Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: JandS on February 03, 2009, 01:17:08 pm
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I always use Prochem on leather.
Yesterday I did a cream 3 piece and compared the Prochem up against the stuff I recently bought from LTT place.
And the winner Prochem.
What do other peeps use?
John
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You do surprise me John I would of thought LTT would have come out on top owing to the fact they are renouned for being leather consultants :-\
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I have used both products and imo the LTT products are far better than Prochem.
Mark
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I suppose it depends on the individuals knowledge, or perception of what clean really means, rather than someone who might have used Fairy liqiud, or saddle soap and THOUGHT they'd got a fantastic result !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I think with LTT and Furniture Clinic it's down to the method of cleaning not the product, Prochem's cleaner is much harsher and attacks 'chemically' where Ltt and FC are based on aggitation and absorbtion from sponges and rinsing.
Main thing is if you are happy and it causes no damage carry on but from experience I use FC Ultra clean as I can't get rid of the stuff as it goes on forever and it's safe, YES I have stripped finish of a suite :o but that was with either Prochem or Chemspec but it was that long ago I can't remember which one.
Shaun
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A women who i quoted for used fairy liquid and a nail brush, far better results than i could achieve with LTT products, :o
i laughed and left.
and before you say, "you should of educated her"
i tried but obviously, it wasn't registering.
derek
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Derek
Some you just caint get through to them so let them get on with there fairy liquid lol.i had one a while back and she used bleach on a cloth and said how good the results were :D
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Sometimes customers are wanting a quick fix, education isn't on their mind it's when and how much. These people if they choose your service may only use you once because you have offered them a solution immediately and they live for today but will use another cleaner tomorrow because the number was to hand.
That's life and forgetting the business building side for 1 minute let's not forget we are here to clean and make a profit we all see a wide spectrum of people you just have to take the money sometimes and don't forget to smile.
Shaun
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Am not cleaning much upholtery at the mo and have had not one suite to clean since xmas.
There again some sofa companys are doing such good deals from 299 pounds and suites that were £2000 now down to under £600.
Some leather suites have got 65%off at the mo.
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clinton
and don't forget
3 years interest free credit and nothing to pay for 20 years, but offer ends in an hour, until it ends, then its another hour. ;D
derek
ps, just done the final amendments to my website, its looking very dandy, and very pink.
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Derek
HAAAAH ;D
Even discount for an oldie like me ;D
Wouldnt mind a look at your new site :)
Wonder if marks doing mine next ::)
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When I first attempted to clean leathers without knowing any difference I used cream cleaners and sometimes you could see the colour on the cloth. This was obviously a layer of pigment coming off, which is why it looked cleaner. I believe some of these products may have contained de-limonene which is quite harsh to clean with. As Shaun says the water based products are safer to use.
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About 3 years ago I bought Prochem Leather Cleaner and Prochem Leather Conditioner.
Used them once and not been off the shelf since.
I will stick with LTT or Furniture Clinic, and htere is some stuff from a company in Scotland - Solutions (nothing to do with the one in Cornwall) I find their stuff ok as well.
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Come Derek the pink
Show us your website!
Shaun
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can't yet.
its not online.
i tried putting my home page up as a pdf but couldn't.(file to big) soon as its done i'll post the url. see what yas think.
derek
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I am the same as you Joe used prochem leather cleaner once or twice years ago couldnt get satisfactory results , then started using micro splitters better results but not ideal as not made for leather cleaning and always felt if I had a problem the ownes would be more on me with not using a purpose designed leather cleaner.
Then started using furniture clinic products big improvement,then the sponges that paul moss recommended and wow :o the best results possible when using these 2 products.
And happy customers ; :D
Andy Locke
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Derek
Be good to have a peep mate,you going to get it seo or whatever ???
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mark says ad words is better, he's gonna max it for ad words, if its not working then i'll get it seo'd.
must admit i really like its simplicity. he's designed it so everything can be seen without scrolling down for ages. minimilistic wording and some good pictures from mike halliday ;D
and its pink, woohoo!
derek
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"ad words is better, he's gonna max it for ad words"
I`m getting worried now.
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Derek
Am not sure about add words etc so am going to get mine seo,d :)
Think mine is going to be on the same lines as well and keep it simple :)
Was chating with some other c cleaners and we all agreed that the person who is looking for a cleaner is not going to read all about cleaning machines hp and water lift etc ???
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Hi Joe, where about is Solutions in Scotland?
Cheers
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Clinton I think you do have to keep the wording shorter but also you do have to stand out from the crowd, information like Eco and Green also Truckmounted for more power or quick drying IICRC trained to a higher standard are all positive points that can help you make the sale and for you to not let the customer go for price alone.
Shaun
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They're in Kirkaldy Rab,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they sell through the QVC channel and in shopping centres, I tried it some years ago but there was a concern, can't remember what
r m
solutionsleathercare.com
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Shaun
Understand that key words are important with the drying times training etc.
Am going to put some nice wording on my new site ie all the years i have been going and some sizzle :)
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Hi Joe, where about is Solutions in Scotland?
Cheers
Raby
There in Kirkcaldy, 01592 203905
www.solutionsleathercare.co.uk
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Just ordered some from them along with the ink remover so we'll soon see.
John
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Shaun where you get FC Ultra Clean?
Typed it in and it comes up as a floor degreaser.
John
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www.furnitureclinic.co.uk
Then click on cleaners.
Mark
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Just ordered some from FC as well so will try all 3 out.
Just need a leather suite to clean.
John
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Tip - dont ever use the sponges twice - there will be no finish left on the leather if you give it a good scrub! And make sure your insurance is current before you you put a "Magic" sponge on leather It cuts the surface off the finish. If it is a two tone leather it will end up a completely different colour to when you started!
LTT and FC both knock spots off Prochem if you do it right - follow the instructions and cleaning leather is a doddle. Ignore the advice and it is donkey work with c**p results
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There are many products out there for cleaning leather, however some contain mild solvents which will take off the top finish of a pigmented leather and make it look like it's "peeling".
Cleaning leather is quite easy if you have the right product, sorting out any cock ups you may cause along the way can be a totally different matter.
We have 6 items of leather in at the moment that all require renovation, two of them were caused by a so called professional cleaner making a mess of it.
One is where the cleaner has stripped the finish off the arms and then tried to recolour it to hide it, however the colour is not a good match and it's started peeling off after only 6 months. Unfortunately the client is unable to contact the "professional" cleaner as he is not answering his mobile phone!
The other is for an ink mark on a cushion that the cleaner had tried to remove and ended up making a bigger mess than was originally there.
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Ian - these are very typical problems that we encounter all the time.
Ink removal is a common one as it is always treated as a 'cleaning' job where in fact the ink has redyed the leather and it is really a technical job with a strict process to follow. Anything that guarantees to remove ink can only do so by damaging the finish on the leather which then has to be rectified. Of course there are a few lucky exceptions when ink will simply clean off but these are rare. Happened to us once on a training course where we had a 2 tone suite that Andy put ink on and left for 3 months so that we could show old ink removal on a difficult finish, went into the workshop cleaned the area and the ink came straight off!!!!!!
Lack of knowledge and training about leather and product use can lead to some very expensive mistakes.
Restoration is not simply a matter of spraying something on to cover the problem.
With the finishes that are on the market today (some very complex ones) it is important to clearly understand the processes required to do a successful job. Customers will not be happy with a patch of colour different to the rest of the suite simply because the techniican has not understood how to go about it correctly.
Too few technicians even bother to correctly identify the leather before they begin which leads to many mistakes in cleaning and restoration. We have seen many cases of the incorrect products being used simply because suppliers are willing to selling anything to anybody.
We had a case of a £2000 wax pull up sofa that had been given a pigment coating - the supplier had said this would be fine. Of course the pigment would not adhere to the wax coating and was coming off but where the wax was worn off the pigment was impossible to remove. Result - one ruined sofa or a huge amount of money for restoration work.
We are often accused of making leather too complicated but in this case 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing'. Learn your craft well and you will reap the rewards.
On the other hand Ian you are being kept busy by the mistakes of others!!!!!!
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It can't be too technical to remove ink, you sell ink remover on you site with clear instructions.
John
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That is only the first stage in the process.
Fresh ink can be removed within about the first 10 minutes so we sell an ink remover for people to have in the house for immediate use.
Once ink has started to redye the leather it becomes harder and harder to use and so therefore becomes a technical problem.
An ink stick is always the first thing to try as sometimes you may just be lucky but there are 5 further steps that may or may not need to be done. You always begin with the product that will do the least damage and increase in product strength until you get a result, but you have to be able to colour mix and restore finish as this may be required as a last stage
Therefore ink is rarely a cleaning problem but a technical one that can go very wrong if the process is not followed or understood.
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It's dead easy to remove orange juice.....when it's freshly spilt!
There are different stages to removal of ink or covering it up as Judy has stated, it's little bit like when our customers start buying stain devils or vanish and start scrubbing the life out of things.
Shaun
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We have heard of all sorts of things being used to remove ink including Peanut Butter, Mayonnaise, WD40, Hairspray, Butter, Egg, Milk - you can imagine the damage that gets done, this information is regularly found on the internet on sites that I write on.