homebase - Carpet Cleaning Issues

Carpet Cleaning Issues - Carpet construction, upholstery cleaning, stain removal, equipment, events, etc.

homebase

Posted by seanc (seanc), 29 January 2004

has any one used the machens for hire in homebase i am just geting started and havent got the money strait off so mabe if its up to the job might be a good start ?

Posted by ALEXDH (ALEXDH), 29 January 2004

Not sure it looks the the parts really i think you might have to fill it up quite a lot on each job.

I would consider one of the ebay machines of some of the more trustworthy sellers like Robert O

Type in carpet cleaning in ebay search. or carpet cleaner that btring them all up usually.

Posted by Ian_G. (Ian_Gourlay), 30 January 2004

Rug Doctors are excellent machines. I first used one in Canada to clean a smoke infested house following my sisister in laws suicide.

On return to the UK I bought one but not the version in homebase.

I used it for the First Year. It was only because I had the mickey taken out of me on Cleantalk where there is a free competion this month I changed it.

I still say they are as poweful as several machine in the Prochem Range and were certainly as powerful as offering buy other companies when I aquired mine.

However if youare thinking of hireing a machine go to a specialist hire shop.

Regards

Ian

Posted by Ian_G. (Ian_Gourlay), 30 January 2004

AlexDH

You use less buckets of water than the Ashby machines, due to the vibrating brush

Remember the new version is fast dry.

I do think they should make a 30l machine

I wish I could use vibrating brush without fluid for agitating pre spray without damaging the pump.

Posted by ALEXDH (ALEXDH), 30 January 2004

Fair enough mate sounds like you know them well and its a good bit of kit.

Just think and I may be wrong , I am very opinionated with very little experience Roll Eyes

Are you going to be able to charge good prices and turn up with this.

If you are only going to charge £20 pound a room then you might get away with it I suppose, it would be cheaper than the customer renting one.

Sean C only my opinion mate but research well and arrange some training before you even purchase a machine . All the gentleman on here gave me loads of good advice a few months ago so really pick their brains. Its going OK for me so far but I wish I had got training at the start, I think i have been lucky so far.

Got to be careful not to spend limited funds on a machine that you know isn't really going to give you what you need to be a profesional carpet cleaner, it's very tempting and I thought about a rug doctor myself a few months ago.

It is a negative thing to say , but if you have not quite got the funds in place yet wait till you have or keep your eye out for a good deal.

P.S when you ignore my comments and you own the largest cleaning company in the UK can I have a job. Grin

Posted by squeaky (squeaky), 30 January 2004

I have had a Rug Doctor for years, I purchased the machine second hand from a local hotel and it had hardly been used,its the one with a seperate vibrating scrubber unit. EXCELLENT machine ,I do not use it anymore as I have a TM but it earn't its money and if the hire machines are as good ,go for it ,use them once and see.

Mark

Posted by Shaun_Ashmore (Shaun_Ashmore), 30 January 2004

Theres a cleaner in N Yorks called Hoyles who uses them and I believe he charges £200 a suite

Shaun

Posted by ALEXDH (ALEXDH), 30 January 2004

there you go then looks like i was well and truly wrong.

Embarassed

I shall shut up for a while and learn more from you chaps who know what your talking about.

Posted by seanc (seanc), 30 January 2004

thank you all for your coments please dont "shut up" i need all advise i can get you guys have so uch ex i can only listen and lern Grin

Posted by Ian_G. (Ian_Gourlay), 31 January 2004

Alexdh

I now have an Ashby machine

On pricing I am cheaper than the Clean Up Gods
and am striving to reach their standards.

However I am thinking rapid expansion through my marketing system and somthing as light as a Rug Doctor will be easy for predomitley female staff to handle.

Ps if you put for buckets in your Ninja how many do you empty out, presuning you have used all four buckets

Posted by paul@ctcs (paul@ctcs), 31 January 2004

The rug doctor has its place.last week i cleaned an entire 3 story house which had very tight twisting stair ways making the use of my comanche rather back breaking work,had my rug doctor pro not gone up in smoke the previous week i would without doubt have used it.
In my opinion having been there my self the rug doctor does not give a profesional look to the customer even if the cleaning results are perfectly good,but as i said it does have its place when bigger machines are just too big.

Paul

Posted by Robert_O (Robert_O), 31 January 2004

Hi Paul

I see that you have a Prochem Comanche. How do you rate the machine?

Also how do you get to clean out the waste tank effectively to stop it smelling. I know that you can jet around the sides with the solution pump but is this enough to get the build up of grime off the side walls, along with getting the build up of fibres out?

I have toyed with the idea of cutting the end off of the ball float filter and making it removable for easier access.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Regards

Robert Olifent

Posted by Jim_Lynch (Jim_Lynch), 31 January 2004

Incredible Shocked

So-called professionals using equipment any Tom, D*ck or Mary can hire from their local store.
Get fair dinkum - either you're a professional carpet cleaner, or a do-it-yourselfer...
I'm not suggesting you go out and buy a TM straight away, but the image you are projecting with this course of action only serves to lower our reputation as professionals.

Jim

Posted by mike_halliday (mike_halliday), 31 January 2004

Jim, I can hire the same spanners i often see used in professional garages, does this mean i'm as skilled as their machanics?.

Just because i can hire the same tools they use does'nt make me a professional machanic.

So what if customers can hire this carpet cleaning machine, what they can't hire is the years of knowledge contained in our heads.

Mike

Posted by Ian_G. (Ian_Gourlay), 31 January 2004

We are talking about the Rug Doctor Pro.

Prochem make a similar machine called 5 star

Polaris cheaper version same motor.

I dont use mine at present apart from standbuy and when I run out of hose.

but see no reason why I should not and why I should be insulted for using one its the time and care I take cleaning that gives me a good name.

Not available in Home base which is why I said go to Hire Shop and get more professional looking kit But Escort

Posted by Les (Les), 31 January 2004

I haven't used a Rug Doctor so can't comment on them.
However I do love the leaflet you can pick up about them at our local Homebase.
The photo on the front looks like an air hostess from the 1950's carrying this machine beside her as if it had just weed on her carpet Grin

I always carry one with me, (a leaflet that is , not an air hostess) Sad

to put the customer off ever using one, (would you want to use a machine that looks THAT old)? Plus when you tally up the charges for everything you need to do the job YOURSELF, plus collecting and returning it, we look better value than ever ! (well that's my theory anyway) Cheesy

Posted by paul@ctcs (paul@ctcs), 31 January 2004

Hi Robert,

Your right cleaning the waste tank on the comanche isn't an easy task,in the past i have used a watering can with hot water and disinfectant with the waste valve open which flushes the tank reasonably well and stops it smelling,also regarding the ball valve i simply pull mine off!!This happened more through accident the first time when whilst cleaning the tank i knocked it off,its simply held on with a push fit (well mine is now Grin

)
With regard to the suggestion in another post that i damage carpet cleaners image by saying had i a rug doctor at hand when having to lift a comanche up two tight winding stair cases i would have opted to use the smaller machine,Jim Angry

surely the quality of the clean is more important than the machine used providing a top class job is done especially if the customer appreciates the problems incurred when attempting to lift a large portable up more than one flight of stairs.

Paul

Posted by Derek (Derek Bolton), 31 January 2004

Hi Guys

When I read Jim's post I was in total agreement with him (shock.. Horror Shocked

)

I then read the follow up post by Mike Halliday and I found myself with agreeing with some of his comments too...(even worse shock... horror Shocked

)

Just to add my reasons why....

I, personally, think that the publics perception of a professional cleaning technician (or any professional person for that matter) is diminished if they turn up with equipment that they themselves can either hire or buy from a D.I.Y. store.
I think, ....No I know that this is what Jim was trying to say

This is irrespective of the cleaning technicians prowess at the job. I think that Mike was relating to this aspect in his comments.

Whether we like it or not we do have to present an image to our customer (it's all part of the marketing package) and I think that an 'air of mystique' about the job certainly helps.

Regards
Derek

Posted by ALEXDH (ALEXDH), 31 January 2004

Reply to Ians question about return of solution.
I have monitored it a couple of times by emptying back into the buckets.

I did a 40 ft by 15 lounge/ diner with a wool Carpet light beige Cry

I was leaving behind about 5 litres out of every 40 I put in the ninja, this was running a 15 mtr hose from outside and using a powerbrush which does chuck the old solution out with a fury, i was very impressed with that.

Ran the blower over it and it was palm test dry mostly by the time I had done the hall about 30 minutes later. This carpet had a medium pile ( In my opinion).

On a nylon I appear to get better results especially the nice cheap short stuff Tongue

whizz overthat stuff Tongue

, but have not measured that acuratley yet.

I do make sure that i do 2 good slow dry passes on all areas as i am still a bit nervous about overwetting.

Hope that helps ,but it is hard to tell really, a lot depend s on the carpet you are doing i think ,wool loves the water it seems.

Going on training next wednesday at Alltec hopefully i will walk away a bit more confident. Cool

Posted by Robert_O (Robert_O), 31 January 2004

Hi Paul

Thanks for your comments, it seems I will have to get the heavy hands on pulling off the filter head.

If nothing else hopefully maybe Prochem may pick up on this and possibly modify accordingly.

When the head of the filter is off, it might be an idea to place a cap over the open pipe to prevent any splashes of rinse water going down into the vac motors.

Thanks again.

Regards

Robert

Posted by strakercleaning (strakercleaning), 31 January 2004

To be a CLEANING SPECIALIST you will need specialist knowledge/ training/ chemicals/ machinery Grin

Turn up at a job with nothing the customer has or has access to................ or else how can you charge them with confidence Cool

Posted by ALEXDH (ALEXDH), 31 January 2004

Me again , i have more to say , i feel redeemed by the some of the gods comments on here.

sean

Just came into my mind , but remember repeat business should be a goal to save you advert money in years 2 and onwards of your plan for world cleaning domination.
I reckon even if you are wizzo with a rug doctor, and perform a clean of such quality it puts me to shame, The satisfied customers husband will think i can do that next year myself with one of those rental machines ,those machines work well,

Every normal red blooded bloke wants to play with toys like this really. the reason they dont is because the wife remembers the wonky shelves and doesn't let him loose with one on her carpet.

Nuff said

All the best

Alex

Posted by Dynafoam (Dynafoam), 31 January 2004

Robert,

The overfill valve/lint-filter is designed to pull off for cleaning, which I do at least onece a day. Capping the vac pipe makes sense when pressure-washing the waste tank - I find the plastic cap of a aerosol can fits well.

For the pressure wash I have a male quick-connect with a male-threaded tee jet screwed into the hosetail thread. This simply attatches to the solution hose in the normal manner and I find I can reach even the most awkward corners with ease.

If the tank coating is being obstinate, I have a loo brush, with cut-down handle for this.

Whilst tank cleaning, use a cylindrical bottle brush, from inside the tank, to remove the fluff and grit from the bottom of the gate valve slot - this will allow the gate valve to fully close, preventing dripping, and air ingress whilst running.

John.

Posted by Robert_O (Robert_O), 31 January 2004

Hi John

Thankyou very much for your very useful information it is much appreciated.

Kind regards

Robert

Posted by seanc (seanc), 1 February 2004

sorry i did not mean do hurt any ones felling when i asked i ho;d my head in shame Embarassed

on 01/31/04 at 10:54:52, Jim_Lynch wrote:

Incredible Shocked

Posted by Robert_O (Robert_O), 1 February 2004

Hi Jim

I don't think that there was anything wrong in what you had to say, as this can be taken on board by people or not. It was a valid point which will make people think, just as the replies were valid points.

At the end of the day people can read the veiws of a wide spectrum of carpet cleaners and make more informed decisions about the equipment that they are going to invest in.

Every one should keep their input flowing.

Regards

Robert Olifent

Posted by Ian_G. (Ian_Gourlay), 3 February 2004

If the Rug Doctor is not a Profesional Machine why do Express Cleaning Supplies our sponsors sell them.

Why are they advertised on the back of Cleaning Matters.

However in conclusion I did stop using Rug Doctor for very reasons stated.

However I am still looking for a light machine suitable for Female Operatives, that looks the part.

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