Looking for Upholstery Cleaner for Fabric Gaming Chairs

Hi people of OZB,

I have 50 fabric gaming chairs (AKRacing) that need to be cleaned. I have called up upholstery cleaning places and have been quoted like a grand, which I am not willing to pay for so decided I'd get the machine and clean them myself.

I have looked at machines like

Bissell 36984 Spot Clean Refresh Carpet Cleaner for $239 (https://www.thegoodguys.com.au/bissell-spot-clean-refresh-ca…)

and a bigger one that can turn into portable such as Bissell 2066F for $569 (https://www.binglee.com.au/bissell-2066f-revolution-pet-carp…)

I don't mind paying for a better machine but was wondering if anyone has any other recommendations or know about these types of products.

Thank you!

Comments

  • +1

    Did you find TV?

    • Looking for something different now!

  • +1

    You can hire a britex one for a day (about $100) if it's a once off? Although dunno if you could do 50 chairs in one day…

    • Where would I be able to hire one in Brisbane? Thank you for your suggestion! Though I might do it on a regular basis so might be better off just getting one.

      • +1

        www.britex.com

        They are over $1,700 to buy outright…so maybe one of the other ones you've listed I suppose.

        • Thank you for your suggestion! I will look into it.

  • +1

    It's only $20 a chair and you're considering buying a machine for more than half of that, let alone the supplies and labour costs. It makes sense if it is going to be an ongoing concern, but if it's a once off, just let them do it.

    • +1

      Yea, I think it will be an ongoing concern. If I have a machine, I'd likely to do it when I am bored. As for the labour, happy to spend hours to save whatever difference is for the quoted price and the machine.

    • +1

      Also, the first machine is $239. Even if I buy $100 worth of chemicals, I think the saving is worth it even if it's once off.

      • +2

        Depends how much you value your time I suppose. Have you calculated how long it would take you to do, and the hourly rate you'd pay yourself to do it?

        • Have weekends to do it but after reading the below comment, I will consider it longer.

          • -1

            @lookingforTV: I don't think you understand opportunity cost.

            • @brendanm: No need for that assumption, it sounds a lot more like an insult. I don't think you understand how desperate small business owners are to save extra $ during this time. If spending 10-15 hours can save me $400-700, I gladly will.

              • @lookingforTV: 10-15 hours for 50 chairs for someone that is doing it for the fire time? That sounds extremely optimistic.

                • @brendanm: Don’t think 15 min per a chair is a stretch. Thanks for your input.

  • +3

    As a professional carpet & upholstery cleaner, I would recommend you hire a professional - pay the $15 or $20 per chair and save yourself a whole lot of back breaking work and possible disaster! Firstly you need a machine with upholstery attachments, and it needs to be powerful enough to extract maximum water or you will be left with water logged padding which will go mouldy and smell terrible and you will have to replace the whole pad (worst case scenario) or at the very least the chairs will take a long time to dry and be left with water marks. Those small machines are not designed for big jobs - the water tanks are tiny and you will spend hours filling, refilling and emptying waste water. Maybe try advertising the job on Airtasker - you can nominate your budget and hire someone who charges what you are willing to pay. They will have the right equipment and hopefully do an ok job - at least better than a hire machine.

    • Would you say even $600 equipment I linked isn't sufficient provided that I change water/chemicals often? I would want to clean them regularly if I have the machine.

      • No - these machines are designed for small domestic jobs - to clean one small spot or a small room of carpet. they are not designed for large jobs/commercial use. 50 chairs is a lot of work with a big commercial machine, so with these little "toys" it will take a very, very long time and the results may not be great - you could even ruin the chairs so you need to weigh up the risk involved - are you prepared to also replace the chairs it is all goes wrong? If you really don't want to pay a professional then I would suggest Airtasker - at least then you can watch someone do it and decide if you want to do it yourself next time and get an idea of what is involved. Otherwise if you are really set on doing it yourself then at the very least hire a large machine from Bunnings or the Supermarket (although I believe they are not for hire at the moment due to the pandemic. Like anything you need the right tools for the job. There is actually science involved in cleaning and you need to know what you are doing.

  • Just go to bunnings or Woolies and hire out a Britex machine, costs ~ $40 a day and comes with an upholstery attachment.

    • +1

      Not at bunnings due to covid. $5 extra for the attachment + cost of chemicals.

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