do any of you guys encap upholstery ? and if so whats your process, what do you use and how do you do it?

I do it all the time.

I would like to post my method and what I use, however since my local competitors now watch my every post on many forums under an alias, I find I will no longer do so.

The cherry was when I taught a guy that lived sixty miles away to clean with a Cimex, then I threw in VLM upholstery cleaning for good measure to help get him started.

A month later when he had his gear, he started advertising work in my town.

I was not a happy little chappy.

Shorty down under.

I can see how you would consider that a kick in the teeth.

John do a search here and you will find out what to do.

When I clean upholstery I use Encap-Basic. I mix solution
in a pail and prepare about a gallon. I use a Microfiber sponge
to apply and scrub. These sponges are in most stores. $1.98 to $3ea.
I also use a brush if needed. Just to encap then I would use a white towel to dry off. Most of the time I still extract and I can still have almost dry upholstery before I leave. Pet odors and urine definately still HWE.

Yes that does stink. But you might consider it a complement. You are a leader and he is a follower. And it's hard to keep secrets from your competition in business.

...Just look what happened with "encapsulation"... I was the FIRST person to ever use this expression for this type of cleaning, and now every manufacturer and their brother wants to jump in (many even using our designation DS). On the one hand it does feel like they're a bunch of Piranhas, but on the other it's nice to be looked at as the industry leader and one to be watched

So just go about your business. Keep up the fine work. Continue to help others. And try not to lose sleep over what the other guys are doing. I assure you - you'll do just fine!






Rick Gelinas

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I do just about what Charles does, only I use a sea sponge. DS is great in a foam for uph. Now I tried using a spray bottle and my results were so so. I will stick witht the bucket and ds as a foam and a sea sponge, use white towels to dry off.

Or you could do it right and HWE

You'd be surprised what can be accomplished using a sea sponge and a towel Don! I've seen and heard too many success stories to not recognize that it has merit. You should have seen how everyone's eyes were popping out of their heads when Gary Heacock (a veteran cleaner who thinks outside the box) was cleaning a silk pillow at the first Winterfest in California using Releasit - in a similar manner to what's described above. There's more than one way to clean upholstery, and low moisture has some serious advantages! After all, it is a flat piece of fabric, and it doesn't require a fire hose of water to remove the soil.






Rick Gelinas

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"After all, it is a flat piece of fabric, and it doesn't require a fire hose of water to remove the soil."



I thoroughly agree.

Knowing that the Cimex had been in existence for over forty years when I heard about Releasit, I was somewhat sceptical.

A trip to Connections at the Riviera soon convinced me of the merits.

That was when I first had the pleasure of meeting Gary H Heacock, what a wonderful man.

He also explained to me later, how to clean fabric with encapsulation.

He had this monster of a yellow machine from Harbor Freight if memory serves me correctly.

My tool of choice is the Makita variable speed polisher for fabrics.

Now if non of my oppos; from Cairns are reading this, I'll tell you, the Cyclo is MAGIC to clean leathers with.

The brushes get into the grain and really shift the crud.

Shorty down under.


PS::: Until one starts experimenting with 2nd hand fabrics, you will never know what can be accomplished with encapsulation.

As NIKE say's, "JUST DO IT" !!!!!


Kids, don't experiment with a customers property unless you're willing to buy it, and cop the flack from all and sundry that hear about you.

I've been getting great results with the upholstery drill-brush and Hydrox then vacuuming and/or rinsing with my upholstery tool. I believe I'll try DS and Punch on the next upholstery job. I'm also going to pick up a sea sponge to try, since you guys seem to like them.