upholstery foam

[mrotto]

one thing I really like about the SS upholstery tool is the clear head. You can see what your pulling out of the fabric.

So my job last week was cleaning a bunch of furniture. It didnt look that dirty and the owner keeps her home immaculate. So after applying a cleaning agent and brushing it into the fabric I rinse with clear water. But I was getting an enormous amount of foam out. I rinsed the area 5 times and was still removing a lot of foam. Then I went to a cushion that I did not apply a cleaning agent to and just rinsed with water. Same thing. Went to ask the client if she ever cleaned the furniture and she said she did and I showed her what I found.

So heres the question...

Ive got 2 sofas, 2 love seats, 2 recliners and dining room chairs to clean. Even after 5 rinse passes there is a lot of foam being removed. At what point do you stop rinsing?

 

[Kevin Dumas]

I probably would have tried a acid rinse on it just to see what happened.

 

[Dream Clean]

I would ask the customer and tell it like it is. There's an immense amount of soap built up in the furniture that goes far beyond the scope of a normal cleaning. You can either leave it the way it is and do your standard clean while some still gets left behind, or rinse it until it runs clear and charge accordingly.

 

[wandwizard]

I don't think in all my years I've run into one with extremely heavy foam like that and I cleaned my first piece in 1987. All I can suggest is you might want to go with a good acid rinse that DOES NOT contain any kind of detergent, but strictly a good acid rinse and nothing else. That may help to remove more of the heavy residue more than plain water will. Trying to literally rinse it until it stops foaming could be a losing battle and I doubt you'll be able to get it all out so leaving it clean and neutralized with a good acid may be the best you can do.

 

[mrotto]

thanks for the replies!

well its one of the rare occasions when running just softened water doesnt work best. I prefer just rinsing with water so much I disconnected the chem system from the water pump. So my only alternative was to spray acid rinse, brush and rinse with water. Not ideal but did about the same.

I did go over everything about three times, still pulling foam and did inform the customer of what I found and what I did and she was good with that.

 

[Darthmaeglin]

With foam that heavy I imagine she pretty well saturated the cushions with whatever she used. If so the only real solution would be to thoroughly rinse through the entire cushion which is likely impossible. Rinsing from the surface will keep pulling more of the residue to the surface without ever pulling all of it out. Would have been interesting to see what the pH was before and after. Sounds like you did the best anyone could in that situation.

 

[wandwizard]

thanks for the replies!

well its one of the rare occasions when running just softened water doesnt work best. I prefer just rinsing with water so much I disconnected the chem system from the water pump. So my only alternative was to spray acid rinse, brush and rinse with water. Not ideal but did about the same.

I did go over everything about three times, still pulling foam and did inform the customer of what I found and what I did and she was good with that.

I've seen a few cases where an acid rinse really makes a major difference in getting rid of existing residues. It might take repeated cleanings to get that thing residue free so I think you did probably more than many cleaners would have bothered to do. Actually, mixing the acid rinse a little on the heavy side and spraying it on will work as good or better than running it through the machine.

 

[sbsscn]

one thing I really like about the SS upholstery tool is the clear head. You can see what your pulling out of the fabric.

So my job last week was cleaning a bunch of furniture. It didnt look that dirty and the owner keeps her home immaculate. So after applying a cleaning agent and brushing it into the fabric I rinse with clear water. But I was getting an enormous amount of foam out. I rinsed the area 5 times and was still removing a lot of foam. Then I went to a cushion that I did not apply a cleaning agent to and just rinsed with water. Same thing. Went to ask the client if she ever cleaned the furniture and she said she did and I showed her what I found.

So heres the question...

Ive got 2 sofas, 2 love seats, 2 recliners and dining room chairs to clean. Even after 5 rinse passes there is a lot of foam being removed. At what point do you stop rinsing?
View attachment 99480

I hope this tip helps you out , A lot!

Hopefully I'm not stepping on anyone's foot.

When I do upholstery cleaning (which is a lot!) I always try to do a thorough inspection. Besides Identifying the fiber (fiber test)and using Rob's UV light, I will also unzip covers and look inside, and look at the cushion for any signs of spills or deposits/residue. If I see any signs then will use .31mil painters plastic and wrap the cushion inside (not on the outside) I remove the interior cushion and wrap it, then place back together.
When saturated into the cushion/foam you will run into this type of issue

BELIEVE ME this will help you out TRAMENDOUSLY!

This will also work for super dirty cushions and prevents wicking.

If my plastic wrap idea isn't for you then mix some powdered anti foam in a spray bottle with water and spray it on the problematic area.

If my foam spray idea isn't for you then My last tip and idea is in my opinion the easiest.

Use a rinse

The best one for removing soaps is
Pro's choice Last step

that stuff strips soaps . You can also mix some of it and use a spray bottle and spray some before cuing the final rinse/ dry extraction. And mist and groom in after the cleaning

 

[Sapphire Steamer]

If my plastic wrap idea isn't for you then mix some powdered anti foam in a spray bottle with water and spray it on the problematic area.

I do something similar when this happens. Lightly wet the affected upholstery and rub in anti foam powder with a gloved hand then extract. Also useful if for whatever reason I want to quickly pull any spot removers out of something. But making a solution will probably work a lot better, will try that.