[Cloverleaf]

I have a 1930s antique suite to clean for a dealer. She tells me that the fabric is original, a heavy cotton. There does not seem to be any rotten material although the piping is coming away and some of the hand stitching is coming undone.
I have explained to the cust that any damage caused by cleaning, colour loss etc would be her responsibilityand would need a disclaimer which she understands. She intends to have the suite repaired afterwards by a restorer.

I have cleaned one cushion with MS and extracted with an acid rinse, all looks ok and no visible
colour loss or colour run from piping.
My main concern is cleaning the head marks from cushions as these are quite heavy and are hard to the touch.

Any advice appreciated

John

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Head marks

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[doug@munters]

doesnt look like there are gonna be any problems from these photos m8......dont think colour run will be an issue obviously due to age dont scrub the life out of it go gently,,,,looks more like a flat weave fabric than a cotton number so that head rest might just clean up a treat.....why not post some piccies after the clean but rhink if you go gentle all will be fine

good luck

doug

[strakercleaning]

Exercise caution on bases in case filling is horse hair. If it is old and crunchy sounding then overwetting can draw small black/brown lines to the surface as soil and oil came away from hair.

[Dynafoam]

Hi John,

I have cleaned a number of such suites without great problem.

The main points to watch are for weakening of fibres at body-contact soiling areas due to the products of bacterial decomposition and the point raised by Chris regarding the stuffing, which may be a mixture of fibres, including coir.

For the head marks I would lightly dampen a paper tissue with either Eco Spotter or B108 Fabric Restorer and apply this to the areas, using a tampico or horse hair brush as if hanging wallpaper. This will allow heavy surface deposits to be pre-softened, whilst the moisture is controlled. Whilst this is dwelling you can be working on other areas.

If you suspect weakened fibres in some areas, they can be protected by extracting though a fine mesh sheet such as a muslin nappy or the polypropylene mesh sold as insect screen in camping shops.

[Cloverleaf]

All went well!

Followed your advice John and treated all area's with Prochem Fabric restorer as per instructions with brush to create foam.
I had to let dwell and re treat head marks several times, but have come out completely.

Arms and back panels were re cleaned with micro spliters twice till no further dirt evident on towelling off.

This was a 5 piece suite, 4 chairs and 1 sofa that took 7 hours in total inc breaks

Chairs were heavily marked on arms which came out completeley. One mark did not come out sofa cushion which looked like food dye.

Seems that Jute lining used on frame which did not cause a problem and cotton liner used on cushions. No horse hair problems luckily.

Some fading was understandibly already evident and water from waste tank was slightly green. Customer over the moon!

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