A warning to avoid the evil that is "Villandry Laura Ashley fabric"

« **on:** October 27, 2015, 10:12:52 pm »

I'm sure a lot of you are already aware of this Laura Ashley fabric, but for those that haven't come across it yet I thought I'd post a picture along with the name of the fabric.

It's used heavily across the current range of Laura Ashley suites and is not to be touched with moisture. So no wet cleaning and no scotchgarding.

Make a note of the name - Villandry. Next time you get an enquiry to clean a Laura Ashley suite you can ask if its made from this evil Velvet type fabric.

Have attached a picture.

« **Reply #1 on:** October 27, 2015, 10:26:08 pm »

Derek at the cleansmart course was on about this exact fabric the other week when I did my course with them .

It's like a crushed velvet finish ?
When you clean it and it drys it's as if the pile has set in different directions?

« **Reply #2 on:** October 28, 2015, 07:23:39 am »

Just the words 'Laura Ashley' strikes fear in the hearts of many a carpet cleaner!

I hate it when they say the have anything from Laura Ashley, it usually means it an over- priced piece of furniture bought by a 'Laura Ashley' type person who has more money than sense.

She want a piece cleaning because she has had 2 yrs ( in the spare bedroom and it's never been sat on ) but she will feel better with it cleaned, even though it's not dirty and will look no different after cleaning

« **Reply #3 on:** October 28, 2015, 07:41:13 am »

This Fabric is 54% Viscose 40% Cotton 6% Polyester.

Its funny what Laura Ashley say about it "Add luxury and elegance to home decor with this sumptuous, plain, cotton-blend velvet that is very versatile and suitable for curtains, blinds, upholstery and soft furnishings".

We had one last week 65% viscose 18% cotton 15% linen and 2% linen.

We declined to clean it.

They do cover themselves but saying dry clean only and at least they do put a label to say what's it made off unlike a many others manufactures.

« **Reply #4 on:** October 28, 2015, 08:38:31 am »

Extensive vac

Light mist of m power

Towel off

Gloves , sheet work area , show time it's a performance at a high cost - it's a pretentious Laura Ashley tax.

« **Reply #5 on:** October 28, 2015, 08:49:31 am »

I take it the item in the photograph has been wet cleaned?

« **Reply #6 on:** October 28, 2015, 09:31:05 am »

Laura Ashley used to have labels on their cleanable furniture that said 'Do not wet clean,Do not dry clean'

« **Reply #7 on:** October 28, 2015, 10:45:43 am »

Which is why its important NOT to rely on labels... a Trading Standards viewpoint is the 'as Professionals WE should know'

« **Reply #8 on:** October 28, 2015, 11:23:49 am »

Quote from: DB on October 28, 2015, 10:45:43 am

Which is why its important NOT to rely on labels... a Trading Standards viewpoint is the 'as Professionals WE should know'

Trading Standards do not get involved, I have done tons of claims on LA furniture in the past, not once has any claim been refereed to Trading Standards as a result of a claim against the cleaner.The label as I mention above was deemed too ambiguous to back up a claim and if the customer decided to go ahead with a 'professional' clean the risk was theirs

However, M&S used to do something similar but their would say ' Do not wet clean,do not dry-call Servicemaster' don't know if they still do but I know Servicemaster franchisees hated it as they 'were' then the designated expert, so were expected to know how to clean the fabric.It got them loads of business but also got them loads of claims.

« **Reply #9 on:** October 28, 2015, 01:07:37 pm »

All Laura Ashley furnishings should be banned

« **Reply #10 on:** October 28, 2015, 04:21:05 pm »

The best thing to do with these things is turn them down at the very mention of the name. Who needs the hassle of them, but there will always be some mug that will take them on, so let'em get on with it.😃
I've seen some horrendous examples of people having cleaned fabrics with viscose in them over the years, which is why I won't touch one with a barge pole.

Simon

« **Reply #11 on:** October 29, 2015, 04:51:09 pm »

Hilton

Maybe I made my previous post too short and suite!!!

I had a conversation with a senior Trading Standards officer some years ago and that was his take on problem fabrics at the time....

The label as I mention above was deemed too ambiguous to back up a claim and if the customer decided to go ahead with a 'professional' clean the risk was theirs

The risk then moves top the responsibility of the cleaner at this point

Servicemaster franchisees hated it as they 'were' then the designated expert, so were expected to know how to clean the fabric.It got them loads of business but also got them loads of claims.

The final bit above says it all

« **Reply #12 on:** October 29, 2015, 04:55:51 pm »

In about 1996 Chem dry proudly announced to franchissees that they had taken over label sponsorship from Servicemaster , there was one manufacturer that dominated the market , CD paid 40k a year for a few years to have these care labels sown in .
It did lead to an increase in upholstery work . I am not sure why they stopped.

« **Reply #13 on:** October 29, 2015, 05:00:15 pm »

Quote from: DB on October 29, 2015, 04:51:09 pm

Hilton

Maybe I made my previous post too short and suite!!!

I had a conversation with a senior Trading Standards officer some years ago and that was his take on problem fabrics at the time....

The label as I mention above was deemed too ambiguous to back up a claim and if the customer decided to go ahead with a 'professional' clean the risk was theirs

The risk then moves top the responsibility of the cleaner at this point.....(no the responsibility of the owner having appointed them knowing the risks)

Servicemaster franchisees hated it as they 'were' then the designated expert, so were expected to know how to clean the fabric.It got them loads of business but also got them loads of claims. (yes Servicemaster are no more knowledgeable than any other professional cleaner out there but the contract with M&S made them responsible if they took on the clean)

The final bit above says it all

« **Reply #14 on:** October 31, 2015, 07:38:30 am »

These pieces of furniture are not cheap, most I have seen have been in high quality homes and often are not dirty they just suffer pile distortion from small drink spills. I often wonder if we could clean them as Jason suggests and use a fine suede brush to re-align the areas of distorted pile.

We could just turn them down but if we can slightly improve them then I'm sure the customer would appreciate the effort

« **Reply #15 on:** October 31, 2015, 10:46:26 pm »

At our dry cleaners the rule from an insurance point of view is to follow the instructions on the label that's the official line from the insurance company we have it in writing but that's a different insurance from the dry cleaning trade.

Shaun

« **Reply #16 on:** November 02, 2015, 05:58:59 pm »

Hi Guys

I have cleaned these by misting with Pureclean and then towelling off.

You can get a pretty good result provided they are not too dirty.

Cheers

Doug

« **Reply #17 on:** November 04, 2015, 05:08:37 pm »

Quote from: kinder clean on October 27, 2015, 10:12:52 pm

I'm sure a lot of you are already aware of this Laura Ashley fabric, but for those that haven't come across it yet I thought I'd post a picture along with the name of the fabric.

It's used heavily across the current range of Laura Ashley suites and is not to be touched with moisture. So no wet cleaning and no scotchgarding.

Make a note of the name - Villandry. Next time you get an enquiry to clean a Laura Ashley suite you can ask if its made from this evil Velvet type fabric.

Have attached a picture.

duly noted!

« **Reply #18 on:** November 04, 2015, 05:42:38 pm »

If I may add, it's very kind and brave of Paul to bring this to people's notice especially as it's going to cost him and also admit to his fellow cleaners that his made a mistake.

Shaun

« **Reply #19 on:** November 04, 2015, 11:56:52 pm »

do we know he cleaned it and has had a claim?

« **Reply #20 on:** November 05, 2015, 12:45:40 am »

A safe and effective method for these suites is to use colloidal chemistry in combination with very high quality Terry microfiber cleaning cloths, we promote Bio-Kleen heavy duty cleaner which is non-caustic,non-corrosive,and non-toxic, dilute Bio-Kleen at 10-1 into a trigger spray bottle with warm water and just mist a light solution onto the fabric (trick with colloidal chemistry on these type fabrics is not to over wet the fabric just needs to be lightly damp) allow three minutes dwell time to breakdown the soils, then use a high performance Terry microfiber cleaning cloth just very lightly damp again using warm water to lightly dampen the cloth and proceed to scrub and wipe the fabric to remove the loosened soils.
Trick is to double fold the Terry cloth which allows eight separate areas of the cloth to clean with, so basically when one area of the cloth becomes saturated with soils then start to use another clean area of the cloth as you proceed through cleaning the fabric, when one cloth becomes completely saturated with soils go to the sink and wash and rinse it or else have enough damp cloths to carry out the job.
there are many suppliers who promote colloidal chemistry but when it comes to best quality and high performance Terry microfiber cleaning cloths our super high performance Terry microfiber cleaning cloths will not be matched for performance by any other suppliers in the UK or Ireland and i am happy to state that with 100% confidence. if anyone would like further information on this method email info@jskcleaning.ie Tadgh.