Sofa cleaned by professional - it's gone pink!

fgcann001

Hi,
I've had building work done recently due to subsidence.  Insurance covered everything and also the cleaning of the carpets.  However, the sofa also needed cleaning but they didn't cover this as we had moved and covered it ourselves, plus cleaning not necessarily due to dust from building work.  So basically I called on what I thought was a professional cleaner, but both couches have turned pink (from light grey!).  I have used vax solution on them previously and in some areas there was a very slight shade of pink which would fade, but only one or two spots.  The whole of both couches have gone pink.  The guy also sprayed the solution over my walls, which caused marks all over my newly painted walls - not impressed.  The guy said that he'd come back and look at sorting the sofa's, showed me what he'd used - which was cheap carpet cleaner, on my laura ashley fabric sofa!  The material is crunchy now and looks dirtier than before, plus has a nice pink colour.  Grrrr.  I don't want the guy back obviously to correct the issue - I've spoken to another cleaning company who said the stuff he used was wrong, clearly didn't do spot checks before starting the clean and appears that his machine isn't working as it hasn't drawn the solution out and has just pushed the dirt around in the fabric.  I'm now at a point where I'm not sure what to do.  Should I see if the guy has insurance and claim?  If so, how do I go about this as he's moving to our village and I don't want bad feeling, plus he's offered to come and fix it, which i don't want him anywhere near my sofa's again (or walls!).  Or should I claim on my house insurance?  I've enquired about recovering the sofa's and it works out at £2,500 total which I can't afford.  Not sure this would be classed as accidental damage on my house insurance as I booked the guy to do it.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

DullGreyGuy

Insurer is there to protect him rather than you, technically, if you were to sue him it's his choice on if you involve his insurers or deal with it himself. It's generally only Motor and Employers Liability where you have a right to go straight to the insurers. 

There is no legal requirement for someone to have liability insurance, outside of the two classes mentioned above. It can however be prudent to check with a person before engaging with them that they have insurance in place. 

Its worth checking any insurance before making a claim, yours may exclude damage caused by the deliberate actions of someone you are paying (because you should be going after them) and theirs may exclude damage caused in the course of cleaning (if they have bought a general policy rather than explicitly designed for cleaners)

twopenny

Apparently pink is one of the most popular colours.
What about grey cushions and a grey throw over the back so you have your grey?

Apart from dying it which wouldn't be a good result you need to think outside the box.
I made a cover for my settee. Made a paper pattern for ends of arms but the straight bits just put the fabric over, stuck a few pins in to keep it in place and cut leaving an inch seam.

Or tack/staple in place. There are books on the subject with illustrations or you might find it on YouTube.
A lot of people used to make soft furnishings before it became a thing to just buy new. 
It's not so hard. 

sonearandyetsofa

No need to recover them! I've dealt with this exact problem with Laura Ashley fabrics before, many of their paler fabrics are pH sensitive and the slightest acid caused them to turn pink. Are they "French grey" by any chance?

First up, you need to rinse out the fabric cleaner he's used. If you have any, use distilled water. If not, just be careful! A damp cloth might well behave better than a full soak, and don't scrub at it as you don't want to damage the pile. Your goal there is to remove the "crunchy" texture as that sounds like it is dried up detergent. Next, make a solution of bicarbonate of soda and layer it over the fabric. Leave it until it either dries or you can see the colour has returned to a grey, then brush off the remaining bicarb.

The cleaner should have used a pH adjusted solution to clean it, or a solvent based cleaner. And in my opinion, Laura Ashley should have used better fabric dye, because plenty of other companies produce very nice upholstery fabrics that don't act like litmus paper!

twopenny

You can get large boxes or tubs of bicarbonate of soda very cheaply in the smaller hardware shops.

CrazyBee787

Your story that I have read is terrible, I am afraid I have no advice other then the carpet and sofa cleaning vacuums they use on the tv look like they work, like non commercial, maybe you could get a second hand one or a heavily discounted one, that you could use to go over it. If it is pink because it is bleached you could get some dylon and fixer and re-dye it. If it is the coating from building you could use the domestic sofa cleaner. This way you would have a sofa cleaner for future use, or you could sell it on market place or somewhere once you have finished with it, hopefully getting a good portion of your money back. The man that did that does deserve some come back whether or not he is moving to the village so there is that to consider also. I have book marked the thread, I hope you come back and tell us what you decide to do and successes/ fails. Good luck.