[creighton foyle]

i have bought the airflex turbo but what else do i need ? sebo vac sebo agitator rotary for bonnet cleaning, oreck,  lm machine, i have not done a training course yet but hope to be better informed next week, meanwhile what should i buy for pre vac and agitation, what will compliment my airflex, what will make my job easier what can i buy to give the best job for the customer. i have around £2000 to spend on all other equipment after paying for the airflex, this includes buckets sprayers chems  vacs agitators etc all other equipment. all opinions respected.

[Joe H]

The list will be long but you can put them in an order of priority.

Sebo BS36 vac - you can get recon ones from suppliers and on ebay with a warranty. I just bought one almost brand new at £120 from private seller.
Long handled carpet brush - do the agitation manually for starters. Save your money and when you can go for Envirodri rather then Sebo Duo.
A rotary is LM - low moisture. Again plenty on ebay - go for max 230rpm. (I can never find the right category though but they are there). Say £200. You will need pads which can be £17 each (at least 10). Get a grey scrub pad from Solutions Cornwall for £35 - thats your agitaiton.
A good 5 or 8 litre litre sprayer. Gloria stainless steel will last years (if looked after) but cost £200. Buy cheap - buy twice.
A couple of large 12 litre buckets - different colours. One for clean water, one for dirty.
Spotter bottles of say 1 litre or 2 litre - probably 2 or 3.
As for fluids - Solutions Cornwall do a really good range of environmentally friendly fluids which do work and pretty safe in use. Restormate do Prochem, Craftex and Chemspec and of course Nemesis. Cleansmart do a decent range as well.
Hand brush - various sorts - you need a couple.
White cotton towels - lots.
Waterpoof sheeting for the floor. Needed if you take machine indoors. Needed for when you place your bottles on the clients floor, needed when doing upholstery (overspray).

Others will add to the list.

[james roffey]

As Joe said buy a good "metal" handled sprayer i just broke the handle off my plastic orion sprayer today   a false economy i think  and the second time this has happened dissapointed as i thought the Orion was much better quality than the last one this happened to. suppose i will have to get a much more expensive one now.
Dont forget to leave enough money for marketing and that enevitable rainy day i found that i needed so many little things that i had not thought about, like carpet sliders, extension leads, etc, i would also look out for an envirodri if your budget will stretch as this will make your Airflex's job easier i use the Airflex and Envirodri it's heavy and expensive but is brilliant at loosening the dirt in a carpet.

[calmore]

The alternative to buying expensive sprayers is to buy very cheap ones, and use an expensive lance, just throw the body/pump away when they break.

[clinton]

Sounds like your geting there mate with the cleaning gear and as joe said get the best you can afford..

[creighton foyle]

james i managed to get an enviridri hopefully will arrive next week and i think my airflex will be here next tuesday. i have kept £1000 for marketing not much but i will put it to good use.

[Dave Roberts]

Don't expect £1,000 do do much for you marketing-wise, unless it's only a part-time venture.  4 x that should do it.

[JandS]

£1000 is adequate for marketing for a start up.
Get 2000 business cards
5000 glossy postcards
and a website from Vista Print.
10 weeks in the local, paid for, paper round here
costs me £360 for 10 weeks.
Get the middle option website at Vista Print, that
will set you back about £8 per month.
You'll still have change.
Obviously when you start earning you'll have to throw
more at it but this way will get you well started.

John

[Adam P]

finally finally trying to get a list together as i'll be doing this myself soon and no longer subbing all the work out to the guy we work with.

i've pretty much decided on the machine i want which is an airflux from cleansmart though people on here have put me off from deciding straight away however i wouldn't know what else to look for other then the basics and from recommendations it seems to be one of the best at the moment and what i would need.

i assume when you say white towels you mean ones like http://www.amazon.co.uk/Linens-Limited-Egyptian-Cotton-650gsm/dp/B000TFRPA4 but cheaper?

waterproof sheeting: at a guess something from BnQ would be what i want?

i can't find a Gloria stainless steel sprayer in 8 litre capacity. is this the only sprayer i should be considering if i can afford it or is there alternatives that are just as good?

my training will be with prochem so i'll possibly get my first chemicals from them as well as the brushes they sell unless others can suggest something else to try?

anything else i'll need? longer hose perhaps? a certain wand? feels a little overwhelming atm but very exciting to get this going

[creighton foyle]

if you decide to buy the airflex then your training will be with cleansmart cos it will be free and can i say that derek bolton who does their training is in my opinion a great teacher and apparantly he had a big influence on the ncca training manual so that has to be a plus, anything else i am not yet qualified to speak about though having done what i consider to be extensive research with the help of members on this and other forums i honestly believe the airflex is the best porty on the market at this moment in time.

[Simon@arenaclean]

If you are considering the Airflex you will get a free training course, they also supply prochem, chemspec and some hydramaster products. Better to have all the options you can available to you.

Edit. *Beat me to it 

[Adam P]

i've been told by members on here to suggest that rather then have the "free" training, instead have a small discount. the free training doesn't really work for me as it's far to go and plenty of good alternatives in my local area.

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

i've been told by members on here to suggest that rather then have the "free" training, instead have a small discount. the free training doesn't really work for me as it's far to go and plenty of good alternatives in my local area.

An extra training course will be of far greater benefit to your business than a small discount. (If indeed you would receive a discount as it is part of a package deal, the course is FREE)

Go to Nottingham to collect your machine and attend the course at the same time. It's only a couple of hours away.

Then book in at Prochem for more training - you can't learn everything from this forum.

If you would like to see the Airflex in action, give me a ring and I would be happy to show you.

[Joe H]

You never stop learning so if you get the opportunity to have any training then, like Steve says, go for it.
The tutor at Cleansmart course is normally Derek Bolton who is good, very good, I believe.
Same with the 2 tutors when you do the NCCA course - very good.

[ryan mca]

 

        If you buy the airflex you will be a mug not to go and collect it and take the 2 days free training
first you get to know how the machine works and matt will talk you through set up as its not a plug and go
machine second having derek boultons phone number is a great thing to have if you need advice on the job
if your going to pay for a cource consider ncca rather than prochem as it gives you the option to join if you
decide to.

[Adam P]

trouble is Nottingham is a hell of a long way to go if i can do the same closer which i am with prochem and will do more if i find the training not enough. i'll keep it in mind as an option as i haven't placed my order yet but it seems fairly senseless to go to one further away if one closer is just as good. of course i'm new to this so maybe i'm missing something here.

i've looked on cleansmart site and it looks like the training course i'd get is like once a month at best? am i getting it wrong and it's run every day so i could go up any weekday, collect machine and do one days course, stay in hotel and then do next and then come back?

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Adam

I picked mine up last month - left home at 7.00am, was back home at 12. It's not that far.

If you haven't used the machine before it's worth having the manufacturer run through it's operation with you.

Alternatively, as I have offered, you can see it working locally then have it shipped down to you.

[Adam P]

sorry i forgot to reply to your kind offer. may have to take you up on it in the coming weeks as would save me a lot of time.

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

No problem, I'm often in the GU area - my phone number is on the website.