Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Steven Butler on June 05, 2016, 02:54:48 pm
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Does anyone do this on a small scale?
Had a few customers ask me about this over the past month, just wondered if anyone knew the minimum machine spec required and also anything about re sanding and sealing???
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15lt/min @ 250 bar pump Usually driven with a Honda gx390 13hp engine. Don't struggle with anything smaller
If it's sunny I usually pop back after tea to re-sand. Don't offer sealer unless you want you get really serious into PW
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Agree with Mike. I used to have a gx390 15lpm but sold it ages ago due to lack of work. bought a 11pm machine not long ago just for the odd job. Yes it does work but it's very slow compared to a 15lpm machine.
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Yes, you need a flow of at least 15l/pm - 3500psi adjustable down when required should cover 99% of jobs
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Probably need a whirlaway as a lance you will have it half way up the walls before you start. Dont try and carpet clean afterwards as you get filthy dirty....apart from that easy peasy!
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Pressure washing is not something you dabble in, unless you are going to get into it seriously then it's not worth the investment to buy the professional gear. It's a bit like a Window cleaner asking about buying a portable to clean a few of his customers carpets.
I know a couple of carpet cleaners who have give it a go but ended up selling their gear as they did'nt want to give the time needed to make it successful
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i bought all the gear to do PW and hated it, soaking wet, sweaty in water proofs, splash backs in your face. noisy, wet, yak, give me a nice clean carpet anyday of the week, although saying that, i do like a nice indoor hard floor job.
i bought a bowser trailer mount for about £2500 off ebay, did about 5 jobs and sold it for £2700 a few months later. so not all bad ;D
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Hi Guys
I looked into buying virtually new equipment a few years ago from a fellow member on here.
Using the spinner was very hard work and made sucking with a wand seem as easy as sipping a cool beer on a summers evening.
It's good fun cleaning chairs etc with a PW but I'm sure the novelty would soon wear off.
The CC was very honest as to just how hard PW is and if I was going to do it I would buy a very powerful machine and set it up as a separate venture with staff. Far too hard work for for an ageing CC like me.
Cheers
Doug
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Strange why anyone would think pressure washing is any harder than sweating around in a red hot house moving furniture and pushing a wand.
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At the moment I am turning away away any new customers that call ( actually I'm telling them I have a 5 week backlog so if they are willing to wait 5 weeks I could fit them it, no one wants to wait that long ;) ) existing customers get booked in.
This is to totally concentrate our time on PW.......which has a higher average job value and higher hourly rate, most of our PW Jobs are in the £350 range and if I did'nt like to finish before 3pm we could do 3 a day easily.
PW is easier and less stressful than carpet cleaning and the job satisfaction is incredible....,,, we never have a customer who is not gobsmacked how great the clean turns out (compared to cleaning a 'clean ' carpet that hardly looks any different when we finish)
It helps that we work as a 2 man team using a massive trailer mounted machine which runs a tri-jet 24 inch spinner.
If I wanted to work long hours I could earn enough in the 6 months of summer to take the rest of the year off.
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How is a 2 man team any faster mike? Do you both jw at the same time?
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1 man never stops cleaning, the other brushes up the crap or brushes the waste water towards the drain. Once we get most done my helper takes over the spinner and I start applying the hypo'
The longest part of most jobs is the clean up. Plus moving & replacing pots and garden furniture is sometimes a big job.
We do have a 2 machines on the trailer so if we can't reach with the trailer unit we can demount the spare and move it closer... So we can sometimes use 2 spinners or lances
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Cheers for replies.
Mike that last post is very interesting.
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Mike we've never used hypo. Is it used on slabs?
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We use it on everything, it finishes off the clean beautifully, takes away any stripeness and removes any lichen spores (blacks spots )
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Can you let me know does it damage the plants etc, do you use it as a post treatment? What dilution and where can it be bought. ;)
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Don't put it on the plants ;) a light mist won't do any harm, it's more likely to stain Tarmac if it runs off into the gutter
Spray down after cleaning at 4-1
Local farm suppliers usually sell it or search google
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So you don't rinse it off?
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usually no. just let it keep working just warn the customer to be carefuil walking on it until it dries
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I hope you warn owners of dogs after leaving hypo on the paving. My dog often licks water off the paving in the garden and I don't think licking hypo is going to do it much good. :o