Our Kansas Fibrenew friends, Ronnie and Suzette Seetin, recently dyed some cowboy boots for a customer, and they turned out Amazing!
Check them out:
Next time you want to do some boot-scootin, ask us about dyeing your boots to match your outfit. You’ll be a knock-out!
It’s moments like this that often lead parents to double and re-double their birth control efforts.
These picture are from a hilarious website called: @#$%* My Kids Ruined.
I’ve cleverly obfuscated the real name, since this is a family-oriented blog, but you get the idea.
The website has loads of pictures of “stuff” kids have ruined. Brian bought me the book for Christmas, and it quickly became a family favorite.
If something like this happens to you, the good news is that you don’t have to sell the kids. Hepler Bros. can come to your rescue. We can repair furniture with ink stains, paint, glitter, etc. And, you can keep your kids. You know you love ‘em!
One of our Fibrenew brethren, Kelly Fuller, was on the Local News in his hometown of Dallas, TX last week.
Here’s a link to the video.
The story is about rising gas prices affecting our mobile business, but Kelly manages to get in a few good plugs for repairing leather and vinyl in cars and on furniture.
He said he’s asking customers to e-mail him pics rather than driving to their houses. That’s smart for everyone. We can give you a much better idea how much it cost to repair a couch if we can lay eyes on it first.
Got a question about getting your couch, boat seat, or car seat fixed? Drop us a line and send us a pic. We’ll make your life beautiful again!
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.
2) INK : The spoiled rotten … we mean darling … neighbor’s kid, is keeping score on your leather couch with his new marker set.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
Here’s a shout-out to one of our fellow Fibrenew franchisees, Paul Wittig, in Indianapolis, IN. Paul appeared on a local news-talk show and did a fantastic job giving tips to folks about how to keep their furniture looking its best. There’s a link to a video below and 5 tips on upholstery cleaning and leather repair.
Five ways to fix furniture after the holidays : wishtv.com
INK : The spoiled rotten … we mean darling nephew, tries out his new marker set by drawing Spongebob on your leather couch. You become a crabby Patty and scramble to clean it up.
• 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 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.
NAIL POLISH: You try out OPI’s Affair in Red Square red to sexy up those toenails, 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.
FOOD OR WINE STAIN: Your brother-in-law eats an entire pizza and drops a greasy cheese 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 up quickly before it soaks through.
ANIMAL SCRATCHES AND PICKS: For the purr-fect gift, Santa brings your kids a kitty. Hello Kitty quickly turns into GOOD BYE Kitty when the fury friend (now foe) decides your leather couch is his new scratching post.
• 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.
BURNS AND DISCOLORATION: Those window candles get knocked over on your upholstery and are left on overnight. You wake up Christmas morning to 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.
If you get to this point, give Hepler Bros. a call at 904 707-2326. We’ll make your life beautiful again.
This is a really nice article about Fibrenew colleagues of ours in California. Dick and Rick Bublitz are a Father-Son team in LA, and a local paper did a nice article on them.
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“One customer brought me this old ottoman. It wasn’t a fine piece of furniture by any means, but it was something that was in his family home as a child, and he wanted to preserve it,” says Rick, the son, who is the craftsman of the business.
“It’s seeing peoples’ reactions when they get their items back that really makes us realize how appreciated our work is,” says the elder Bublitz.
While the Bublitz’s can restore a variety of items to like-new condition, from car seats to purses, it is the keepsake items that often require the most craftsmanship. It is easier to simply mend, dye and condition old leather items, but it is more challenging to restore items without changing their character, unless of course that is desired.
Some customers will bring items that are worn out and faded, such as an old pair of boots, and rather than have them brought back to their former state, the items can be refurbished to give them a new look, such as a different color.
A lot of the items in the Bublitz’s portfolio fall into the Fibrenew specialty areas of repair in the aviation, automotive, commercial, marine and residential categories, but you can tell by the way Rick lovingly pores over the pages of personal items, like a prized basketball and a favorite armchair, that these are the jobs that bring the most pleasure and pride.
“This one took a long time,” he says looking at the retro turquoise ottoman, “If the customer took this to someone else he wouldn’t have been able to afford what it would really cost to repair it.”
Rick explains that after he heard why the ottoman was so special he didn’t mind putting in the extra time to get it right.
“He was really happy with it, and now he can pass it down to his kids,” he beams.
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Check out this dog bite on a leather couch that Brian fixed this week. Here’s the Before pic:
Yow!!!!
I know!
Anyway, Brian fixed it. Check it out:
Maybe we’re not the best photogs, but I’m sure you can see it’s a huge improvement. To be fair, if you look at the repair up close, you’ll see it. But, it’s way better!
And, there is no truth to the rumor that we use bacon-scented dyes in our work. Totally untrue!
: )
Ho Ho Ho. Merry Christmas!
One purse
Two Purse
Red Purse
Yellow Purse
Old Purse
Old Purse
Like-New Purse
Like-New Purse
Hepler Bros. work fast
Hepler Bros. work good
Hepler Bros. can come
To your neighborhood
Hepler Bros. repair Leather
Hepler Bros. want to make
Your life better
Before I got into this business, I wouldn’t have thought much of re-dyeing a couch. After all, I lived in a fraternity house for four years where we burned used furniture to keep warm and for fun, but I digress.
Re-dyeing a couch, or any other piece of furniture, is an economical way to make the old new and give your living room a fresh new look. Take a look at these Before and After pictures of an 8-year-old couch we re-dyed on a sunny Saturday in Jacksonville.
Now, take a look at the couch after we re-dyed it a nice, deep, chocolate brown.
I think it’s ready for another 8 years! Give Fibrenew Hepler Bros. a call today! 904 707-2326
