Six steps, in this order, every time.
The order the work runs in, set out in full. It is what separates a specialised service from a surface clean, and it is the same on every job.
- 01
Inspect and identify
Fibre and construction first, stain second. What the piece is made of decides everything after this line, so it is never assumed from how it looks. A stain is read for its parts — dye type, binder, carrier — because that is what sets the order of treatment.
- 02
Patch test
On natural fibre, heat and colourfastness are proven on a concealed area of the piece itself before anything reaches a visible surface. Linen, viscose, silk blends and aged wool all have a heat threshold below the temperature a steam unit runs at. Proving where that threshold sits takes ten minutes and is the difference between a clean piece and a marked one. There is no schedule tight enough to skip it.
- 03
Pre-spray and agitate
Upholstery Plus goes on and is given time to work. Where a stain has an oil binder, a citrus solvent lifts the binder first and the oxidiser follows for the pigment — in that order, never the reverse.
- 04
Extract and rinse
Hot-water extraction pulls the suspended soil and the chemistry back out. Cleaning that only wets and wipes leaves both behind in the fibre, which is why a cheaply cleaned sofa greys again within weeks.
- 05
Sanitise and protect
Biosan II where mould or odour is present. Fabric protection applied where the client wants the next spill to sit on the surface long enough to be blotted.
- 06
Dry and finish
Air movers, not heat. Pile and nap reset by brush. The piece is handed back dry enough to use the same day.
Chemistry
- Pre-spray
- Actichem Upholstery Plus
- Oil-binder solvent — goes first
- Actichem Citrus Gel
- Oxygen stain removal — goes second
- Actichem Conquer O₂
- Booster
- Actichem Oxyboost Plus
- Disinfection, mould, odour
- Actichem Biosan II
- Finish
- Actichem Airfresh
A professional line, named openly. The sequence is the part that matters: where a stain has an oil binder, the citrus solvent lifts the binder and only then does the oxidiser address the pigment. Reverse those two and the pigment sets into the fibre.
Equipment
- Primary extraction
- BISSELL SpotClean HydroSteam
- Steam — heat-tested fabrics only
- Kärcher SC3 Deluxe
- Forced drying
- Air movers
Portable extraction, matched to what the specialised work is: upholstery, curtains, rugs and mattresses, treated in place. For whole-floor carpet and exterior work a truck-mount or a pressure rig comes in with the job, so the machine always suits the surface rather than the other way round.
Steam is used on fabric that has passed a heat patch test, which is how a natural fibre gets the benefit of it safely.
The full notation.
The real ISO 3758 and GINETEX marks — the ones sewn into the piece itself, and what each one commits the work to.
Professional wet cleaning
Cleaned with water and controlled mechanical action by a trade operator, not a domestic machine.
Professional wet cleaning, mild
Reduced mechanical action and lower temperature. The default for upholstery in daily use.
Professional wet cleaning, very mild
Minimum agitation, minimum heat, controlled moisture. What a heritage or designer textile gets.
Mild wash
Where a cover is removable and the maker permits it, it is washed to the maker's own limit — never above it.
Do not wash
Water would shrink, ring or bleed this fibre. It is cleaned dry or solvent-side only.
Do not bleach
No chlorine. Pigment is lifted with an oxygen-based oxidiser instead, which removes colour from the stain and not from the fibre.
Do not tumble dry
Dried in place with forced air movement, never heat-drummed.
Do not iron
No contact heat on a face fibre. Pile and nap are reset by brush and air, not pressed.
Dry flat
Weight-bearing textiles dry supported, so a wet fibre is never asked to hold its own shape.
Patch test first
NOT IN ISO 3758 · ADDED HERE
Heat and colourfastness proven on a concealed area before any treatment reaches a visible surface. Not an option on natural fibre.
Drawn in the standard’s own grammar — an outline enclosing a qualified area — because the instruction it carries is the one this business will not work without, and the published standard has no mark for it.