As resilient as they are stain-resistant, Crypton fabrics are made to hold up to frequent cleaning. There’s a reason that over 1.5 million yards of Crypton fabrics have been installed in major hotel and restaurant installations as well as healthcare environments, offices and other public places. These high-traffic areas require regular cleanings of both their hard and soft surfaces. Even Crypton Home fabrics, specially designed for residential use, can be cleaned as often as desired and never lose their ability to resist stains, spills and odors. That’s because the performance technology in Crypton fabrics occurs at a molecular level. The performance properties become a part of the character of the fibers themselves, so their protective nature is inherent and can never wash or wear away.
The following extraction cleaning method for stain removal can be used for most medium or ground-in stains and for overall maintenance:
Prepare the upholstery using the spot-cleaning method to pre-treat any spots. Vacuum the upholstery to remove any loose debris.
Prepare a cleaning solution by reading the instructions on the chosen extraction concentrate bottle to include the proper dilution ratio.
Pour the solution into the tank.
Apply solution to fabric by spraying with the upholstery wand sprayer.
Vacuum up the solution with the upholstery wand vacuum nozzle.
Allow fabric to air-dry.
If any stains remain, repeat the process (some stains are more difficult to remove than others).
Did you know?
Crypton offers an extraction cleaning service under the Crypton Care Cleaning Program (pdf). Our client and national restaurant chain, P.F. Chang’s, tell us this really helps them stay on top of a semi-annual maintenance schedule to keep their upholstery fresh and new looking. We also offer a variety of cleaning products, including an extraction machine, for sale in the Crypton Store. Lastly, the Crypton Outreach Team is standing by to support you or your clients on any questions, cleaning, specification or otherwise, regarding Crypton fabrics, starting pre-spec and for the life of your installation. In short, we’re here to help!
For more information, contact the Crypton Care Department at care@crypton.com or 1.800.CRYPTON.
Architects and designers tell us that in their contract projects, one of the most frequent questions from the client side involves not aesthetics, not even facility planning or engineering, but rather maintenance schedules. Specifiers who want to generate repeat business make it their job to build in as many high-performing, low-maintenance design choices as possible. And from high-tech tile to washable paint and stain-resistant fabrics, they are getting better, more beautiful and even greener all the time.
Some people think that of all the finishes in a commercial project, fabrics are the most perishable. This is far from true. In fact, we’ve seen many cases where our fabric has outlasted the furniture itself. The first thing we recommend you tell your clients about Crypton for their peace of mind is to remember the performance attributes of Crypton stay in place for the life of the fabric. They can’t wear off, wash off or rub off, so Crypton never stops performing.
Giving your clients the scoop on keeping their Crypton fabrics performing spotlessly is simple. Most liquids will simply roll off and can easily be blotted with a clean cloth. For spots and stains that linger longer than a second or two, your clients just need to know the simple steps for spot cleaning.
SPOT CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS
The spot cleaning method of stain removal can be used for most light to medium stains:
Before spot-cleaning, blot up liquids on the surface with a clean, soft towel and brush off any loose dirt.
Prepare a cleaning solution of 1/4 tsp mild enzyme detergent, such as Tide®, Woolite® or Dawn® dishwashing liquid, per 1 cup of lukewarm water.
Apply the cleaning solution to the affected area using a spray bottle.
Work the solution into the affected area by lightly scrubbing the area with a sponge or soft-bristle brush. Make sure to work from the outside of the stain inward so as not to spread the stain, and rinse your sponge or brush frequently.
Allow cleaning solution to soak into the fabric.
Rinse thoroughly to remove all soap residue, as residue will attract dirt. Blot excess moisture with a clean, soft towel or sponge.
Repeat steps 3-6 if needed.
Allow fabric to air-dry.
If you still have questions, or should your clients come to you with a really tough cleaning question, we’re always at the ready. The Crypton Care department is available to provide advice, tips, Crypton cleaning products and complete contract specification support services. Call 800.CRYPTON (2797866) or email care@crypton.com for help between 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. ET. Chances are we can solve your tough cleaning problem on the spot, as it were.
It’s 2017 and as a designer, no matter how amazing your projects are, you’re nothing without images. You need them more than ever, and in a steady stream. For your website, for social media and for publications looking to cover your work, you continually need great images that reflect your talent and passion for design. We asked our marketing and brand strategy team as well as top design-centric public relations and advertising agencies for tips on amassing a portfolio that shows you and your firm in the best light.
Tip #1: Find a photographer that fits your style
Seek out photographers whose images compel you. Think of your portfolio as the book or magazine of your brand, and you are the art director and editor. As you flip through your apps – Instagram, Flipboard – take a look at the nuances of lighting, mood and perspective that define the look you seek. Check the feeds of influencers you admire, be they editorial entities such as design publications or leading design firms. Consider this when seeking out your own photographers for major projects:
Do you want to work with someone who prefers to use as much natural light as possible?
Someone whose style is bulbs off or bulbs on?
Windows blown out or showing the view, etc.
Fair warning, though, once you start noticing these things it is hard to stop, even in your leisure time.
Tip #2: Apply other disciplines to bring out the best
Consider that sometimes a residential photographer might be best for a hospitality project where the design is meant to feel luxurious. Similarly, an industrial project might benefit from the work of a fine art or archival photographer. Look at the annual reports of some top industrial firms to see great examples of this. Photographers can put an exotic spin on hospitality, theater, stadium or even office projects.
Award-winning travel photographer, Rick Lew, who has shot the most exotic and far-flung global destinations for Condé Nast Traveler, has in recent years become one of the most sought-after architectural and hotel/hospitality photographers.
Try to have more than one photographer with whom you establish a creative rapport. That way, when your project is ready, you can tap into the talent that’s available within that often short window during which your client is willing to suspend business in order to capture your genius.
Often the styling is as important as the photography itself. In contract projects less styling is usually more, but none can be a disaster. This is particularly true anywhere you need soft goods styling, such as in hospitality environments where bed, table and bath linens can quickly take over within a shot and distract from your design work if not styled properly. These textiles need to be smooth and contained while still appearing soft and inviting.
Tip #5: No current projects? There’s always something to share!
Often it can be months between the big shoots of entire projects, so in between, our experts recommend the following techniques for populating your social feeds:
Storyboards
Shoot your concepting process. This might be inspiration boards, drawings with swatches, renderings, scale models or some other device you use to illustrate concepts and themes. You can shoot these in a way that’s abstract so as not to reveal any proprietary information by showing a sliver or a slice along with other elements. This is also an opportunity to storyboard your own dream concepts, to design for the kind of projects you wish to get.
Along the way, you can create mini concept shots that focus on color stories through paint palettes, fabric and finish samples. These things CAN be beautiful. Designer David Scott, crafted an entire monograph (Outside the Box) on the strength of his concept trays and themed inspirations.
Caviar, calfskin and the Chrysler Building figure into a design concept by David Scott. Photo courtesy of Pointed Leaf Press.
Curation
How do you see the world and what’s in it? This is as important as the original work you create. Many design pros wonder who will care about this, but as a design pro you are an opinion leader, and your singular take on anything from iconic landmarks to street art is part of your brand persona. If you admire the work of your colleagues in the field, share that as well. An open, generous sharing of ideas is more accessible than ever. Just make sure that you don’t put any image in your feed that you don’t love. Even if it means you don’t post from a particular event, it is better than posting something that doesn’t reflect your viewpoint on design. Remember, it is your brand’s magazine.
Designer David Scott beautifully curates the natural elements that inform his design in a spread from his stunning monograph, Outside the Box. Photo courtesy of Pointed Leaf Press.
Turn that showroom or workroom visit into an opportunity for content. Shoot funky angles of a half-upholstered chair or come in tight on some finish detail that’s rocking your world. People love behind-the-scenes content and building anticipation before a final outcome is one of the strongest engagement tools in social media.
Do you already have great images of your work? Send them our way, and be sure to point out where you’ve incorporated Crypton fabrics. You may just see them published in this space or we may contact you to see if our PR teams can pitch them to design publications for editorial or social media.
Make that next Uber ride a treasure hunt for beauty, form and color. Enliven your wait on the coffee shop queue by finding something inspiring that may perk you up even more than that five dollar latte. Here are some fun finds to add to your feed, and maybe to feed your designing soul:
Come for the kaleidoscope of the week, stay for the the true definition of visionary. The LAB at Rockwell Group is an interactive design firm within the Rockwell Group blending strategy, tech and architecture to create memorable spectacles that bring people together. From the Academy Awards to Broadway to killer hospitality environments worldwide, their work speaks for itself. In the LAB, they seek to answer a question: How do you experience a world that doesn’t yet exist, and design for it?
Our friend, designer Michelle Nussbaumer, has a dreamy travelogue of an Instagram. The editors of Architectural Digest named it among their “musts” last year, and we agree. With beautiful rooms of her own design, like the one pictured below in Mexico, as well as insightful and delightful snaps from her world travels, and her latest vintage and antique furniture and accessory finds for her peerless Dallas design emporium Ceylon at Cie, Michelle never disappoints. And, if you love her feed, you might wish to procure her new book, Wanderlust (Rizzoli), which has been flying off shelves from coast to coast.
This Brazilian architecture firm has a richly varied and often very tongue-in-cheek Insta’. We can’t stop watching the strange, slightly grainy black and white video of a uniformed housekeeper, complete with starched hat and white gloves, doing a little curtsey before pulling a carved wooden screen across what appears to be a lovely modern interior. We don’t get it, and we don’t have to. Architect Marcio Kogan has something here. It makes us smile. Italian ELLE magazine’s editors loved it, too.
Architects Catherine Johnson and Rebecca Rudolph, AKA “Design, Bitches” bring their eclectic expertise to Instagram. Their playful feed gives bite sized glimpses of their own restaurant designs, global collaborations in brand identity, commercial spaces, residential and cultural buildings. Their client list includes such diverse entities as Google, Rag & Bone, Coolhaus and Whole Foods Markets. The resulting Insta’ is so fab you almost don’t mind that their genius may be one reason you have to pay $6 for that scrumptious Coolhaus ice cream sandwich. They sprinkle the feed with scenes from their travels and quickie caprices like rainbows, blinky lights and, shown below, Disney’s Space Mountain, snapped at magic hour, when the light is just perfect.
If you’re mesmerized by circular staircases, rapt at repetition as a design statement and swoon over enfilade, this is the feed for you. Both stunning in its imagery and disciplined in its editing, Room on Fire satisfies. It is curated from things around the web by interior designer and stylist Chloe McCarthy. There’s also a Room on Fire Tumblr. This Insta’ isn’t only fun to follow, it is also an object lesson in Instagram best practices. She manages to achieve continuity while always offering up something new. And she gives credits where credits are due.
