[John Kelly]

What wa really interesting was hearing the guy on the radio saying that although it might say Dry Clean only on the label that does not mean it can't be Wet Cleaned
I've always known that anyway, it's all about finding out what the material actually is.
It's a bit like seeing the label on upholstery saying contact CD or SM for cleaning of this item, why? are they the only people capable?

Neil, its simply because they paid them to do that.

[Thackley Cleaning Services]

You don't even mention WHY they want eh curtains cleaning

They look dirty?
They have an odour problem?
They are dusty?

Unless they are visibly soiled they can be done in situ using a turbo vac, spray of something like m-power and then towelled off.  You should be able to knock out at least 5 pairs per hour of your average hotel room curtains using that method.

Why walk from a profitable job and the potential of selling many more services to them ?!?!!?!

Carpets, upholstery, mattresses!!!!

fire retardant may come off during this wet cleaning process and its up to you to then put it back on.  its not a straight forward process and the cost of the chems alone is crazy money.

Shaun..... sshhhh..... they're a trade secret.

[Thackley Cleaning Services]

Perhaps a Dry Cleaners Forum should be added.

How much to equip a shop?

for second hand recon stuff you should be looking to allocate approx £20k for equipment only (dry cleaning machine, and a flatbed with a rotor cabinet) .  If you factor in the installations etc you would struggle to get any change out of £35k

For a top notch operation including new equipment, shop refitting, anywhere from an minimum of £50k.

pound for pound carpet cleaning is much more profitable because you can invest a couple of grand and be up and running.  Yes, as above to do it really well you need to be looking at upgrading your equipment (as no doubt all the TM'ers will agree) and invest time in training and knowledge.  But if you work hard and then you can grow organically from the profits you make.

[Thackley Cleaning Services]

Johnsons have the big name and therefore try and act 'responsibly' and also look different to the rest of the trade that's why moved away from regal blue shop frontage to a more Eco friendly green, the engineer that we use was telling us the same story about Johnsons also.

Who's spotting products do you use? we're on to Cole and Wilson atm.

Shaun

Hi Shaun,

dont let the bullpoop fool anyone.  Johnsons did this purely as a marketing exercise so that they could charge a premium for offering an environmentally friendly service whilst 99% of other independent cleaners were still using the deadly & dangerous perc.  Unfortunately, for them the recession started and more customers are going for 4 items for £15 offers.  No one gives a hoot about the environment when they've been told that they may have to take a 5% pay cut.

[fenman]

We clean lots of curtains in situ.
The biggest part is the vaccing. I would estimate the split to be 75% time taken in vaccing to 25% actual cleaning.

[Paul Heath]

must admit the fire retardant chemical put me off....nearly £300 for 25 ltr,
I'm going to view all 38 rooms plus lounge,bar etc, it would be a good money earner, but i doubt they will pay.
I don't really understand its only been open 14 months and the its all wooden floors.

[Jim_77]

But plenty of upholstery to clean

What flame retardant are you looking at??!!  Stapro do a very good one and it's really not very expensive, product cost would be something like (from memory) £20 to treat 100m² or even bigger amount maybe, can't remember but it isn't much

Fenman... I'm curious, do you not count dry soil removal as "cleaning" ?!!!  

[John Kelly]

I would imagine hotel curtains won't be that badly soiled. As mentioned a really good vacuum will remove most of the dirt which will be dust. You can clean curtains with a dry cleaning fluid and sponge or by misting a microsplitter and sponge. A plasterers hawk behind the curtain gives you a firm base to press the sponge against. This way you are only cleaning the surface and should not disturb the fire proofing which is basically a salt left behind in the fabric after the carrier fluid has evaporated off.

[Paul Heath]

Just to let you know, popped in to hotel and have a look at the curtains. It looks like they are going to be dry clean only.
However they close in Jan for refurb and want the tiles, wooden floors all cleaned.
Just goes to prove it is always best to go along and have a look at any job.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

John curtains in hotel bedrooms usually smell of nicotine guests take the batteries out of the smoke alarms and slowly choke themselves over 50 years!!!

Shaun

[Thackley Cleaning Services]

Just to let you know, popped in to hotel and have a look at the curtains. It looks like they are going to be dry clean only.
However they close in Jan for refurb and want the tiles, wooden floors all cleaned.
Just goes to prove it is always best to go along and have a look at any job.

why dont you take a pair down and take it to a cleaner who can handle this sort of stuff.  get him to give you a price, put a bit on for handling and give the hotel a quote for dry cleaning only and another one for the fire retardent. then leave it to them to choose. 

if its 100 bedrooms thats a shed load of curtains and even at 10% markup it will be worth you while. Lets put it another way, if another 'one stop shop' cleaning contractor comes in and says yeah we can do the curtains but we can also do a deal for the tiles etc... then you might be out of a bit of business.

thats the way i would look at things mate.  if theres a rainbow international near you they do that sort of stuff, try and do a deal with them.

[Paul Heath]

yeah already there with that one.....we are waiting for the "houskeeping director" to get hold of the swatch's, we will then now which way we are going.
We are going to launder the vouls and then fire retard them.
Thanks for all your help and advice.

[homenclean]

craftex do a flame retardant very economical.

Also why not use craftex dry clene smells nice and all you have to do is give the curtains a good vac front and back mist with solution and then towel.

You`ll  be supprised how much dirt comes off and how much freshher they smell.
Not great though if hevily soiled or stained but does a great job at refreshhing and brightening them.

John