Who hasn’t called a business for a quick quote and been shocked at the response? Whether it’s higher or lower than we expected, usually the shock is the first step in your education. When empowered with information it is easier to make a good decision, and usually sticker shock is simply that we didn’t do our homework. The general rule of thumb from the sales side is to ask your prospect if you are their first call. Sales people know that if they are the recipient of a first time caller, they have a lot more work to do to close the sale. So allow me to enlighten you before you pick up the phone and everyone will be a step ahead.
A few weeks ago one of the new members of my sales team asked me to please describe in simple terms the differences between carpet cleaning and upholstery cleaning because she had answered a call from a sticker shocked customer who was a first time caller and that was their question. What is the difference between Carpet Cleaning and Upholstery Cleaning? We get the same question about Area Rug Cleaning here as well, but that is another story. Upholstery and Area Rugs are two cleaning specialties that are commonly thought to be quite straightforward and in reality are very complicated.
People want to know why – when it looks like we are bringing the same equipment for an upholstery cleaning – do we charge more than we do for carpet cleaning?
While cleaning carpet is not particularly easy – it is straightforward. Cleaning upholstery is significantly more complicated.
Why?
CARPET CLEANING
- Generally, wall to wall carpet comes in only five different fiber types, and very rarely are they blended.
- This means that we don’t need to keep an arsenal of cleaning products on hand because one or two will generally get the job done if the carpeting is properly maintained. Carpeting comes in the following fibers: nylon, olefin, polypropylene, acrylic, wool, and from time to time we see grass fibers or tencel. Most carpet fibers are synthetic.
- All of these carpet fibers (except Tencel) can handle high heat and a wool safe aggressive cleaning product.
- We only need a small supply of spotters that will cover a pretty wide assortment of spots and stains.
- There are a number of different tools we use – Wand, CRB, Stair Tool, Water Claw, Crevice Tool – but they all do similar things.
- Aside from stairs, you don’t have to bend down repeatedly to clean carpeting.
- It is very unlikely a basic cleaning will damage a carpet.
The main keys to effectively cleaning properly maintained carpet are:
- Proper fiber identification
- A foundation in chemistry to know how to attack the various spots and stains we face.
- Combined with the right equipment and a competent technician, most wall-to-wall carpets are pretty straightforward to clean. (And for the things that aren’t straightforward – like spots, urine and odor – of course we charge more for that.)
UPHOLSTERY
Upholstery on the other hand is an entirely different beast.
- Upholstery fabrics come in an infinite number of fibers and blends of fiber types. Fiber identification is much more difficult, and often we have to rely on the homeowner to provide us with information because the blends of fibers make them impossible to accurately identify.
- Because there are an infinite number of fibers in upholstery and there really isn’t one that we see more than others, the knowledge base that is needed to properly identify them is much more vast. (Brains are expensive.)
- Once we have identified the fibers as closely as possible, then the cleansers must be chosen for those particular fiber types – instead of just a one size fits all – we have to stock at least five different cleansers to accommodate the different fiber types.
- Also, many of the fiber types used in upholstery, do not handle high heat. Some of them require cold water, some of them require warm water, some of them can handle hot water. (Brains again.)
- They may require a different process at the end to “set the nap “in order for the piece to dry properly.
- They even require different drying times different humidity levels and different amounts of natural light while drying.
- Some upholstery can be properly cleaned in a client‘s home, some upholstery needs to be brought back to our facility where the environment – light, humidity and climate can be controlled. (This also costs more.)
- The heads for upholstery cleaning are much more engineered to give spray, lift and suction that don’t damage fabrics. We have two main hand tools, but an array of brushes for grooming and there is a lot of hand toweling involved in the tight spaces and on delicate fibers.
- Aside from the cleaning process, there are also logistics and liability to consider to ensure the piece can be cleaned safely without harm to surrounding floors, furniture and to the technician bending over the piece to clean it from all angles.
- If you mess up any of the above you can quickly ruin a piece of furniture.
Just think about the difference between vacuuming your living room floor vs. your sectional sofa. I would choose vacuuming my entire house over tackling my sectional any day!
The main keys to effectively cleaning upholstery:
- Proper fiber identification (very difficult here)
- Strong knowledge of chemistry and wide variety of cleansers to ensure proper pH to not damage fabrics.
- Proper humidity, light and airflow for the piece(s) to dry quickly.
- A careful hand to clean but not damage the fibers using an array of tools.
- Expertise in setting the nap to not permanently damage fibers.
- Attention to detail regarding surrounding items and flooring.
So, now you are educated in the complexities of upholstery cleaning.
Earlier, I mentioned area rug cleaning as another complicated service that may induce some sticker shock and while I’m not going to go in depth on it here, it is similar to upholstery only in the variety of fibers and construction types. For area rugs, the identification of the area rug is critical to knowing which cleaning process to use and all of the cleaning processes for area rugs require expert hands, a lot of space, and expensive equipment.
So I will wrap up this extraordinarily stimulating blog post by saying that the increased cost of upholstery over carpet cleaning is totally justified if you value your furniture. A company that charges appropriately knows what they’re doing and won’t damage your furniture. And please keep in mind that some damage may not be immediately apparent and will only appear when it’s cleaned again. Inexperienced carpet cleaners can compound problems and you won’t be aware of it until it’s too late.
The age old saying of you get what you pay for reins true yet again.
Happy Cleaning!!
