Carpet Cleaning Issues - Carpet construction, upholstery cleaning, stain removal, equipment, events, etc.
RUG DOCTOR PROPosted by shinebright (shinebright), 21 December 2003
Sorry if this has been discussed before. I used the search facility and there were no matches.
I am considering purchasing a machine. Two suppliers who supply various machines at a range of prices strongly recommended this machine. They did not ask me what my budget was.
This machine is cheap in comparison to many on the market. Do the suppliers get better commissions on this machine or are they as good as they say?
I would appreciate any comments from those who have used the machine, or those that have steered clear of it.Posted by MB (Mark Betts), 21 December 2003
Dont listen to suppliers.
That is not being detrimental to Janitorial Suppliers at all.
Why not contact companies that "speciallse" in carpet cleaning machines they know what they are talking about.
When i first started i didn not have a clue. I went to my local cleaning supplier and asked his advice. He sold me a machine that after talking to other people and discovering boards like this was just not up to the job. It was a glorified spotting machine. Which was great for the odd job and upholstery etc.
But when i asked their advice prior to purchase it was " you will not need another machine the next step up from this is a truckmount !!!
So you can now guess that I do not use that supplier any more, they have lost a customer because if they had been honest and upfront at the start over the last couple of years I would have spent far far more in chemicals from them than the cost of a machine.
Listen to the people on this board, people who have used the machine.
What do you need the machine for?
Weigh up the pros and cons.
Dont be in a rush to buy, ask to loan a machine for a day to test drive it. Even if it means you have to pay a hire charge for a day. You can always negotiate a refund on the cost of the hire if you decide to buy the machine.
You dont buy a car without trying it out first do you?
Do a search on all machines on this site.
Try all these for portables.
www.prochem.co.uk
www.extracta.co.uk
www.ashbys-uk.com
www.alltec.co.uk
etc etc
Thanks
MarkPosted by shinebright (shinebright), 21 December 2003
Thanks Mark,
I am hoping to be concentrating on pubs and restaurants. Hopefully I will not be doing any domestic work.
What machine do you recommend?Posted by John_Flynn (John_Flynn), 21 December 2003
There is a good S/H Truckmount for sale on www.cleantalk.co.uk, but there again how much are you wanting to spend??
A word of warning Pubs and Restruants want their carpets cleaning for peanuts and you will find that they are usually the dirtiest!!Posted by paul@ctcs (paul@ctcs), 21 December 2003
I would advise you not to buy a rug doctor pro if as you say you intend to clean mainly pubs and restraunts.Although the rug doctor has its place as its very mobile and easy to use making it great for smaller upstairs jobs(this is what my company use a rug doctor for and it does very good job), i feel its lack of tank capacity would be a problem to you only holding 15litres and as it says in an earlier post with pub carpets often very dirty an extractor with an inline heater would make life easier.
Paul 
Posted by MB (Mark Betts), 21 December 2003
Unfortunatley a Rug Doctor wouldnt even touch the surface!!!
As Johns said a t/m but a good portable will alslo do the job admirably.
I use a twin vac portable with 3kw heater in the tank and then a heat exchanger in line. This means the water is steaming hot when it comes out.
Coupled with a good enzyme pre spray and a power brush it makes light work of even the toughest carpets.
The down dide to using a portable as apposed to t/m is you are filling the porty up now and then.
MarkPosted by shinebright (shinebright), 21 December 2003
Thanks for the advice gents.
I will take another look at the whole picture over the hols.Posted by Mike_Boxall (Mike_Boxall), 22 December 2003
on 12/21/03 at 11:03:35, Mark Betts wrote:Dont listen to suppliers.
Mark
Have you ever used one? Rug Doctors do produce extremely good results but I accept that the limted capacity means it is not ideal for larger areas.
The other drawback for daily use is that it can be quite tiring on the arms because you have to walk backwards with it however for small to medium sized areas it's OK.
The big plus to the Rugdoctor is that it is simple to use, produces excellent results because of the vibrating brush and is extremely well built. They are (I'm told) the most popular hire machine in the world.
You also have to consider the cost. Although everyone here would agree that the larger portables are better, for the money the Rugdoctor costs, you can't get much better. A lot of people on limited budgets do start very succesfully with these machines.
As far as not listening to suppliers goes I think Mark has started his festive binge early this year 
Here's another topic than ran on Rugdoctors a while ago.
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=carpetequipment;action=display;num=1068752127Posted by MB (Mark Betts), 22 December 2003
Yes Mike
You got it in one.
The most popular "HIRE" machine in the world.
I recnetly went to a nursing home to clean a carpet.
When i arrived to quote they only wanted a small dining area cleaning as they had "hired" a rug doctor.
The area they cleaned with the rug doctor was about I would say about 12 ft x 25 ft.
The area i cleaned was a little smaller.
When talking to the lady i asked why she didnt do the rest of the carpet with the hire machine instead of calling me out.
The reason, she had started cleaning the carpet at 8 am that morning and it was now 7.30 pm and she was knackered !!!!
When i arrived next day to "do my bit" the room she had cleaned was in a word rubish, so I cleaned what i was asked and then went around and spot cleaned etc etc the room she had cleaned her self.
So yes in the home environment they may be great but not for commercial work ie pubs and stuff and even nursing homes !!!!
So thats why i said dont listen to suppiers because the majority of them have never ever used machines they are trying to sell in the real world (present company excluded of course)
Mark
PS Just because it has the label "professional " on it doesnt mean a thing, there are many things u can buy with that label on, and noit just cleaning equip and its just that, a label.Posted by Mike_Boxall (Mike_Boxall), 22 December 2003
Sorry Mark, I have to disagree!
The Rugdoctor is very much a professional machine - albeit for smaller areas.
Anyone else here who has used one will know that it shouldn't take that much time to do that sized area AND you can get extremely good results from them. Isn't the Prochem Fivestar a 'Professional machine' for smaller areas?
I do agree though, that they do not compare with other machines that are designed for use all day every day and it certainly wouldn't be my first choice to clean pubs with.
My point is simply that the question 'Which is the best machine?' is much like 'Which is the best car?'. Most of us would prefer to have a Mercedes but it may not be our first choice if we've only just started driving.
For the record, if I were starting a carpet cleaning business doing mostly domestic (with odd pubs and other commercial work) my first choice would be the Prochem Steampro Powermax with inline heater. Considering the features, reliability, manourability, noise, build quality, backup and price there may well similar machines around but none I've seen that are better value for money - which is really what it's all about!
Having read through some of the older posts about starting up, it must be quite confusing choosing a machine with so many members having their own opinions.
Can I assume that all you experienced carpet cleaners agree that Prochem are the market leaders in the UK (whether you like it or not)?
Regards
Mike
Posted by Ian_G. (Ian_G.), 23 December 2003
Mark
As you know I hold you in great respect.
It does not take any longer to clean a room of the size you mentioned with a Rug Doctor than a twin vac inline heater.
However I dont think a Rug Doctor looks profesional enough that is why I only use mine as reserve , upstairs jobs if hose does not reach,
I would not be happy using it as a solo machine in resturant.
But i would let my assistant use it to get job done quicker.
PS
Can you run heater, twin vacs and inline heater all at same time.
Regards
#Ian happy christmas everyone
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