[david@zap-clean]

Where do you clean rugs?

It seems to me there are 3 choices:
1. Customers premises
2. Take them home to clean
3. Commercial unit

My comments on the above:
1. Too much time/effort required in setting up for a small job
2. I don't really have the room
3. Cost

Is there an alternative I've missed?

[Billy Russell]

yes, find someone that does clean rugs professionally, drop them off at theres, make a cut of the top, until you can afford a commercial unit of your own!

Simples 

 

[*Hector*]

Do it in the customers house..

Charge accordingly for the time and effort to set up etc...
You may not get all you quote for, but it is then worth it when you do...

I do this with upholstery....

[Mike Halliday]

I did a year of taking them to the unit, it was never worth it, the time it took versus how much I charged was never worth it.

If you are cleaning very valuable rugs and can charge a premium price then ok but for general rugs people won't pay the cost. I worked out I would need to charge a minimum of £350 to equal my normal hourly rate .

[david@zap-clean]

I did a year of taking them to the unit, it was never worth it, the time it took versus how much I charged was never worth it.

If you are cleaning very valuable rugs and can charge a premium price then ok but for general rugs people won't pay the cost. I worked out I would need to charge a minimum of £350 to equal my normal hourly rate .

~6sqm (wool) rugs, worth £300 to £800 - I can't seem to get more than about £35...  Doing 2 or 3 at home makes it worthwhile, but they take up so much space.

[davep]

Just put a sheet down and clean them at custys. Save all the messing at home.

[Barry Livingstone]

REALLY, I must be doing something right then, I pick up Rugs during my day and I get good money doing them! Infact Ive 4 to do tomorrow will take me half a day for MORE than a full days pay carpet cleaning.

I should really get a bigger unit as some rugs take up 75% or the floor space at times.

[Completeclean]

 If the customer wants them cleaned in their own home,without any other work being carried out,my  minimum 60 euro charge kicks in.If they aren't in a huge hurry i offer,monthly,a pick up and return for 40.Over the space of a month i normally have quite a few to pick up so it's worth my while to take them home and clean together.

 Desi

[Barry Livingstone]

you guys must be getting alot of small rugs.

[Allan Simmons]

Rugs are great!

We clean them in our workshop and use them as 'fillers'.  We collect them while we're out quoting in the area and tell the client we need them a week.  These are then processed on a quiet afternoon or to fill short notice cancellations.  It's a great way to drive up the per van average revenue if you've got techs who would otherwise be coming back to the workshop at 2:00 with nothing to do, they get stuck into rugs and are productive, in fact the hourly rate doing rugs is far higher than cleaning carpets, even when factoring in the collection and delivery time as we always collect / deliver when in the area anyway.  If we get a dozen in over a couple of days we'll book time specifically to get them done, likewise if we've not had any time to do them then the lads love coming in on overtime to get them finished off within the week.

We love rugs!  A great way to 'keep busy'.

Al.

[AshWhite]

I think they're probably good news if you've got space that otherwise wouldn't be getting used, but when it comes to emptying the garage (or getting a commercial unit especially to cater for rugs) then they're often not worth the hassle.

[david@zap-clean]

Thanks for the info everyone.  I've got my solution now, based on the comments above 

Incidentally, I returned the small rug job (£70) that made me raise this question today.

This job turned into a multi chair upholstery clean, and I picked up their large house carpet clean for the following week (they're moving).  Also, the neighbours knocked on this customers door when I was cleaning asking for my business card... And on the same day I received a call from a nearby office complex asking me to quote the following day :-)

A FANTASTIC RESULT from a small rug job!!!