Lots of stories from last week, but this was our favorite fun story.

Saturday morning:  We had been collecting shoes for two days, and Saturday is the morning of the Gate River Run 15K National Championship race.

I had left to go meet my friends, and Brian was at the tent collecting the shoes from other runners.  The race began at 8:30am.

It’s about 8:15 when, all of a sudden, a young lady and her boyfriend run up in a panic.  She’s forgotten her running shoes!  The Expo is closed, so she can’t buy any, and she wants to know if we have any she can run in.

She and Brian rummage through some shoes and she comes up with a pair she thinks will fit.  They run off into the sunrise.

Long story short, she runs like a champion in her temporary shoes, and she comes back later to re-donate them to the St. Francis Soup Kitchen.

I don’t know how she ran 9.3 miles in shoes she’d never worn before, but here’s to the spirit that won’t give up.

Aloha.

Hi All,

Brian and I will be doing our annual community service this Thursday and Friday at the Gate River Run.  We collect used running shoes and t-shirts for Jacksonville’s homeless.  This will be our 9th year!

It’s been a wonderful project.  Each year we collect 400-500 pairs of shoes and at least 100 t-shirts, and we donate them to the St. Francis Soup Kitchenin downtown Jax.   They have a HUGE need.

The volunteers at the soup kitchen always tell us, “Shoes are like Gold!”

Here are some pics from last year, and there are more details and pictures on our Facebook page:  Facebook.com/Shoes.and.TShirt.Donation

Visit the page and give us a “Like!”

So, even though we’re not out fixing couches, boats and cars on these days, give us a call!  We’ll get you fixed up next week!

This story is probably only funny to Brian, me, and the other Fibrenew franchisees out there, but I’m telling it anyway.

Brian sent me this Before picture of a small hole in a leather couch.

I thought it was a good idea to put the dime in there to give me an idea of scale, but I was confused by the damage.  I could see the tear, but I wasn’t sure what the outline was around the tear.

So, I said to Brian, “Hey, what’s that outline around the tear?”  He said the owner had put a band-aid over the tear as a temporary fix.  I said, “Oh, that’s kinda weird.”  And he said, “Yeah, but she’s a nurse.”

I LOL’d.  Really struck me as funny.  Maybe she just did it until the bleeding stopped.  Like I said, probably only funny to me and other leather fixers.

He’s the After picture.  Nice fix.  Took me a while to find it.

So, if this happens to you, make your First Aid a call to Hepler Bros!

On Super Bowl Sunday, it’s not just the players who take a beating. During our Super Bowl parties, our furniture gets ran-SACKED more than a quarterback with food and drink spills. It’s all got to be cleaned up, but where do you start?

The local leather expert from Fibrenew, a leather and plastics refurbishing specialist, warns consumers of the Top Five Super Bowl Party Spills and arms them with The Do’s and Don’ts of Super Bowl Party Clean Up.

“We see a big increase in the damage of leather furniture this time of year with all the Super Bowl parties” says Michael Wilson, CEO of Fibrenew. “Clumsy guests cause damage, but the worst disasters are caused by homeowners who don’t know the best ways to clean up a mess and repair a problem.”

TOP FIVE SUPERBOWL SPILLS (and how to clean them!)*

1) FOOD OR WINE STAIN: Your brother-in-law eats an entire pizza and drops a slice and his fifth glass of wine on your leather loveseat.

• DON’T use window/mirror cleaner because it contains alcohol which will dissolve and destroy the surface coating on your leather.
• DO use a damp towel to wipe up the mess and a dry one to finish the job. Fully-finished leather is pretty much water proof, so a little spill isn’t going to hurt as long as you clean it up quickly, before it soaks through.

2) INK : The spoiled rotten … we mean darling … neighbor’s kid, is keeping score on your leather couch with his new marker set.

• DON’T use dish soap or hair spray to remove the marks. The degreasing agent in dish soap can permanently de-gloss and damage the top coating on the leather surface. Hair spray, another commonly recommended remedy, has alcohol in it and will ruin the surface coating on your leather.
• DO use a soft sponge and specialized leather cleaner. Buy it at most leather furniture retailers – but, for serious problems, your local Fibrenew franchise can help.

3) NAIL POLISH: You try out OPI’s Affair in Red Square red to sexy up those toenails pre-game, but you end up polishing a couch cushion instead.

• DON’T use nail polish remover because it will take all of the color out of your leather and leave a bleached spot bigger than the nail polish spot.
• DO, once again, use a soft sponge and leather cleaner.

4) ANIMAL SCRATCHES AND PICKS: Your new dog gets all excited when Big Ben or Aaron Rodgers throws a touchdown and scratches the heck out of your couch.

• DON’T touch up the spots with shoe polish because it makes an ugly, sticky mess.
• DO try to reduce the visibility of the problem by snipping off the cotton interior strands that often get pulled out when leather gets picked. DO use a hair dryer and massage minor scratches with leather cleaner to try to rub it out. Call a professional to fix larger scratches and holes – this is not a DIY kind of job.

5) BURNS AND DISCOLORATION: Those candles, strategically placed to keep the house smelling fresh, get knocked over when your father-in-law high-fives your nephew because his favorite team won. You lose with a dried out heat spot and a cracked couch cushion.

• DON’T try to rub it out and blend it with the surrounding area, you’ll only make the problem bigger.
• DO bring in some help. When leather or faux leather gets damaged by heat, the only solution is to call in a professional. Regardless of size, a professional repair can make that burn look brand new and can be done on the spot in your own home.

“We hate to see people damaging their leather furniture further by trying to fix minor problems,” says Wilson. “Part of our job as leather and plastics experts is to serve as a resource, helping people understand what problems they can handle on their own and when they need to call a professional.”

*There are several types of leather, and the following tips apply to all fully-finished leather, which makes up 85 percent of the leather market.

Tell this story with a Leather Expert at Hepler Bros. in your town who can damage leather and demonstrate the different DOs and DON’Ts of proper cleanup.