Jump to content

What do clients think about dogs in studio?


TinaC

Recommended Posts

I have an 8 year old husky beagle cross who has a bed under my table. She sleeps while I work. I've tried to keep her locked upstairs while I work but she wines and barks and I get nothing done. I have lost clients who hate the idea that I allow my dog in my sudio. I can understand people with allergies. But I've also noticed the wonderful pictures of our loveable dogs and cats that are gracious enough to want to be with us while we quilt.

So my question is have any of you had problems with clients and your pets? Have you lost clients? If so how have you dealt with this situation?

The Quilt Lady

Tina Caderma

Canada

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a houseful of cats, one dog, and a Quaker Parrot. The cats and the dog are not allowed in my quilting room. One of my best friends had a quilt returned to her several years ago reeking of cigarettes and covered in cat fur, she had to wash it to be able to put the binding on. Needless to say she was not happty. Her experience made me decide to ban our animals. My bird does get to "quilt" with me. He's a tiny little guy who either rides on my shoulder and watches every move or he's in his cage. He never gets on a quilt and doesn't fly about. He even says "Gabby Quilts".

jeri

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have two dogs who don't bother with the sewing room at all and two cats that pretty much hang out there. I have concerns about the allergies but I figure that anyone who is very allergic will question if you have pets. I keep all my customer quilts in a closed closet so they don't have the opportunity to snuggle in and I vacuum (mostly for threads) before I pull out a new quilt. Generally everyone that has come by the house always ends up petting the "friendly" cat. I have thought about putting a note in my brochures that there are pets just in case. I also make sure the APQS cat hammock isn't available for snoozing. It is kindof funny when a cat desperate for a pet jumps up and teeters across the rollers on the front of the machine.

Donna

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can tell you I get clients because I have a pet-free home. But since your pooch is a member of the family you just need to figure how to keep her out of the sewing room.

Try putting a baby gate in the doorway and let poochy have the run of the house. She'll still be able to see and hear you, yet she will be out of the quilting area.

Its worth a try.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 2 dogs that come in and out of my studio. One cat that has never even tried to get up on the machine. Kinda surprised me, I figured I would have to cover up the quilts when I wasn't working. I put the dogs away when anyone comes over and I vacuum really good before I load or unload a quilt. I also do my best to not let the quilt ever hit the ground. I have a pool table in my room that I use to lay quilts on. I wanted to get rid of it before but now I use the table all the time. Lets just say my family doesn't play pool much anymore;). No one has ever asked my about whether I have animals. In fact, no one has asked me yet if I smoked, which I don't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, Donna....this made me grin, I never had a cat try to walk across the poles, only because my machine was in a different location from the house, but I did have several who couldn't get close enough while on the computer. I however did have my huge Akita in my shop at times when it was to rainy outside or to cold for him to be outside, most often people would be taken back because he was so big....his feet were the size of a saucer, and they were a little nerous, but once they realized he was friendly they would ask about him and wonder why he wasn't there.

How many of us have gone into fabric shops and have found a quilting cat or dog, they are very well trained, they have their beds and unless a customer approaches them they generally never even look up when some one comes in.

Hair on the fabric is minor compared to what I have received in smoke smells from someone who smokes while quilting, and then brings it to a non-smoking quilting area....this is more rude than having a animal around as far as I'm concerned. I've had to take quilt tops outside and let them hang sometimes for DAYS to get even some of the smells out, for fear that it would get onto someone elses quilt, and I've even had some that were so strong that it made me sick while quilting even after airing out. So personally I would rather have a pet around than those smelly quilts.

Maybe it would be a good idea to let people know in advance that an animal will be there, but I personally think that people who love animals wouldn't care either way, its the ones that don't have an animal or have any idea how they aren't just pets that they are a family member. And in some cases better behaved than our kids.:D. You are always going to loose some customers, they don't need much of a reason, and if this is their reason; maybe they aren't meant to be a good customer.

Just my 10 cents worth

Bonnie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Bonnie, I definately agree about the smoke odors. I have a couple of customers who I add time to their quilts so I can hang them outdoors for a few days. Cigarette smoke is a trigger for my asthma and even the leftover odor sends me into awful coughing attatcks. jeri

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have animals in my studio and occasionally there is a dog that lives on the property and likes to come in. I finally trained her to wait outside for a treat. She's a great dog, but once I had a black flannel backed quilt and she walked past it with her long black and white hair. Yikes. :o

I haven't had any people ask about pets, I guess they assume that if there aren't any in the shop it's not an issue. I have a lot of friends who can't come to my home because I have a dog and have had cats in my home. So I know it's a big issue to a lot of people.

On the other hand I've had quilt tops and backings come into my shop that reeked of cigarette smoke so badly that I had to hang them outside for a couple of days and still they contaminated by leaders. I've also had quilt tops come in just covered in cat hair...all one can do is their best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Linda S

I have two cats and they are allowed in my studio. They have their own little beds and I swiffer the studio each day. If I manage to get any hairs on the quilt, they are usually my own!! I keep a lint roller handy and give each quilt the once over before I put it in its bag to be returned to the customer.

Linda

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My original idea was no dogs/cats in the studio (garage). But, my dog would sit in the house and bark his dang fool head off. So, I started letting him in the garage. I open the side door to the backyard and he spends most of his time wandering in and out. When he's in, he lays around. I vacuum every day, mainly to get the threads. I also use an air compressor on the quilts to blow off threads and any other stuff that may be on them. I haven't told my customers, but I do not hide the fact I have animals.

Judy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much for the ideas. I have not had to deal with the smell of smoke as of yet and I hope I never have to. So far I believe that so long as Timber stays on her bed away from the quilts and I find it soothing to have her with me, then everyone wins. I vaccumm every day and before I load a quilt as well as use a lint roller before I start quilting. I feel that my attitude, personality and the love of my family as well as my dog will show that the care I put into my family shows in my work.

Thanks all.

The Quilt Lady

Tina C

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had a long haired dog up until last May, but he wasn't allowed in the quilting room or even past the living room/kitchen areas. So I really never had the pethair problem on my end. I have had one quilt brought in with what I thought looked like cat hairs, I took it outside for a good shaking.

I have the occasional problem with smelly quilts. You know the tops that have been passed down for generations, stored in some attic or chest because nobody else wanted to tackle finishing them. 'Musty' is an understatement and just like smoke odors it chokes me up.

People who worry about pet hair WILL ask you about pets on the premises.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello -- this is only my 2nd post. . . I remember during my class with Dawn Cavenaugh at APQS, she told us to stick a bar of soap in a bag with smokey quilts to get rid of the smell. Maybe Dawn can give more details, like do you keep the wrapper on the soap? and what kind of soap works best? Has anyone tried this? I haven't personally experienced the problem. . .

Kathy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've been known to do the soap treatment with smelly sewing machine cases too. I have used Irish Spring with good results. I usually put it inside a cloth bag. If it was going to actually sit on a quilt I'd want to make sure that nothing could permeate through the cloth onto the quilt. Just in case there's something in the soap that could discolor or damage the fabric of the quilt top.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I were sending a quilt to a professional quilter and paying for the quilting, I would want it to be in a pet-free, smoke-free studio. We can make excuses for our pets, saying they are members of the family, but that doesn't mean anything to someone who has spent lots of time and money making and paying for a quilt to be quilted.

When we made over our basement for my machine, I banned my St. Bernard from the basement, where my den/sewing room/ studio is, even though he was accustomed to coming in with me for an hour or so several times a week.

Now, having said that, at the present I do have a kitten in my basement "studio". We are keeping my adult daughter's cat on a temporary basis. Even though she is a cutie, I do hope she is gone in a month or less. I do not take customer quilts yet, but plan to start this summer or before. On my brochure, I was going to emphasize that their quilts would be done in a smoke-free, pet-free environment.

JMOP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a newbie and I don't have any customers, but I would have to agree with the person logged in as Suesquilts. We don't bring our pet to our place of employment (I work at a financial institution) and I think it is a good idea to keep them out of our studios.

Many people have allergies and are very sensitive to pet dander. Also they are paying for a service. I think (as I would, if I were a paying client) that it should be as clean and pet hair free as possible.

The great thing about being the owner of your own business is that you set your own rules and standards.

That being said I do have 2 dogs and a cat that are allowed into the house. I love animals and my pets are like my kids (and just as spoiled).

Ema

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Suesquilts,

Your point is well taken, but I still have a problem with is those who demand a pet-free environment and they bring in a smelly quilt that reeks so bad that NOTHING gets it out, I've tried the soap thing and I would have had to leave 6 bars of soap in with the quilts for 6 months to get out even enough of the smell to be able to start. I've tried Frebreze for smokers and that has helped in the winter enough so that I could start their quilt and finish it without killing myself. I've had quilts that started out with white backgrounds, but they were marbled white and ivory with the smoke stains, so I guess one or two cat or dog hairs shouldn't make that big of a difference.

Yes, I had my dog in the shop maybe 5 times in a 6 year period, so I did call myself a pet free environment. I'll also guarantee that I had more cat and dog hairs off of other peoples quilts than I did from Goonie. I use to have to sticky roller every other quilt or vaccum them due to hairs, so if your going to call yourself a pet free place you might want to consider the others that will contaminate your space. I don't care how many times you vaccum, cat hair is so fine that it gets into literally everything and 6 months down the road your going to still be vaccuming it up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well looks like I created an interesting debate. The way I look at it now is if people have a problem with my dog then I will recommend a friend who olso is a LA and give her business. I feel that if a person is that fussy about a few pet hairs, even the ones that migrate from other people with pets, then I don't really think I would like them for a customer. I have the same attitude about my daughter and son. My daughter is only 4 and has her space in my studio, I've lost a few clients because they don't feel my studio is a place for children. My son is currently practicing panto's and once he's good enough he will become my partner. I believe that I started this business with the idea that I set my own rules. But reffering clients to my friend she in turns sends me business back and all parties are happy. I will be opeing a quilt shop in the next little while and right now my fastest selling class is a mother daughter class. As well as girls birthday parties. If we don't encourage the next generation into quilting it will die. We have to be practical and yet realistic with our expectations. And I do believe that word or mouth and good service will win out over even the smallest of issues such as dogs.

The Quilt lady

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Linda S

Amen Tina!! I will do my best to keep pet hairs off my quilts, but my business is in my home and it's MY business and MY home. If that disturbs people, they can go elsewhere!

Linda

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Deloa Jones cant get in to post so she asked me to post this for her...

about cats and kids in the studio

I have quilted with 8 children and have

always had about 4 cats. If quilts are handled and stored

with care neither should be a problem. I have customers who

are allergic to cats that never complain about their

quilts. I store every quilt in a plastic box with a lid and

then when the quilt is finished it is put in a new white bag

for the customer to pick up. If my cats choose to lay

around they are on a box or a bag never someone's quilt.

Use common sense that is all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is exactly my point. I also have 2 kids and my daughter is in my studio while I work. I have a seperate cupboard as well as the plastic bag. I think I will try the plastic container as well. I also use the beads from La Senza when a customer picks up a quilt. I place the quilt in a clear plastic bag and then into a box with a few of the pretty smelly beads. I have had rave reviews with this technique especially from the smokey quilts.

I started this business to be able to be at home with my family. And I would feel that as women we should be supporting each other. And yet it's too bad that some just can't understand for what ever reason. So I will stich with the referrals to other LA who are able to deal with these quilters that way every one wins and I don't offend anyone. I also find then that those picky quilter's respect me and tend to send other business my way even if it can't be their's.

Keep quilting.

The Quilt lady

Tina C

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...