ready to roll

I agree with FuzzSucker.  Shampoo is best for a startup.  Haven't done OP yet but I can see the advantages to other versions of the rotary shampoo technology.

I recommend a good wetdry which you can break down into 2 parts to avoid any problems with it being too high for your car (My preference is a station wagon because you push in and pull out in a straight horizontal line) to extract excess moisture from the carpet.  Prespray the solvents you need for traffic lanes and enzymes.  Shampoo is generally ph neutral size the shampooer is doing the work.  It will stop the solvents from working and suspend the solvents with their target soils much as rinse chemicals do in the hwe process.

The question of where does the dirt go is easy to answer.  The same place it has always gone.  Up the vacuum when the customer vacuums that week.  But since we do not use coconut oil based cleaners and others that in the past (yeah, been doing this since 1971 so I know) left dirt attracting residue which would act like glue to rebond the dirt if not vacuumed in time, the polymer crystallines left hold the dirt and residue in sand like capsules which are really easy to extract with a vacuum.

So, prevac, pretreat, agitate with no shampoo, dwell, lightly shampoo, optional wetdry vac, groom, put tabs under furniture, optional teflon applied and regroom, collect money, put vac, shampooer, wet vac, pump sprayers, towels (everyone needs those), bucket, bottle of shampoo and grooming rake back in car and go on to the next job.

Oh, did we mention no hot water needed except in pump sprayers which you charged up that morning?

I did one yesterday that took one hour to vacuum, worst housekeeping skills I have ever seen.  Emptied the vacuum 3 times.  Presprayed, shampooed, put water in hwe just incase it was needed, used the hwe as a wetdry, applied fiberguard, did a chair with prespray and hwe (guess I needed the water although I could have shampooed and used hwe again as wetdry), final grooming, loaded the van and collected $200.

Customer believes it was steam cleaned.  And this job outperformed anything SS did for her in the past.  In fact, carpet looked, smelled and felt new.  5 jobs like that pays for the equipment you need.  Compare to HWE - porty or truckmount.

Have someone teach you how to use shampoo.  Oversaturation and failure to overlap produce undesireable results.

Get furniture moving slides at Home Depot.  $10 for 8 and they hold 3000 lbs. and get a small tote bag (you can get plain looking ones at Michaels or other craft stores)  to carry them around in.  Get a lift buddy for under $50.  Your back will thank you but you should also not think you are too macho for a back support.

Basic and simple.  That is what the business was, that is what it still is for many of us who predate extractors.




Edited by duckcountry - 13/March/2008 at 4:09pm

Get padman's OP pad cleaner for $800 no soap no bleach.

fuzzsucker- your shooting my theory down. i thought HWE was the best start so you could handle any situation including real trashed jobs plus upholstery cleaning.i like the looks of the OP cleaning system but as far as i've seen the only one endorsing it is the one selling the system.maybe i should do both and end the problem?QUESTION-does OP void carpet manufactures warranty?

i have about 10 grand to start. there are about 100 commercial possibilities and maybe 1000 plus residential.since nobody else is doing it right now i think i can make a go at it .what do you think?

rick007 wrote: if i can prove i am good. i have looked at padmans system of OP cleaning and HWE.

How much money do you have and how much business do you think you can get?