BOSS OPTIMA

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ur SafeTechnique Has Been Proven On Hundreds Of Jobs!
 

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
"Drapery Cleaning for the most part is the removal of dust"


Drapery Cleaning Overview....

 

Cleaning drapery  is a  very easy  and  inexpensive service to  perform.  Our  clients  are  being  told  that  our  primary advantage, is  that  we can  clean  the drapery while we  are  in  their  home,  without  removing  the drapery  from  the  rod. 

 

First Rule Of Drapery Cleaning
Water Or Water Based Products Can Never Be Used

When cleaning drapery it is important to understand that shrinkage or "warping" can easily happen if water is ever used on drapery. Only solvent cleaning agents should be utilized with this service. The number one liability when cleaning drapery is that water would be applied and the drapery would shrink. In our companies history we have many times seen drapery that has shrunk as much as a foot because another company tried to clean them with a water based product.

 

***As a last resort we will offer a client for us to use Prochem fine fabric shampoo with the water element substituted with a mixture of 1 part water 1 part neutralizer . In this scenario we would ask the client to release us from liability before attempting this strategy.

 

O.M.S  Your Primary Cleaning Agent

Our   customers are expecting  an advanced service that  will be convenient and safe. The primary cleaning  product you will be using for this service is a product called Oderless Mineral Spirits or "O.M.S" . This product is excellent because it is a pure solvent and it evaporates very quickly. OMS is actually the "base" product used for most of the professional drapery and upholstery solvent cleaners sold by your supply houses.  Because 90% of our challenge is just removing dust from the drapery, we do not need to use an expensive drapery prespray for the dust removal part of the service. You will find that most services only require OMS and nothing else.

 

What we recommend, is that you purchase one gallon of a great drapery prespray (Or a high quality upholstery pure solvent cleaner) that you can have on site to treat any real problem areas that may exist. And you will find these are usually just small areas on the drapery. So, a gallon of the expensive stuff will actually last you quit a while.

But for the rest of the drapery, OMS will be more then sufficient to do the job. You can actually purchase OMS at home depot.

 

Use Percaution With OMS

 

For the most part OMS is very safe to use in the clients home, however a couple of precautions should always be followed to ensure we do not apply OMS to other surfaces during the cleaning.

 

Always  be sure to put a  plastic drop cloth under the drapery while you  are  cleaning

 

 

This can be purchased at any hardware store very inexpensively. And  always be  very careful   to  not  get the  O.M.S  product  on  the windows or walls  while  you  are  cleaning. 

 

 

Removing Dust Often Creates Dramatic Results

Our procedure calls for you to spray a fine mist of OMS over the drapery. (With a professional hand pump sprayer) And then simply vacuum the OMS off with a hand piece. The results  you  achieve  with  our  procedure should be excellent. In allot of cases while you move the hand piece over the fabric you will see a different color tone almost as if  you are painting the drapery while cleaning it. You  should not have a  problem  getting  a  fantastic  result  for  the client.

 

The O.M.S product we are using is simply a safe form of moisture to allow the extraction of the dust that has collected on the fabric. Only a fine mist is necessary for effective cleaning. This product dries usually within 30 minutes to an hour and. The key to wowing  the  client  is  having a clean  professional  appearance  to  your  entire  service. Make sure all equipment is clean and presentable and  always ask the  client  to  view  your  work  as you move from window to window. 

 

What about Pet Stains?

By far the most common stain you will see on drapery is pet urine stain on the bottom of the drapery. If you experience this do not attempt any additional treatments without having the customer sign a waiver releasing us from damages. If the customer is willing to release us from liability we can attempt a urine

Neutralizing Foam Technique: (See procedure on the right side of page)

Because this involves a water based product,  always call headquarters for assistance in these situations. A Service Manager will talk to the client personally for you to ensure we have zero liability if we attempt anything beyond our standard service .

 

Remember: Water based products can easily shrink drapery.

 

Always reduce your vacuum.

As a general rule, try to minimize the vacuum that your truckmount is using. This cleaning procedure requires very little vacuum for effective cleaning. If you have a portable extractor, this is also very effective.

A technique some of our National Service partners use, is to take a 3 foot section of vacuum hose and drill 3 large holes in this small section to use as a vacuum reducer for drapery jobs.

 

While an upholstery handpiece can be used for effective cleaning, we do recommend that you purchase a drapery hand piece at your first opportunity. This special drapery hand piece has perforated holes to limit the "pull" on the drapery during cleaning.

 

 Drapery hand piece.
 

Drapery Cleaning Procedure		  

 

We are currently running a drapery campaign in all service markets. If you have no experience in drapery cleaning, this page will give you a complete explanation of the procedure for performing this service safely.  Drapery cleaning is one of the easiest services you can perform in a clients home. It is also very lucrative because there are not allot of companies available to perform the service. What makes drapery cleaning so easy, is that for the most part, you are simply removing dust from  the material. Spots  and stains are actually rare. Usually pet stains or pet buildup near the base of the drapes are the most  likely stains you will ever see. The procedure we use involves spraying a fine mist of a special product called Odorless Mineral Spirits  and  then simply vacuuming the drapery with your upholstery hand piece. It really is as simple as that.  It is  critical that you  never attempt  to  use any  other products other then O.M.S to clean drapery.  Drapery material is highly vulnerable to shrinkage and warping if any form of water is used in the cleaning process.  If a customer has spots or stains, simply instruct the client that we only have one dry cleaning product that we can use.  If the O.M.S product does not remove the stain then we do not have any other options to guarantee removal.

 

 

Drapery is priced by the number of pleats or "folds" in the drapery. As a rule of thumb, when you arrive at the job, always count your pleats to ensure our price is correct. Clients sometimes miscount their pleats during the estimation process. If the pleat number is different, do not attempt to adjust the price. Simply call the office and let a sales agent talk to the client. If there is a lining behind the drapery we double the price to account for the cleaning of this material.

 

 

When it comes to drapery pricing, we usually are at a price point from $3 to $4 per pleat of drapery. This service is very lucrative because there are not many companies who specialize in this service.  There are many drapery cleaning products out there for professional drapery cleaning.  And these products are very expensive. Sometimes costing as much as $80 a gallon. The hidden secret is that most of these products are simply odorless mineral spirits with a little booster added.  Because 90% of drapery cleaning is simply dust removal.  We don't need need that $80 booster to get a great result on 90% of the drapery we clean. We just need the odorless mineral spirits.

Our recommendation is that you buy odorless mineral spirits directly, which is far more inexpensive and use this for all general cleaning and carry 1 gallon of the expensive drapery prespray as a "Use as needed booster item"  when you encounter abnormal stains or buildup.  This is far more cost effective.

 

 

 
BOSS OPTIMA

 
Necessary Tools:  

There are 4 basic items you will need to perform a drapery cleaning service.

 

 

 
O.M.S Product.   Oderless Mineral Spirits

(This can be purchased at Walmart or Home Depot near the paint thinner)

 Step Ladder Plastic Drop Cloth. 

(The kind you would put down when painting)

 Hand Pump

Sprayer
       
 
Sponge For Agitation Drapery Solvent Prespray Prochem All Fiber Rinse.  

 

 
   
  When Your Budget Allows, Purchase A Drapery Hand Piece For Easier Vacuuming.  

 

 

 

 
BOSS OPTIMA
 Drapery Cleaning Procedure
 





Ü		 When arriving at the job site always perform a pleat count first to ensure our quote is correct.



Lay plastic under the drapery you will be cleaning. This is mostly for presentation for the client.

 

 
Ü Pour O.M.S into handpump sprayer. (O.M.S is the only product that can be used on drapery) Never use any other products or spot removers that are not solvent based. Drapery material can shrink,discolor or warp if you attempt other water based products.

 

 
Ü Spray a light mist onto the fabric in 4 foot sections and vacuum with your hand piece. Repeat if necessary.

(No solution is run through the hand piece)

A sponge can be used to lightly agitate the fabric before vaccuuming.

 

 

 
Ü Always clean both sides of the drapery if there is not a plastic backing. (Never spray O.M.S on a plastic backing)

 

 
Ü If there is a separate lining to the drapery this should be cleaned also. (We do charge more for a drapery lining)

 

 
Ü Use your stepstool or ladder to reach the top of the drapery and the valence..

 

 
Ü Be careful to not get the O.M.S  product on the window or walls while you clean.

 

Plan B

If this fails use to get the desired result , plan B is we go to the drapery compound pre-spray to use on any severe areas that OMS will not clean. Although these drapery prespray compounds can be very expensive to purchase, we only use them when OMS fails. And we only use this product on specific areas where required.

 

 

 

Plan C

The final option if all else fails is to use the

 Neutralizing Foam Technique:

This technique requires you to call headquarters and have us talk to the client so we can get the client to sign a release, waiving us from any liability, because we will be using a water based product.

 

This technique requires you to mix Prochem Fine Fabric Shampoo with the water element  being replaced with the following mixture:

1 Part water 1 part neutralizer. (The same neutralizer you run through your carpet cleaning wand). 

 

Mix this into a hand pump sprayer and spray the  mixture on a sponge. then agitate the drapery with this mixture .

 

Next dry vac the drapery with your hand piece.

 

This technique is very effective at removing water stains and severe buildup on drapery. There is a chance that there can be some slight shrinkage if used aggressively. It is completely at the customers discretion if this side effect is worth a better cleaning result.

Always call headquarters to have the client release us from liability before attempting this technique.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Some drapery can be high up, always make sure you have at least a 10 foot  "A Frame"  ladder when performing drapery services.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Simple . Safe . Effective.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

 

 

 
       
       
   
 

       
 


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