[rs_cleancare]

I have been in bussiness for almost 3 years and have not yet cleaned any leather (except my own).

Booked my first clean for a five seater corner unit.
It's cream and one of these cheap land of leather sofas.

The method i was going to use is:

pre vac down the edges
Clean with prochem leather cleaner applied by nappies
Finally apply prochem conditioner with nappies.

It has a small spot of nail varnish on it so I didn't make any promises about removing it what would you use to try and remove the nail polish.

Is there anything to look out for or any other methods to make the job easier.

What would you do to make the job look a little more fancy than just strolling in armed with a couple of bottles and a hand full of nappies.

Finally how long should it take?
I guesstemated at 3hrs £140.

Rob.

Rob.

[darren72]

prochem leather cleaner is crap i used to use it all the time didnt know any better then i tried leather cleaner and protection cream from furniture clinc ,100 times better plus the protecton cream leaves a nice smell. darren

[vangaurd]

as the man says , furniture clinic is the bizz, speak to ben,
he will set u up with the right stuff,
and will teach u , for a fee of course regards .

[LTT Leathercare]

If you would like to know the correct cleaning methods and + what results to expect, please give me a ring on 01423 881027.

Regards
Judy Bass

[stevegunn]

Yes I confirm furniture clinic are the boys to speak too.Ben is very helpful and knows his stuff

http://www.furnitureclinic-trade.co.uk/

[darren72]

furniture clinic better product and cheaper.

[LTT Leathercare]

This post is specifically aimed at Steve Gunn, Darren 72, Vanguard.

Thank you for all your comments regarding Furnitrue Clinics products and Bens ability.

BUT there does seem to be a bit of a mystery that we have been unable to resolve.  Exactly where has Ben come from and where did he get his knowledge and experience.  Up until Furniture Clinic appeared (2 years ago???) there had been no mention or knowledge of him in the cleaning or furniture industry to our knowledge so could someone please explain what his training was, who he worked for prior to Furniture Clinic and for how long and in what capacity?

We are quite willing to acknowledge him as an expert if he will let us know exactly how he became one.  Other people we know such as Leather Master UK, Multimaster, Fenice we openly acknowledge as having very good expertise in the industry and happily talk with their training staff.  There is plenty of business to go around without all the backbiting that is going on.  If everyone is open about who they are and where they come from the industry will be able to make up its own mind where the expertise lays.

Regards

Judy

[darren72]

judy dont no the guy personally couldnt care less what he was doing 2 years ago i just think his products are realy good sorry if that upsets you at the end of the day its only my opinion.darren

[LTT Leathercare]

Darren

I appreciate what you say but there needs to be a certain amount of knowledge to give good product support for when unexpected things happen as they often do when cleaning and it is this that concerns us.

Have you tried ours?  LTT leather protector is the most effective on the market currently, in fact we are now reformulating to produce an even more effective one.  Cheaper leather products are generally less effective and less economical than ones that are produced with the correct chemicals but if you are happy with the ones you are using then that is fine.

Regards
Judy

[Mike Halliday]

Rob, the method you are suggesting will be fine for 90% of the suites you find in customers homes. hopefully this suite won't be one of the other 10%

I would clean an area in a non-seen area first then compare it to the rest tof the suite if its the same then continue.

this is just my advice and I'm no expert so it might be worth contacting either Furniture clinic or LTT

as you can see Furniture clinic has some friends on this site who will testify that the sun shines out of Bens bottom and are a little biased

I'm friends with neither of them and I've done courses with both companies, LTTs course was without a doubt the most thorough and professional, after completing the leather cleaning course with F/C I did'nt feel confident in my knowledge of leather to be able to go out and charge for my service, so booked a course with  LTT.

I wouldn't normally make this sort of comment but something needs to be said to redress the balance due to the obvious friends that F/C has, I don't want to make this thread into  'LTT-V-Furniture Clinic' so I'll say no more.

I'm sure Rob you an intelligent gentlemen, so make your own mind up who to call

[stevegunn]

Judy

What backbiting rs asked
"Is there anything to look out for or any other methods to make the job easier" and people have replied by recommending Ben at furniture clinic

I believe Ben has already explained whether it be on this or another forum where he came from.There are plenty guys out there cleaning carpets who have no formal training but they know their stuff John Bolton for instance.

The reason I recommend Ben is I recently rang yourselves about some aniline dyes and was told you would ring me back you didn't so why would I recommend a company that cannot be bothered to return my call?

[Glynn]

I once asked for some ink off and general leather cleaner samples, was told they'd arrive - didn't though.
But furniture clinic's did.

Although I found a better cleaner elsewhere.

[vangaurd]

no war of attrition here .
just that i use all off f/c cleaning materials, on leathers i clean and ,
ask what the customer. thinks of the result, and they are amased.
judy question, if u are so confident in your course content
why dont you drop your price, as we have to travel , 2 day course, b/b
loss of work etc, the total loss would be over a grand.

[Ben Staerck]

Judy,

I've never claimed to be an expert. And to be honest, does it really matter where I came from or got my training and expertise. Where did you get yours? I've even explained it to you before, have you forgotten?

For the benefit of all interested parties I will explain my company below.

About 15 years ago my father started a promotional company to promote cleaning products for wood. Something he had previous experience in. After doing that for a year or two he began to develop his range to include leather.

To do this he employed the help of a good friend who has a degree in chemistry and at the time was working for earnshaws. At earnshaws he developed all the colours, finishes, pigments, dyes, compounds etc etc to be used in leather. Earnshwas were one of the worlds leading companies in leather finishes before being bought out several years ago by clariant.

Clariant, now using the products we developed export these world wide and are one of the worlds largest companies in the leather industry. far bigger than the likes of companies you mentioned.

To sum it up, the products we make are the SAME products being used by all the tanneries around the world. We continually develop these products to improve our range.

Darren who is our technical guy has about 20 years expereince developing products for leather. My father Keith has about 12 years experience in the industry. I have 4 years.

We also have 3 other members of staff. One full time person using our colour matching machine. Another who handles all our packaging and despatch and another who does bottling and labelling.

All products we have developed ourselves and so there is no one who could have trained us. All knowledge and skill is self taught through many years in the industry...........mainly trial and error.

Because we make the product ourselves we adjust them with customer feedback so we continue to improve things...........we are not restricted in anyway or reliant upon other manufacturers. This is also the reason why our prices are a lot more competitive.

The reason why we only appeared on this forum and advetising to other cleaners 2 years ago is because we only realised the demand in the market when we were told by a cleaner who called round our premises. before that we really only supplied direct to the public, we also supplied bulk chemicals to to other companies in the indusrty who I cannot name for confidentiality reasons.

[LTT Leathercare]

Thank you now we are all clear about where we stand.

Thanks Mike for your kind comments about our course.

LTT do not give free samples away as without the correct knowledge there would be no real way to test the products one against the other.

We have no need to drop our course price as all our courses are fully booked and are very good value for money and judging by the number of places we have just booked at the Cleaning Show still very much in demand.  (The show offer price is still available for those that might be interested)

Steve your query about aniline dyes was I believe about price.  As you have our price list from doing our course I did not realise there was anything to answer.
if you have a further query please ask away.

Regards
Judy

[Tony_Browning]

I have attended both the Leather cleaning course and repair course with Furniture Clinic, and am satisfied that the imformation and content of both courses were upto standard having liased with someone who has attended similar courses with "another" company.

The products are both effective and represent great value for money, and it is evident that Ben and Co have invested alot of time and money into the business.

I did feel the course would benefit to some extent in structure and presentation, but as we are all aware a business develops and refines processes over time, and as has already been pointed out, this is a young business.

I am still amazed at the comments made by LT&T over the past months. Although I haven't met these guys, I am sure their products and training are top notch, but wouldn't consider using them whilst they continue to respond negatively and immaturely to a worthy competitor.

My Opinion.
Tony.

[Ben Staerck]

after completing the leather cleaning course with F/C I did'nt feel confident in my knowledge.

Mike, I realise that but it was the first course we had ran so it was very new to us. We did subsidise that with nearly £100's worth of free product. After running 2 courses a month since and many other bespoke courses we are very confident in our ability to teach now.

[stevegunn]

Thank you now we are all clear about where we stand.

LTT do not give free samples away as without the correct knowledge there would be no real way to test the products one against the other.

We have no need to drop our course price as all our courses are fully booked and are very good value for money.

Steve your query about aniline dyes was I believe about price.  As you have our price list from doing our course I did not realise there was anything to answer.
if you have a further query please ask away.

Regards
Judy

No it wasn't about price it was quantity needed and some advice on best way to tackle job as there were some quite bad stains,writing and cigarette burns.Even if the query was about price would it not have been good manners to return the call?

[rs_cleancare]

Thanks for all your replies!

It has turned in to a debate between to companys which i'm sure both have good knowledge and products.
I always belive in recomendations as this is where I get a lot of my work from.

Don't have time now to order some new chemicals as the job is on Monday so looks like i'm stuck with good old  prochem.

I have thought about in the past going on a leather course but as i don't advertise leather I never get the call.
Perhaps i may be missing out on a lucrative part of the market?

How long would this job take you?

Rob.

[Mark Stanley]

I did a large eight seater with stool -2 days.

Regards
Mark