[HQCS (John Kastrian)]

Looked at a sofa today and booked in for next week.
At first glance it has the appearance of suede (light beige/fawn) but pretty sure it is a man made fabric.Cushions are square foam and not fluffy bouncy type.
It is a bed settee and more than likely an Ikea product as is the rest of the apartment.
Not particularly dirty but a few of the normal greasy patches,this is the first one of this type I have seen so thought it best to ask you peeps for advice first before going ahead.Sorry forgot to take a pic.
Regards,
John

[craigp]

man made suede cleans really well in my experience, remember brush out tool lines after.

ive done a couple, look like new after!!

[HQCS (John Kastrian)]

Thanks for advice Craig,will go ahead and do it next week
John

[craigp]

no probs John, obviously i cant say for certain its ok to hwe without seeing, but the last one i did was a sofa bed, and do believe i recall customer saying it was from ikea. so sounds like same one.

[the red carpet]

Done one recently, came up great.
once you finish cleaning use a terry towell to brush out all the tool marks, and you should be fine.

[*paul_moss]

Sounds like its a synthetic viscose.
Will wet clean fine.I find misting M/S then sggitate with soft upholstery brush and extract with plain water.
Dont turn the heat up too much and check for delamination / Bubbling on worn seating areas before the clean as this will worsten on extraction.
Also advise customer that when wet the suiter will look horrible ( thats why its nick named buffalo skin as it looks like it when wet). Once dried they look like new again.
Good advice from the other guys on toweling down after clean to remove tool marks and set knap.

[HQCS (John Kastrian)]

Thanks for all replies,sofa is only about a year old and landlady very finicky so thought it best to check first.
thanks again,john

[Kev Loomes]

Oh dear. Mis-information :

Viscose isnt synthetic Paul, its a natural fibre. Yes its a man made fibre but from natural elements. Viscose must never be wet cleaned if in pile form as this will 'blow' the fibres and distort permanently. In woven form though, it is fine.

I think your getting confused and seem to be describing the classic faux suede, which sounds like what he is going to clean. Yes it can de-laminate, look worse when wet etc etc.

Also buffalo (synthetic as oposed to real buffalo) is different from faux suede but can be easily wet cleaned.

[Doug Holloway]

John,

Almost certainly synthetic and will clean reasonably well, but make sure water is not too hot and that you do not use hydrocarbon solvents to spot clean, as both can cause delamination .

It's worth bearing in mind that Viscose will wet out whereas synthetics will not , so a test with a little drop of water on an inconspicuous part will reveal all.

Cheers

Doug

[Ken Wainwright]

Perhaps Doug will correct me if I'm wrong, but memory tells me that viscose is neither synthetic or natural. I believe that the term is a man-regenerated fibre

The number one source for the fibre has traditionally been wood pulp, although some of the cotton plant can also be used.  I always think of woodpulp being used to make paper. If you remember that, you will have quite a graphic picture in your mind of how careful you need to be when working with wet paper viscose.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[Doug Holloway]

Ken,

You are right as usual.

http://www.cirfs.org/03_02.htm

It's polymerises into much shorter chains which because of the nature of the chemical groups do not align very well, making it much less resistant to water than the long chain crystalised polymers such as nylon,plypropylene,acrylic(dralon),polyester etc.

It also has a much olwer wet strength than cotton so needs treating with care.

On a practical level colours sometimes run , particularly reds and pile can dry stiff so best to lay it down with a towell.

There is much less viscose around now than when I started so less likely to come across it.

One of the main things that complicates fibre identification is the common practice of blending different fibres.

Cheers

Doug

[Kev Loomes]

One of our retailers has a supplier who predominately use viscose. This is a very good quality retailer by the way! subsequently we come accross it every now and again and advise that it can only be dry cleaned (in pile form) - but with limited results.

I have seen a suite with this fabric ruined by some splash n dash company. Oh well, let em get on with it

[vangaurd]

anybody any photos of viscose with pile ?
i have hwe a viscose last week no pile came up just grand a say lad just grand

[Damian]

I have cleaned lots of flat weave suites with a percentage of viscose-no probs. Have come across two that were velour viscose-these are the one to watch for in my opinion. I always use the "wet thumb test" and know if they are gonna end up like the fur on a drowned rat! It will show straight away if the material is going to try turn into its original state (i.e wood pulp). Have had splash/dash companies ring me to see how to get out of it but by then its too late!

[HQCS (John Kastrian)]

This has really turned into a very interesting debate and just goes to show the level of professionalism of our members,this is exactly how a forum should be run.
At least I still have a few days to consider all replies and then just go ahead and chuck a bucket of fairy liquid over it and scrub it with a yard broom:)

[Damian]

This has really turned into a very interesting debate and just goes to show the level of professionalism of our members,this is exactly how a forum should be run.
At least I still have a few days to consider all replies and then just go ahead and chuck a bucket of fairy liquid over it and scrub it with a yard broom:)

If you didnt hide your e-mail and location i would tell you how to sort it!? 

[HQCS (John Kastrian)]

Thanks Damian,to be honest didn't realise I was " hiding". :)My email and location is stated in my profile.
Anyway what is wrong with posting openly ,and my location is Swindon,Wilts but again that it totally irrelevant,or would different locations need different methods?