwashing soap. Leather products are available by calling our office at 474-1133.
Leather Cleaning Steps
Pre-test an inconspicuous area.
Remove the excess soil with a spoon or extract liquids with a wet vacuum.
Apply spotter to a cloth and gently wipe.
Clean the entire section from seam to seam otherwise water rings may occur.
protection treatments every six months to extend the life of the leather and prevent premature cracking, peeling, and color loss.
works well for general cleaning of the spot as well. Bi-O-Kleen has a neutral ph product called Spray and Wipe for this purpose.
CAUTION: DO NOT USE THESE SPOTTERS ON URINE OR VOMIT
Never use any high ph or high residue product. This would include ammonia and Resolve carpet spotter. I have seen many instances where the wrong product caused a urine stain to be permanent. The use of oxygen bleach is also risky on many carpets.
Removing the Urine Stain
After you’ve extracted the liquid and treated the spot, you’ll still have a stain on the carpet.
You’ll need to rinse the spot before it becomes a permanent stain. Use plain water to rinse the spotting agent out.
If you have a spot removal machine that allows you to rinse with water, put plain water with no detergent in the tank. Lightly rinse the area and follow with several dry vacuum passes.
If you have a wet vac, sprinkle plain water on the area and extract with the wet vac.
If urine stays in the carpet or upholstery for an extended period of time, it WILL permanently stain. Even worse, it will eventually eat away the backing of the fiber and destroy the carpet or upholstery. Not to mention the obvious unhealthy situation and odor the urine will cause.
The best thing you can do for any type of pet accident is remove it right away.
Follow all of the recommendations in this brochure. If you cannot remove the stain or odor, call us immediately at 474-1133. The longer the problem stays in the fiber, the worse the problem becomes.
For over 150 additional spot removal tips, visit our site at www.CarpetCareTips.com.
The techniques mentioned here work well for any urine, vomit, or feces spot on carpet, rugs, or upholstery. Always pre-test any spotting agent before using the product.
Can you remove pet urine stains on carpet or upholstery? We have a success rate of about 80%. However, pet urine can cause permanent damage to textiles as well as create an unhealthy indoor living environment if not removed promptly. When urine is first deposited onto a carpet or fabric, it is in a neutral state. This means it is easier to remove when it is fresh. Once the urine is allowed to dry it turns to alkaline (thus the ammonia odor) and becomes more difficult to remove. If left for weeks or months, depending on the fiber type, it could permanently change the dye structure of the fabric and cause the fiber to deteriorate. To prevent permanent staining, clean urine deposits immediately. What can be done about urine odor? We normally use enzymes to treat urine. There is a small extra charge for each quart. First, we use a special urine detector to pinpoint exactly where the urine deposits are. Then we spray enzymes only on the affected areas. The enzymes actually eat up urine bacteria. These enzymes are also for sale for you to use between cleanings. Urine is one stain we cannot have any guarantees on. The stains could be permanent, although we usually have a very good chance of removal. What to do if you have a severe urine odor? If the odor is severe, the padding beneath the carpet may need to be replaced and the sub floor treated. We also treat the face fibers with enzymes, allow time to dwell, and then extract the enzymes. If the urine is covering over half of the carpet, it may be more cost effective to replace the room of carpeting. Is vomit removable from carpeting? Yes, normally. However, the chances are reduced if an improper spot removal solution has been applied to the stain before our arrival. Also, some cat food has a red dye that permanently stains some nylon carpets. This dye is similar to the kool aid type of dye. If this occurs, we have a red dye removal system that can remove most cat vomit stains (a small extra fee applies). What can you do for recurring urine spots? First, we use our urine probe to determine exactly where the spot is. Next, we flood the area with one quart of Bi-o-kleen enzyme mixture and allow the mixture to dwell for at least 20 minutes. Last, we use our “water claw” spot lifter to pull the urine directly from the padding. This process eliminates 90% of all urine problems. If you have us do this process and the spot does return, we’ll come back at no charge to attempt removal again (we can only guarantee no spots returning on urine if the claw process is performed). Do you have a 100% Guarantee on Pet Odors? Unfortunately there is no way to completely guarantee odors of any type. The reason is that the odor may not only be in the carpet. It may be under the padding on the cement or wood beneath the carpet. It may also be on the baseboards, drapes, walls, etc. Furthermore, one cleaning may not be sufficient to take care of a severe urine odor. Sometimes return trips are necessary. How can I take care of pet problems myself? We have two excellent products available to help you do your own pet stain removal. We recommend the Spray and Wipe Cleaner or the Bi-O-Kleen Enzymes for more difficult pet problems. Click here to purchase Bi-O-Kleen Products for Sale In conjunction with the Bi-O-Kleen products, we strongly recommend that you purchase a small wet vacuum or spot machine such as Bissel or Dirt Devil to extract the liquid out of the carpet. Paper towels never do as good of a job as a wet vacuum.

Bi-O-Kleen Spray and Wipe works great on most upholstery.

4 Basic Steps To Upholstery and Leather Spot Removal
Pre-test the spotting agent in an inconspicuous area and allow to dry.
Use the right spotter. Using an inappropriate chemical can ruin your furniture.
Always apply the spotter to a cloth. Never pour or spray a spotting agent directly on your furniture.
Remove it NOW. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to remove.
Disclaimer: Use these techniques at your own risk. Be aware that furniture can easily be ruined. Pre-test each solution in an inconspicuous area before using. If you are unconfident about these techniques, call a professional.
Dear Friend,
This guide is made up of 10 years of furniture cleaning experience.
I hope this guide helps you in being able to care for your upholstery and leather.
John Braun, “”King of Clean”
Owner of Premium Carpet, Inc

Professional Care For Your Upholstery and Leather Furniture
Upholstered furniture should be cleaned at least every two years while leather furniture should be cleaned and protected every year.
Our Upholstery Cleaning Procedure:
Dye testing. We’ll pre-test the area for color fastness to determine if it can be wet or dry cleaned.
Soil suspension. A conditioning agent will be sprayed on and brushed in with a horsehair brush.
Extraction. A water or solvent based “rinse” is used to whisk away the suspended soils.
Drying. Turbo dryers are used if necessary to speed dry the piece.
Our Leather Cleaning Procedure:
Dye testing. We’ll exam the piece for color fastness and clean-ability.
Soil suspension. A leather cleaning agent is used to dry clean the surface.
Extraction. Dry cleaning sponges are used to extract the soils.
Conditioning. All leather is protected and conditioned in order to keep the leather stain resistant, resistant to cracking , and soft.
For a FREE furniture cleaning estimate please call Premium Carpet Care at 474-1133 or www.CarpetCareTips.com.
This is a water claw sub-surface extractor tool. The water claw procedure works well to combat urine odors and stains. We also have systems to remove vomit stains. Please call our office at 474-1133 with questions or for an appointment.

474-1133